


The Return

by tubendo



Series: The Lessons Learned In Fire [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Development, Developing Friendships, Dubious Ethics, Dubiously Good Azula, F/M, Gaang (Avatar), Romance, Sibling Rivalry, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:40:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 635,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22174198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tubendo/pseuds/tubendo
Summary: The ice of the South Pole hides many things, such as a Fire Nation Princess who has found herself something akin to a home, even if she would rather herself sitting on a throne of flames rather than in tent wearing furs. Her story was one of growth, victory and failure, but now she is faced with a problem bigger than all the ones she has faced before: choosing what she was taught over what she has learned. (Sequel to Into The Fire)
Relationships: Azula/Sokka (Avatar)
Series: The Lessons Learned In Fire [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596133
Comments: 29
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

Of all the things she could find herself forced to do, it was to go on a fishing trip with the girl she had grown to loathe; Azula didn't hate Katara because of her grating personality or her inane desire to try and spite her an any given opportunity, it was because she continued to do so, despite the fact that she herself had done nothing wrong. Six long months at the South Pole, with the midnight sun, surrounded by people who could never trust her, the Princess didn't try to act cocky, or overbearing on her hosts, who she knew would look for any excuse to get rid of her.

As much as Sokka was able to tolerate, if not enjoy her presence, most of the tribe were more than suspicious of her, being the declared heir of Fire Lord Ozai; if not the de jure Fire Lord, she was technically still Crown Princess, as she was the younger sister of the boy who claimed the throne for himself. Calling her brother a boy when he was reaching the age of eighteen would probably be insulting to him, but she didn't expect to see his traitorous face any time in the near future, so her insults would just remain her inner musings rather than screams on the battlefield.

Pulling the canoe along the icy plain, she reminded herself that despite how frustrating it was to do just that, she might have been otherwise in battles in the Earth Kingdom, with enemies on all sides, hoping to defeat her brother, who to her latest knowledge, was still practically undisputed as the ruler of the Fire Nation. She hoped at the very least that he was running the country competently, and not driving it into the ground with their uncle's stupid principles and wisdoms.

"How much further do we have to pull this spirit damned thing?" she asked of Katara, who was leading at the front, who glared back at her before pointing ahead to a precipice, which seemed to be close to the shoreline.

The problem of the icy plains of the South Pole was that distance was very hard to deduce on land, seeing that everything looked very similar, and outside of the hazardous mountains that sat some distance inland from the village, the terrain always looked the same.

"It's not too far. We're heading to the best fishing ground. Trust me, the ice fields are much better than the open water; less otter-penguins to steal our dinner." the Water Tribe girl raised a finger.

"Perhaps we should be eating the otter-penguins instead. That would solve both our problems, wouldn't it?" she asked her, making Katara's face scrunch up with disgust.

"Urgh." she sneered at the Princess, before her lips pursed slightly, showing off a rare moment of arrogance, "Well, perhaps you should try and catch one? Good luck at that."

"I'm a master firebender." she raised her right hand, "I'm pretty sure I kill an otter-penguin of all things."

Katara's confidence crumbled after that, and her expression returned to one of vindictiveness, "Whatever." she grit her teeth.

As they both fell silent, the Water Tribe girl kept up her suspicious glare, but it was less spiteful than usual; she had saved their village, after all, and she believed that if anything she ought to get the proper respect for her deeds. She didn't like the Southern Water Tribe, not in the sense that she actually liked their land, or their culture, for that matter, but she did see them as her allies, or if she was to be so bold, her friends. In her time as Crown Princess, she hadn't had much of a need or care for the concept of friends, but Sokka changed her mind on that fact; befriending Kori Morishita and Sneers in Yu Dao had inadvertently saved her life, and she knew that her relationship with the Water Tribe boy had done the very same more than once. However, she didn't see herself becoming friends with Katara; if six months of being stuck around the girl hadn't built any kind of bond, then she doubted another six would do them any better.

She had no idea how long she was going to be the South Pole for, anyway, knowing at least there was a possibility that the Southern Water Tribe might decide to go fight against the Fire Nation remnants in the Earth Kingdom, which Sokka would obviously drag her along on to, even if she had no desire to fight men who were theoretically loyal to her father, or even to herself. She wanted to avoid that fight, for as long as she reasonably could; she was loyal to the Fire Nation, but seeing that it was ruled by her brother, her loyalties could easily be bent at present times, depending on what the situation provided.

They did, quickly enough, reach the precipice that Katara had spoken of, and below it, she could see the icy shoreline, which led off toward a large field of icebergs, which seemed to be collapsing off of the nearby glacier. The Water Tribe girl gestured for her to push the canoe down, she responded to with a thrust of her foot, sending the small boat quickly down the slope, the sound of it grinding along the slippery ice echoing around before it came to a halt right by the water's edge. She approached the canoe, snickering as she was side-eyed by Katara, who obviously hadn't expected her to kick their boat as hard as she did; it was her way of quietly expressing her frustrations without having to fight the Water Tribe girl herself. That wouldn't be a fair fight, and Sokka had warned numerous times for her to avoid it specifically, knowing that his sister would enjoy it, but sorely lose against someone as skilled as the Princess.

"Could you avoid kicking our only form of transport into the water?" the Water Tribe girl asked of her, making Azula simply shrug in response.

"I couldn't care less what happens to your shitty canoe." she ignored her, making Katara growl with frustration, hammering a hand down on her end of the canoe.

"This is our family's canoe! My father made this! What do you think Sokka would do if you broke it?"

"What would he do if you broke it?" she quipped in response, the Water Tribe girl seething, clenching her fists hard; the Princess could have sworn she felt the ice shift beneath her feet, and she raised a hand.

"I wouldn't get too angry, Katara. They say an uncontrolled fire is incomparably more threatening than one you can wield." she warned her, to which she raised a brow, looking back at her sceptically.

"Uh... I'm a waterbender, not a firebender." she stated the obvious, making her roll her eyes.

"The principle applies to all bending; you have to learn to control your skill, otherwise your powers are more of a threat to you than they are your actual opponents." she chided Katara, who, rather unexpectedly, tilted her head up, nodding with approval.

"Huh... thanks." she acknowledged her impromptu lesson, making the Princess smirk, "So you know a lot more about bending than anyone else in this tribe." she observed something that was obvious, given the history of the Southern Water Tribe; when the only benders were the two of them, there wasn't much competition.

"I do." she nodded, before she narrowed her glare at her, "Now, we're not here to talk about bending theory, as enticing as that sounds." she sarcastically suggested, before gesturing down to the canoe, "Let's get this thing in the water."

"Have you been in a canoe before?" Katara asked her with a curious tone, although she could tell that it was an opportunity to find herself mocked.

"I have with your brother, a number of times." she told her, the Water Tribe girl's face immediately shifting from one of concerned interests to disgust; even though her assumptions were wrong about what she and her boyfriend got up to on their fishing trips together, the fact that she made them was suggestive enough about Katara's thoughts about their relationship.

"I'm not that much of a... whatever you'd like to call that." she chided her, making the Water Tribe girl's cheeks flush red with embarrassment, before she picked up her end of the canoe.

Azula raised her own end, and with a single heave, they pulled the canoe over the water, dropping it down, which made a small splash; the cold water splattered her furs, which were luckily water-proof enough to prevent her getting cold and wet. She reminded herself to thank Sokka and Katara's grandmother for making her furs, which she herself did not know how to do, seeing that of all the skills she had, sewing was not one of them. Putting one foot into the canoe, she waited for the other girl to step in herself, before kicking off with her foot on the ice. She sat down, moving her behind around rather stupidly, trying to find the best way to sit down in the canoe; hearing snickering in front of her made the Princess narrow her eyes spitefully, the Water Tribe girl's attention diverting away from her to using a paddle to begin rowing. Azula grabbed her own paddle, and began to do the same, her eyes looking to both their flanks as they moved out into the ice-field, trying to spot any fish near the surface.

"Can you use your bending to catch fish?" she asked the Water Tribe girl, whose face reddened with embarrassment.

"Um... I've tried it." she admitted, her tone suggesting that she had no succeeded at that endeavour, before she herself furrowed a brow.

"Firebending?" she questioned her, obviously asking if she could use her own bending to achieve the same goal; she herself had killed fish with firebending, but would have no luck catching them.

"To cook and kill, not to catch." she clarified, before furrowing a brow, "That reminds me of the time I cha-" she began, before Katara rolled her eyes, cutting her off.

"I've heard the story a hundred times now. You attacked set a boar on fire when it was trying to drink at a stream." she recounted the tale, which Azula personally thought to be quite a great one, seeing that prior to that point, she had had no experience dealing with using her bending to hunt, although she had regularly done so at the South Pole.

"Does Sokka really regale our story that much?" she asked her, making the Water Tribe girl groan with annoyance, indicating that she had assumed correctly.

"Way too much... I swear everything he talks about has to do with some story from when you two were out exploring the Earth Kingdom."

"We weren't exploring, it was-" she began to argue against her simplification of the endeavour she had embarked on with her Water Tribe companion, only to be cut off by his sister, who seemed to disapprove of her own mentioning of the tale.

"Just shut it." she growled, paddling harder than she had been prior, to force the Princess to quieten herself and do the same; she had a compulsive desire to be the best at everything, and if it was going to be paddling, it would be just that.

She wanted to chide Katara for disturbing whatever fish might be around, but Azula decided that would only further agitate her; as much as she would like to spar her, for Sokka's sake, she knew she ought to restrain herself. Pulling her paddle up from the water, she let their canoe slow down as they entered the thick of the ice field, knowing that it would be unnecessary for them to move much now that they had reached the supposed fishing grounds that the Water Tribe girl had vouched for. She drew out her spear, which had been gifted to her by her boyfriend; she found it unwieldy for combat, but quite effective against the local fauna, and had grown used to the quick motions she would use to ensnare fish with it, akin to her own firebending strikes, which were similarly fast and calculated. She made sight of a fish, readying her spear above her right shoulder, aiming down right at the small fish that was circling around nearby. Driving the spearhead down into the water, she grit her teeth upon realising that she missed; she tilted her head back, sighing with frustration, before looking back down for more fish, as the one she attempted to strike had swum away.

"Having a little trouble?" Katara asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes at her with disdain; mocking her when she was trying to feed her own village was a pinnacle of hypocrisy.

"I'm trying. What about you, or are you going to try and splash one onto the boat?" she questioned her, making the Water Tribe teen's formerly smug expression tighten, quickly reaching to grab her own spear.

"Fine, then. I'll catch a fish before you." she declared with a tone of confidence that made Azula grin; she did love competitions, after all.

"Oh, you're on." the Princess agreed to her challenge, before she eyed around the water, trying to spot any distinctive shadows that might be fish; the water below them was dark, and spotting fish was challenging enough already, but the Princess knew that she only had to find one- that would be suffice to win the challenge, in the end.

As they continued to slowly moved through the ice-field, the Princess kept her eyes focused on the water around them, frequently switching sides to try and spot a fish; she eventually did find one, which was swimming by its lonesome, moving about erratically, first under the boat and then circling around on Azula's left. Readying her spear, she smirked confidently, ready to strike the creature; she was about to thrust down when she heard Katara clearing her throat beside her. Turning her eyes toward the Water Tribe girl, she looked above her head, taking note that she had ensnared a fish in an orb of water.

"I won." the Water Tribe girl declared, making the Princess, who was by virtue now the loser, snarl with annoyance, before thrusting her spear into the fish she had been focusing on, successfully catching it on the spear.

Pulling it out of the water, she looked at her fish, cursing her own restraint when it came to hunting; her desire for precision meant that her rival was able capture a fish far quicker than she could. In the end, her own inadequacy was an advantage; if the Water Tribe teen was just as concerned with precision and accuracy as she was, Azula believed that she would have lost. The other girl dropped her fish into a bag that they had on the canoe, the Princess doing the same a few moments later; she might have wanted to mock Katara by cooking and eating her own fish, but she knew that eating an ungutted fish, no matter how well cooked, would not sit well with her.

"So, you're not going to acknowledge I'm a better fisher than you?" the Water Tribe girl prodded, making the Princess sigh with frustration.

"Shut up. Congratulations, you've been a waterbender for what- sixteen years? And you can fish better than a person without waterbending." she chided her, making the Water Tribe girl growl.

"It's not my fault there's no masters left in the Southern Water Tribe!" she shouted at her in recompense, "Your people made sure of that."

"You can't despise me for that. I wasn't even alive when that happened." she argued, the Water Tribe girl calming down slightly, eyeing her with disdain.

"Who said I despise you?" she quipped in response, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I can see it in your eyes." she simply told her, which was the truth; Azula was a people person, and knowing people, she could tell when someone disliked or liked someone or something.

"So what?" she crossed her arms, "You're not a good person. I shouldn't have to like you." she declared, the Princess snickering at her words, knowing that Katara had unintentionally affirmed the Princess's own view of herself, that she wasn't a good person, even if she did do what she believed was right; good and evil were for weak and foolish morons, that was what her father had always told her.

"I'm not good." she agreed with her, which only further displeased the Water Tribe teen, that itself amusing Azula even further; did she really believe that the Princess was somehow obliged to have some kind of morals and principles to drive her?

"H-how... how can someone even say that? Even evil people must think they're good." she declared, making the Princess raise a brow; she was right in a way, knowing that people who she knew probably thought they were good, like her brother, had done 'evil' things, perhaps even enough to make themselves 'evil' by their own stupid principles.

"I'm beyond good and evil. Why should I care what is good or nice? I am concerned about what I think is right."

Katara's eyes widened with surprise, the Princess realising that she had never really explained her own ethos to the girl, "So, do you think the raids on the Water Tribe were bad?"

"They were unnecessary, and ultimately achieved nothing. The Southern Water Tribe was never a threat to the Fire Nation." she declared, stating her own belief on the matter, which she would admit, was shaped by Sokka's own ideas about what had happened.

The canoe fell silent for a few moments, before the Water Tribe girl looked back up at her, "I am both pleased and insulted at the same time." she admitted, which was obvious from her snide glare.

The Princess couldn't help but make a smug grin in response, "Thank you, Katara. That is the exact response I-"

She was cut off by their canoe shaking out of blue, Azula's attention immediately turning ahead of them, taking note of a current that was pulling them along, "Oh... is this normal?"

Katara looked the same way that she did, her eyes widening with fear, "Nope... nope! Start paddling!" she ordered the Princess, who was not in the mood to be given any kind of directive, but conceded that the girl before her likely had a far better understanding of how to navigate amongst the ice floes.

She pulled her paddle up from inside the canoe, and began to thrust it through the water, pushing it backwards to try and both slow their canoe down, and hopefully turn it around so they could head in a different direction, away from the quick moving current. She quickly came to realise how much of a challenge that would be as they were dragged toward a few large icebergs that were converging on each other, with the current dragging them right in.

"Let's take our luck." she suggested, before she began to paddle in the opposite direction, hoping to get fast enough to go speed through the quickly narrowing gap between the icebergs; she paddled as hard as she could, regularly switching sides to avoid any smaller ice floes that came between them at the encroaching walls of ice.

"Faster!" Katara demanded, the Princess flaring her teeth as she reached out with her left hand behind the canoe; taking one deep breath, she sent out a massive stream of blue flames, which increased the velocity sharply, enough to get them clear of the two icebergs, which collided with each other only a few moments later.

The Water Tribe girl's face filled with awe for a few moments, before her focus turned to face ahead of them, her eyes filling with fear, seeing that the current was still pulling them along, and now toward a few ice floes that were obviously going to stop them dead in their tracks, far too large for the Princess to melt or shatter before they arrived.

"Go left!" the Water Tribe called on her, who switched paddle hands, sending her fire stream to their right, which pushed them a bit to the left, out of the way of the ice floe, before suddenly, the canoe was struck by a piece of floating ice from behind, throwing her forward.

Momentarily disoriented, Azula glanced to her right to see that they were now quickly approaching the ice floes, tensing herself as she grasped her spear, knowing that she wasn't going to leave it behind if the worst eventuated; she grit her teeth, watching as the ice floes moved even closer, ensnaring them like they had wanted to do to fish. The canoe began to shatter beneath them, the Princess's eyes widened with fear before she jumped out of the canoe, onto one of the slippery ice floes; of all things, she didn't want to end up in the freezing water. She saw that Katara had done the same a moment later, holding the bag of fish, which spilled out onto the ice floe in front of them, the fish wiggling around momentarily, before Azula reached forward, stabbing them both onto the tip of her spear, ensuring that their efforts had not been in vain.

"Ah-ha! You two aren't getting away." she declared triumphantly, although her confidence eroded once she looked around, realising that that their canoe had just been shattered, "Oh... so now we're stuck here." she mumbled, the Water Tribe girl snarling with frustration.

"Are you kidding me?!" she shouted out, "I said left!" she told the Princess, who looked back at her with confusion.

"I did try to go left; I can't control when we get smacked by ice." she declared, before making a haughty grin, "But you can."

"I can barely control my waterbending." she retorted which clenched fists; something told Azula that Katara was in a bad mood, and not just because they had lost their canoe and were currently stranded on an ice floe with no help in sight- it seemed to have a deeper cause than her primal desire to survive a given situation, "This is Sokka's fault. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to his stupid idea. It was always a bad idea to go fishing with you."

"Oh, is it really? Didn't we both successfully catch fish?" she asked her in her usual argumentative and sassy tone, which only further angered the Water Tribe teen.

"We did, and now look! We're stranded!" she shouted, the Princess sighing, before standing up on the ice floe.

"So, do you really want to fight me that bad?" she asked her, the Water Tribe girl raising her chin, refusing to look at her.

"I never said that." she argued, the Princess smugly crossing her, leaning them on the spear she had stabbed into the ice.

"Huh, is that so?" she asked her, doubting she was saying her true feelings, "Your face says otherwise."

The Water Tribe girl stared at her for a few moments, pulling what looked to be her best game face, before gesturing down to the spear in Azula's hand, "Put the fish away. Then I'll show you what an angry waterbender can do."

"Oh, I've never fought one before... this ought to be interesting." she declared as she moved to placed the fish back in the bag, genuinely interested in fighting her for the intellectual benefit.

She had never seen waterbending properly used for combat, and even if Katara didn't really know how to use it, the Princess was sure that she could give some insights into how her element worked, so she could better learn how to defeat those who wielded it.

Putting her spear down, she took a simple stance, having her left foot forward and her right back, with her left hand up, ready to strike at any moment; the Water Tribe girl took what seemed to be an imitation of her own stance, although unlike the Princess she immediately began to try and bend, taking water from behind her, up in a ball of water. She raised a brow in interest, before she watched as Katara flared her teeth, moving forward in imitation of a firebending form she had once practiced; the result was rather unexpected- instead of a ball of water being propelled at her like Azula herself would send a fireball, the water froze into snow, and covered the Princess's entire upper body, making her stumble back. Stabilising herself after nearly falling in the water, she raised a brow at the Water Tribe girl, seriously confused by her tactic, which did little harm but almost throw her off her feet.

"Sorry... what was that meant to achieve?" she asked her, Katara staring at her, her silence indicating that she was mulling over whether to answer the Princess's question.

"What was it..." she began to repeat her question, before snarling with anger, "I can fight!" she declared, before pulling water up once again from behind her, this time in more of an amorphous blob, which the waterbender directed toward her with haste; Azula smirked, throwing her right fist forward, making a powerful stream of blue fire which cut right through her stream, firing into an iceberg that sat behind her. She smirked as she saw the Water Tribe girl cower below her attack, gulping with fear, obviously realising that her abilities were no match for the Princess's; both of their attention was turned to the iceberg that she had accidentally struck, as it began to crumble from the damage she had dealt down upon it, splitting in half in a spectacle. It looked like it was going to make quite the splash, one which Katara would be hit by.

"Move out of the way!" she told the Water Tribe girl, who looked back with shock as the iceberg finally collapsed, causing a large wave to form; although Katara was knocked off of her feet, Azula grasped her hand, making sure she didn't slip into the water, which she was seemingly thankful for.

"Urgh... what was that?" she looked back behind them, taking note that the iceberg had disappeared.

"I'm pretty sure icebergs break all the time, it's not that weird." she assured her, before they both took note of an unusual bubbling coming out of the water, and a blue glow radiating under the water, "Okay... that's weird."

The two of them moved back as the glow began to spread, and the bubbles intensified, before suddenly a massive spherical iceberg broke through the water's edge, radiantly glowing a bright blue; she was further shocked when she saw what was a person shaped silhouette as well as a large object within the iceberg. She narrowed her eyes, taking note of what she could only describe as glowing lines over his body, which made no sense in her eyes. She had no idea what she was looking at; she considered perhaps she was looking at some kind of trapped spirit or perhaps something even more unusual- she didn't know what was more unusual than spirits, and she hadn't ever witnessed anything to do with those in her seventeen years of life.

"What... what is that?" she mumbled with utter shock, fearful to even approach what was clearly sitting right in front of her; she could tell that it wasn't some kind of mirage or hallucination, as Katara was just as concerned as she was.

Suddenly, the silhouette opened their eyes, which were glowing just the same as the lines crossing their body; she felt a chill down her spine, remembering the mention of glowing eyes once in her education, and it only concerned one person, specifically the greatest enemy of the Fire Nation, the Avatar. She didn't say anything, but it seemed that the Water Tribe girl was more concerned for the safety of whomever lay inside.

"He's alive! We have to help- you can use your firebending to open that iceberg, can't you?" she asked the Princess, who raised a brow at her.

"Who said I wanted to open up the iceberg with the glowing person in it?" she questioned her, to which Katara simply pointed toward the silhouette once more.

"You can't just leave him there! Who knows how long he's been in that iceberg." she told the Princess, who narrowed her eyes, before holding the Water Tribe girl by the arm.

"Fine, but stay back. I don't want you running after if we're about to get attacked by some dormant spirit thing." she declared, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow at her.

"I didn't think you were that superstitious." she admitted, the Princess shaking her head.

"It's not superstition when it's a glowing person. Who glows on a day to day basis, exactly?" she quipped in response, the Water Tribe girl sighing, acknowledging that she had a point.

"Uh, fair enough." she murmured, before standing out of Azula's way, as she took a firebending stance, immediately focusing on her breath.

She would need to make a concentrated and precise attack if she wanted to open the iceberg, and she would do just that; if she was attacked by a spirit, she would unashamedly used the Water Tribe girl as a human shield, knowing that she had asked for their fate, if that was so. Forming a coiled fire whip around her arm, she thrust it up, letting the whip flow on out, before she swung her arm down at the iceberg, striking it with the whip like a knife to a bit of meat. Suddenly the iceberg began to crack, a fissure forming through the orb, wind bursting out of the cracks; within a few seconds the orb exploded in a massive outward explosion, which was followed by a massive beam of blue light that emanated up into the sky above the iceberg. Azula's gut dropped, realising the mistake she might have just made, knowing who might be inside the iceberg she had just cut open; the Princess of the Fire Nation wasn't well versed in things of a spiritual nature, but knew that any wise person would avoid them, while she had just ran into one blindly.

Eventually the light settled, and a few moments after it did, the silhouette inside appeared to be climbing up the edge of the crater of ice, revealing that he wasn't a spirit, but a boy; a boy in orange and yellow robes, with glowing tattoos and eyes. She was certain of it in that moment, and she fell to her knees, realising what had just happened; she had just unleashed the one thing that the Fire Nation ought to have never sought out, and never found, until her, the prodigy princess without a home, accidentally found the Avatar, and released him from his imprisonment.

"What have I done?"

* * *

**_Three days earlier..._ **

Sokka enjoyed sleeping in, and it was the one thing he could do when concepts like day and night were irrelevant at the South Pole; although summer, and the midnight sun with it, was on its way out, the sun had already been up for a long time, and the Water Tribe teen had no intention of getting out of bed. That was until his girlfriend scared the life out of him by putting her flame-covered hand right up against his face; he had squealed, and Azula subsequently mocked him for it, before informing him that his grandmother had wanted his help doing some chores around the village. He had retorted by asking her why Katara couldn't do that very thing. His girlfriend, being the intelligent person she was, told him that she would rather avoid earning his sister's ire by demanding she do his chores. Currently, he was eating some stewed sea prunes, which his girlfriend had heated up for him, ostensibly because she wanted him to get up do his work quicker, rather than because she actually wanted him to enjoy a hot meal. He did enjoy it, but when he batted his eyes at her, she rolled hers in return, seemingly not in the mood for his seduction.

"Stop looking at me like that." she chided him, before she turned away from him, eating her own breakfast, which she didn't seem to be enjoying.

If there was one thing he couldn't get her to appreciate about his culture, it was certainly the cuisine; he would admit that it was an acquired taste, but he was confused why anyone would think sea prunes tasted as bad as Azula thought they did.

"Sorry, I'm just appreciating that you were kind enough to heat my meal." he admitted the honest truth, although he didn't mention the fact he did like looking at her; she was quite pretty after all, and her hair had grown back out from its previously choppy look, now stretching down past her shoulders, with her signature bangs still lining her face.

"Oh, so I'm only useful because I can heat your food?" she retorted, the Water Tribe teen shrugging, before he made a coy smile.

"I mean, I don't like you because you're useful, I like you because you're... you." he tried to compliment her, only coming off awkward, although he realised it must have had some effect as she blushed before turning back to her meal.

"Whatever. Just finish your meal. I don't want Gran Gran harking on me about your chores all day because you're a bum." she chided him, which he took as an indication to dig into his meal; he did love the food, and the fact that it was hot made it better.

The obnoxiously slurping sounds he made as he finished it off were met with a glare from Azula, who then grabbed the bowl out of his hand and gestured out of their tent, "Now, go. I'm sure I can find something to do while your do your chores." she told him, making him smile and nod at her, appreciating that she was willing to pitch in for work.

When they arrived at his village, he didn't know if she would be willing to do the 'peasant's work' that he had heard her explicitly say was beneath her. He was pleasantly surprised that she actually did decide to help around the village, although he was unsure if she justified it out of fear of being kicked out of the village; she was the daughter of the last Fire Lord, after all. She had pitched in on a daily basis, whether through her firebending as a tool, or through pure labour itself; she had learnt how to sew, cook stew, and gut all kinds of animals, the last of which Sokka himself had helped teach her to do.

He waved goodbye to his girlfriend with a bright smile, "Enjoy your... morning- it's still morning, isn't it?" he asked her, only making her glare at him as if he was too dim to understand how the sun worked; unlike her he hadn't actually been outside yet, so he couldn't actually determine what time of the day he actually gotten out of bed at.

"It is." she clarified, before her glare softened slightly, "Just do your chores."

"Then what?" he asked her, her statement having suggested she had something in mind.

She pursed her lips before looking away, "Maybe we can do an activity together." she told him, making a smirk that was undeniably mocking; she was referencing the time he had asked her to do an activity with him when they had returned home, as if an activity was meant to be by-word for some kind of date.

"I'll look forward to that." he retorted, telling the honest truth that he would indeed enjoy spending some time in her company that didn't involve her hiding him for being late, lazy or generally dimwitted.

Exiting the tent, he was forced to squint for a few seconds as his eyes adjusted to the light, before he glanced about, trying to make sight of his grandmother, who Azula had told him wanted him to do some chores. He walked over toward his family's igloo, not knowing if she'd be anywhere otherwise, before he walked on in, glancing about to try and check if anyone was home. Katara and Kanna were nowhere to be seen, meaning that they were out doing the chores that his girlfriend had spoken of; he sighed with frustration, knowing that what he had been told was too vague, so instead of knowing what to do, he'd have to walk around the village aimlessly to try and find them.

He then heard a familiar voice behind him, "Sokka, what are you doing just standing there?" Katara called out to him, making him turn around, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I'm trying to find Gran Gran. Do you know where she is?" he asked her, his sister pointing to her right, back the way he had just came.

"She's helping make a new tent with the other women. I think she wanted you for something else, though." she explained, making Sokka furrow a brow.

"Huh, is there another kid on the way?" he asked her, curious as to why they'd be making a new tent.

"Yep." she simply confirmed before gesturing for him to come forward, "I need to get in our igloo, and you're in the way."

He stiffened up as he realised how unobservant he had been, making a smile to disguise his embarrassment as he stepped out of her way; she rolled her eyes at him before entering the igloo, after which his attention immediately turned toward where his sister had gestured to. Pacing down through the village, he kept his eyes open for spotting his grandmother amongst the lively village, seeing that it was approaching 'midday', or better phrased, the time of day that was brightest, seeing that the sun barely got above the horizon at the South Pole, unlike the other places he had visited on his journey around the world. He did certainly miss waking up and going to sleep with the rise and fall of the sun rather than the unusual variation of sunlight that he experienced at his home. Seeing that his village was quite small in its physical expanse, it did not take Sokka long to make sight of his grandmother, as well as a few other women, sewing large pieces of pelt together as a tent canvas; it seemed that they were making a tent larger, to accommodate for a new child, which made sense to him. He would think that making an igloo would be in order, but the tent was a far quicker solution that made sense, especially when it was cheap do so with pelts to spare after hunting. Kanna immediately took note of him as he approached, giving him a rather sceptical look that he had seen on his sister's face far too many times; she was obviously annoyed with his sleeping habits, although he'd always say, he couldn't help it.

"Sokka, you really do need to get out of bed earlier." she chided him, before lifting up the untreated pelt of a polar bear, "I need you to cut the fur off of this pelt, and then clean it of meat." she explained to him simply; Water Tribe boy nodded, giving his grandmother a reassuring smile.

"I'll get it done, Gran-Gran." he told her as he took the pelt into his hands, before he threw it over his shoulder.

Glancing back around, he realised he ought to find somewhere to cut away the pelt, curling his lips as he realised that he could put the waste to use; seeing that meat and hair were both flammable, he could put the remains in the central campfire, which would both make the village smell like polar bear meat. Not that everyone would enjoy the smell, but he guessed that enough people would like it. Pacing back down toward the centre of the campsite, he passed by his and Azula's tent, momentarily trying to spy through the gap in the canvas to see if she was still inside; from what he could tell with his short glance, she wasn't there, and he continued along, hoping that no one was thinking his staring was unusual- most in the village knew that was his tent, although it would be very easy for someone to get the wrong idea if they didn't.

As he approached the communal fire, he saw a few people sitting around, either talking, eating or cooking their meals, but no one paid much attention to him as he sat down across from the fire in a soft patch of snow; pulling the pelt from over his shoulder, he noticed that it must have been freshly cut, the flesh still smelling like raw meat, not rot having set in. He did acknowledged that due to the temperature at the South Pole, meat usually took longer to spoil, as the cold was a great method of preserving it. He pulled out his bone dagger, taking it to slice away the remaining flesh, before flicking it with the blade into the fire nearby; the move surprised some of the tribesmen nearby, who momentarily took attention to the burning bit of polar beat flesh.

Taking the blade down again, he continued to slice the flesh up and off of the pelt, flicking it into the fire every time he reached the top; he did take note of the slight smell of burning meat, which made him lick his lips. Sokka certainly hoped that he'd get a proper meat dish some time soon, knowing that if the men were killing polar bears, he might have a chance to enjoy a proper bit of meat, seeing how massive the creatures usually were; he did realise after a few moments of considering that thought that the pelt he had been slicing was rather small, indicating that it might have belonged to a juvenile bear rather than an adult, who might have bore the village a great deal of sustenance with its meat.

He was interrupted from his slicing of flesh by a shout which sounded above the other indiscriminate voices he could hear around the campfire, "A boat! A boat's here!" he heard one of the tribesmen declare, Sokka's brows raising with interest; he wondered who could be arriving at their village, seeing that a big fuss wouldn't be made if it was just some of the men returning from a fishing trip.

He stood up, rolling the pelt up and setting it down where he had been sitting, knowing that he could easily return to his task once he had checked out what was going on; it wasn't that he was in a procrastinating mood, but rather that his curiosity was getting the better of him- he liked knowing things, and thus he simply decided he would find out why a boat was showing up at their backwater village. He followed a few other intrigued villagers toward the wall that sat at the front of their village, distinguished by Sokka's 'watchtower', which was less of a watchtower and more of a large pile of ice and snow that he had built when his father and the other warriors had been away for a few years; it still stood tall above the ice wall, reminding him of that rather depressing time in his life. Not that he was sad at the time, but looking upon it in hindsight made him feel sad, knowing that he was left to defend his tribe, and clearly wasn't capable, at least at that time, of doing it. He realised that if the Southern Raiders had found out about Katara, they might have come back to attack them, when they had all been alone. He was just glad that wasn't the eventuality, and that their village was safe while the men went to fight in the Earth Kingdom.

When he arrived at the wall, he could make out the sail of a boat, but immediately could tell it wasn't Water Tribe; if anything, it reminded him of his own boat, or better phrased, the boat he and Azula had stolen in Yu Dao, which had been dragged ashore a few months prior, leaving it to be covered in snow. It wasn't his boat, obviously, and he quickly came to understand whose boat it was as he climbed up onto the wall. On the front of the boat he could see Bato, a man whose face he was elated to see; after leaving him in Ba Sing Se, he was unsure where the warrior had taken himself; Sokka guessed that he and the Freedom Fighters might have left the city together, but following that, he had no idea what might have led him to return to the Southern Water Tribe around eight months later.

"Bato!" he called out to him, his gaze immediately settling upon the Water Tribe boy, who quickly scaled down the other side of the wall before racing over to him, "I'm so glad you're okay!" he grinned at him.

"Sokka, it's good to see you, my boy." he smiled warmly at him, the other tribesmen gathering around, "It's good to see you all."

"You're finally back!" one of the other warriors exclaimed, "Where have you been all this time?"

"It's probably a long story." Sokka assumed of the tale that Bato might intend to tell them.

"It is." he admitted, before eyeing around, "Where's the Chief. I have something I need to talk to him about."

"If it concerns Dad, then it's probably important for me too." the Water Tribe teen raised a finger, the older warrior raising a brow at him sceptically.

"Taking charge, are we?" he asked, to which he made a curt nod.

"Yep. Can't you see how I've modelled my look after him?" he asked him, gesturing to his scraggly beard and long hair which had grown out from his older undercut, which he had forgotten to continue cutting when he joined Azula's group, giving him an appearance far closer to his father, although he was obviously far younger looking.

"I was about to say... you look a lot older. And it's only been a few months."

"I had a wild few months, let's just say that." he admitted, remembering with both fondness and regret his adventures with Azula; he didn't feel regret for the whole endeavour, but he truly wished some parts had gone differently, especially when it came to her Agni Kai with Zuko.

"Well, you'll have to tell me all about it, but right now, I really do need to speak with your father. There's something important we need to discuss."

"I'm guessing it has to do with fighting the Fire Nation." he suggested, Bato shaking his head before clasping his shoulder.

"Yes, but the situation has changed... a lot." he admitted, pointing up toward the village, while all the other tribesmen looked on in awe.

"Well then, let's find Dad, and then we can talk about all that."

* * *

Rather than having an ordinary morning, free of troubles, where she could simply eat her breakfast, do odd-jobs around the village, and then enjoy beating up her boyfriend, Azula found that she was going to spend it seething; Sokka had shown up with news, and not the kind that she was expecting, not for a while. Bato, the man he had met with the Captain while they were in Ba Sing Se, had returned home to the Southern Water Tribe and bore news, and from what he had already told her, there wasn't much good.

"Just repeat that for me, so I can make sure that I'm not going insane from sleep deprivation." she asked him, the Water Tribe teen gritting his teeth, edging back as he tried to stall repeating himself, already knowing that it would worsen her mood.

"You're believed to be dead." he restated what he had already told her, making her clench her fists tightly, so much so that she was digging her nails into her palms.

"For fucks sake... this better not be some propaganda made by Zuzu just so he can secure the throne." she voiced her rather straight-forward presumption, which made the most sense, given the context; her brother needed to secure his position as Fire Lord, after all, and making it out that the only known contender to the throne was dead made the most sense, as much as it infuriated her that he could even do such a thing.

"I don't think it was. Bato said he heard it in an Earth Kingdom port, that you and I both disappeared after fleeing Pohuai fortress; it was assumed that we had drowned in a storm or something like that, rather than the truth, which was that we were able to sail all the way to the South Pole." Sokka clarified, making her sigh, knowing that that truth wasn't much better than what she was assuming.

If everyone believed she was dead, then it would be a lot harder to convince people to support her as a possible Fire Lord; death was certainly the best way to fall into obscurity, which she had learnt from the case of her grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, who bar the Great Gates which bear his name, was practically erased from the Fire Nation as an icon, after having ruled his nation for seventy five years.

"That isn't much better. If everyone thinks I'm dead, then how am I going to take the throne?" she asked him, his eyes widening and mouth opening ajar indicating that he didn't even believe that to be a possible outcome to her story.

"I- uh- can you even take the throne anymore? Your brother might just arrest you instead of accepting an Agni Kai." he suggested, the Princess chuckling at his words; she was far past Agni Kais- if she was ever to face off her brother, it would be in the field of battle.

"Oh, I can take the throne, by prying it off of his dead body. I'm still Crown Princess, assuming that he hasn't uprooted the line of succession to suit his own agenda." she explained her own idea, without any of the more complicated details such as actually gaining a force large enough to fight her brother, let alone defeating him, "Now... what else did he say about the state of affairs out of this ice-hole?"

"Uh... he talked to Dad about an offer made by some Earth Kingdom rebels. Supposedly they want to work together to expel the Fire Nation from their territory."

"I wouldn't suggest that." she immediately voiced her opinion, "As much as I myself want to face off my brother, a few rebels should avoid the ire of my brother, who I might remind you, is the Fire Lord, who commands the vast majority of the military forces of the Fire Nation."

"He explained that it wasn't against your brother's forces, who I might add, have supposedly withdrawn out of the Earth Kingdom excluding the colonies." he admitted, making her narrow her brow.

"Ah, so we'd be... oh... Sokka, you've given me a very good idea." she grinned at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"A good idea?" he raised a brow, making her purse her lips, smugly looking at him as she realised she had a perfect way to help both the Southern Water Tribe and herself.

"I'm the Crown Princess, remember. The Fire Nation renegades might be more inclined to support me, and if I could draw them away from the territory of these rebels and rather toward my brother, the rebels can gain a great victory, I accredit the Southern Water Tribe, and your people will accrue the benefits of being respected by these rebels."

"That's a very good idea, except for the fact that you can't be on both sides at once." he chided her, "That's wrong."

"There is no such thing as being wrong, Sokka, haven't you learned that. You can win and lose. What I propose, it's a win-win situation."

"No it isn't. The moment that either side finds out you've been dealing around, you'll be thrown in prison, or worse. What if the Fire Nation forces decide to ransom you off to Zuko? What are you going to do then?" he prodded her, which despite the valid argument he provided, the Princess snarled at him with anger, not wanting to believe her plan was flawed; she wanted a way back into power without wronging her new allies, and she would do whatever it took to achieve just that.

"Shut up!" she demanded of him, turning away as she reminded herself of what she desired, "I can still be Fire Lord."

"Not like that." he told her, as if he had any power over her; but seeing his eyes narrow at her, hearing his stern voice, she realised that he perhaps did have power, even if she wasn't willing to show that he did.

She sighed, lying herself back on her sleeping roll, "Fine then, how do you propose you get on the throne?"

"By making the people of the Fire Nation understand that you are a better Fire Lord. If you have the people behind you, then you can be sure that the rest will fall in place." he argued, making her flare her nostrils at him, not liking where he was taking the conversation.

"I'm not some paragon of virtue." she stated her opinion bluntly, "I'm competent and I want the best for my nation. If the people saw that, they would know that I am a better choice for the throne."

"The throne isn't everything, Azula." he tried to calm her, "Your life isn't going to be determined by who sits on a big chair."

"That's where you're wrong." she glared him down, rising up from her bed, "I'm either going to be stuck here, some bored and useless housewife who can't apply her real skills in any way." she declared, the Water Tribe teen's eyes widening, before his cheeks flushed red.

"Did you just say... uh- wife?" he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes; she knew enough about his culture to know that if she was his girlfriend, then sooner or later she'd be his wife.

"Well, that's what I'd end up if I'm stuck here." she told him in a scolding tone; her expression lightened when she realised that she might have hurt his feelings, but suggesting that she didn't think their relationship would last, "I still... care for you, Sokka." she assured him with as calm a tone as she could muster, making his eyes brighten with hope.

"I know you do. You're angry, and you have a right to feel that way. You got your life taken away from you." he stated the obvious, but the fact that he was acknowledging her pain only made her feel all the more guilty; she was acting without consideration of his own feelings, such as what he wanted out of their relationship, or if he wanted her to stay with him in the Southern Water Tribe.

"I shouldn't my frustrations out on you. You didn't do any of this." she admitted, before her eyes glanced up to meet his own, "You understand me... more than I'd expect anyone else to, and I'm just..." she began to mumble, unsure if she wanted to say it; that she was sorry, knowing that those words felt like poison coming off her tongue.

Her father had always told her to never feel regret for her actions, because that would weaken her resolve; even if she wanted to believe he was right, she couldn't deny that she was feeling that very emotion: regret, sadness, and a sense of wastefulness, she was sorry.

"You're what?" Sokka asked her, making her realise she had been silent for far too long.

"I'm sorry." she just said it, the words escaping her tongue, making her feel relieved that she did; he deserved to hear it, because she had mistreated him, "I shouldn't get angry at you, not after all you've done for me. You saved me... from those bandits, from Long Feng, and even from my brother. You saved me all those times, and I haven't really repaid you for your actions." she acknowledged the fact of the matter, making him raise a finger.

"But you told me about Yon Rha-" he began, the Princess cutting him off.

"I told you that because I wanted to control you. I thought that if I gave you a drive, and showed you my knowledge, that you'd be loyal. I haven't given back to you in the way you've given to me." she declared the fact of the matter, making him tear up, raising a hand to her cheek; she usually might have flinched back, but she didn't want to, not when his emotions were shown to her raw.

"You don't need to do that. I don't help people because I want things, I just do what's right." he told her, the Princess sighing, wishing that she could hold the same resolve he did; ever since they had left Yu Dao, it was like she had lost her sense of purpose, and the only kind of drive she could find was to somehow return to the Fire Nation, and reclaim her position of glory, and even then, she didn't know how she could even achieve it.

"I wish I could be happy with my life. You've given me freedom, more than I've ever known, and even then, I never feel fulfilled." she admitted, the Water Tribe teen placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I understand what you mean." he admitted, his dropping down with sadness "To have that hole in your chest that you can't fulfil."

"Your..." she began, before stopping herself, knowing that discussing his mother was something that brought up a mixture of emotions in Sokka; anger, sadness and regret, all mixed together to create a kind of melancholy that she couldn't compare to, "How do you... how do you deal with it?"

"I don't try and fill it. That hole's going to stay there." he simply admitted, before his face brightened into a smile as he looked to her, "But there's other things you can have, things that make you forget the pain, or at least, outweigh it."

Her eyes widened, realising what he was trying to tell her; that she had helped him, their friendship, and then their love, it had allowed him to overcome his pain, not by confronting it directly, but by overlooking it, to see the other good things in his life, in the world as a whole.

"I love you, Sokka." she told him, knowing that it was the only thing she could say in response; she didn't say it lightly, knowing that love was something that was hard to come by, for her, "I should be happy, and your love, it makes me happy. It makes me happier than..." she began to mumble, realising there was something else she didn't want to discuss; her relationship with her father had always been one about respect, duty and power, but she was once conflated that with love- after her time with Sokka, she wasn't so sure that was what it was.

"I'm glad." he beamed at her, "I just don't know how I can make you happy. What can I do... what have I done wrong?" he asked her, the Princess sighing, simply kissing him on the lips to shut him up; if anything, she was the one in the wrong.

After a few moments of their lips touching, she leaned back, smiling at him as she rustled her fingers through his hair, "You've done nothing wrong." she assured him, tilting her head as she snickered, "If anything, I'm the one who's always screwing up."

"No you're not." he assured him, "I'm the idiot in this relationship, remember?" he asked her, making her snicker, remembering that she did like to mock his intelligence on a daily basis, but had refrained from doing so during their argument.

"Don't mock yourself, if there's one thing I want out of you it's confidence. I'm going to call you an idiot as much as I like because its funny."

"Is it funny because... I'm actually smarter than I think?" he asked her, making her roll her eyes; even if he was one of the most intelligent people she had ever met, she wasn't actually going to admit that, for the sake of her dignity.

"Don't get your hopes up." she glared him down, before she pursed her lips into a smirk, "Now, I think I know what can really make me happy." she admitted, the Water Tribe teen's eyes widening with intrigue.

"Oh, uh... what did you want to do?" he asked her, almost suggestively, which only made her more cocky when she sparked a small flame on her index finger.

"Beat the crap out of you." she declared, making him momentarily pout, before he smiled, still appreciating her idea.

"Well, I wouldn't mind going for a few rounds. Can we make it quick, though?" he asked her, the Princess raising a brow with interest.

"Why?" she asked him, "Did you want me to limit the number of times I pummel you in front of your village?" she added with a mocking grin, her boyfriend shaking his head.

"Uh, no. I didn't finish my chore that I was doing for Gran Gran." he explained, making Azula cringe, realising that she had completely forgotten about the work that she herself had told him to do.

"Of course." she agreed, "I don't want your grandmother getting angry at you. What if you don't get your dinner? You'll never let it down." she suggested, making him snicker, knowing that he would certainly be a bad mood if he didn't get his dinner, seeing that his entire life revolved around food.

"You're right. I wouldn't." he told her, his expression becoming almost unsettlingly serious, before he raised his head in the tent, gesturing toward the entrance, "Well, come on then. Am I going to chi-block you and drag you back here in, or what?" he asked her, making Azula grin, knowing that his prodding would only make her victory all the more sweeter.

"I'd like to see you try."

* * *

Seeing her brother lying in the snow, Katara snickered, realising that even if his fighting skills had improved greatly since he left to fight in the Earth Kingdom, he was still unable to beat the Princess of the Fire Nation; reminding herself of the fact that her brother's girlfriend was the heir of the last Fire Lord disturbed her greatly, knowing that even if she didn't have an army to lead or villages to destroy, she was still all the same as the rest of the Fire Nation- vicious, proud and arrogant. She didn't think that she could ever like Azula, even if she did mildly appreciate seeing her brother get his butt whooped; the Princess stood over him for a few moments, before offering a hand to help him up.

"Come on, savage, you really ought to get out of the snow. You've embarrassed yourself enough." she prodded him, making his sister's brow twitch at the mention of 'savage'; the fact that she had the audacity to call him a savage in their own home, even after all the time she had lived there, was telling of her character- she mistreated her brother, and he just went along with it.

"I embarrassed you more. You couldn't firebend for half that fight because you were chi-blocked." he commented on her own performance, reminding Katara of her brother's rather amazing skill that he had picked up on his journey; he had figured the ins and outs of disabling one's chi, which allowed him to temporarily paralyse and even prevent his enemies from bending.

"Hey, hey... are you asking for a second round?" she retorted, Sokka raising his hands defensively.

"No- uh- remember what I told you? Chores. Gran Gran's going to scold me... or worse, starve me, if I don't finish cleaning that pelt." he explained to her, excusing himself from any further fighting; it was at that moment that he turned around and took note of his sister standing there, having observed most if not all of his spar with Azula, "What are you doing standing there? Did you want to get in on the fun?" he prodded her, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head.

She didn't think she could face up to her brother, especially with his chi-blocking, let alone Azula, who she could already see was a masterful firebender; what intimidated her more than anything was her fire, which shone a bright blue, close enough to the colour of the snowy terrain itself that it was eerie.

"I don't want to fight either of you. But you've got the right idea, you should really be doing your chores." she suggested, her brother nodding with agreement.

"Yeah, I will." he confirmed, before he turned back to wave to his girlfriend, "I'll see you later."

What followed was the awkward silence that was left when her brother was taken out of the equation; just her and Azula, standing there, five feet apart, looking at each other, and both clearly uneasy in each other's presence. Katara certainly felt uneasy, and she didn't want to be around the Princess, but decided to spare her any chiding words about calling her brother a savage; she couldn't be bothered to argue with her, and instead decided that she would be better to take a conciliatory approach.

"Did you have anything to do... other than beating my brother up?" she queried, the Princess cocking her chin up, mulling over a response for a few seconds before she shrugged her soldiers.

"Not really. Did you have a chore that you needed... uh- assistance with?" she asked her, Katara raising a brow with confusion.

"Uh, do you mean you want to help me?" she asked Azula, who flared her nostrils as she turned her head away.

"No. I don't care for helping you personally. I mean for the sake of the village." she declared her intentions; whether she was trying to sound apathetic or altruistic was not within the Water Tribe teen's understanding, and she didn't really have any care for it.

She did care as to whether the Princess was lazing about and mooching off her tribe, so decided to offer her something to do, "I'm sewing a bigger parka for one of the children. You could help me with that."

She turned back to face Katara, remaining silent for a few moments, before she simply nodded, approaching her with haste, "I can do that. When do we start?" she asked her in the expected snappy tone, making her gesture behind her.

"Right now, just follow me." she told her, before turning her heels and beginning to walk to the place she needed to go; her family's igloo, where it was warmer, and thus a better place to work, as she didn't need to wear her parka in there.

She led the Princess along, who remained by her side, although she didn't look at her, her eyes remaining focused ahead of her; though she didn't really like her herself, for the simple reason that she wasn't a very nice person, overlaid by the fact that she couldn't trust her due to her background, she had no idea what she actually thought of her. She didn't intend to find out, as most of their interactions were short, involved some snarky comments from the Princess, or some other kind of observation that usually wasn't very kind.

When they arrived at the igloo, she opened the door, before walking right on in; at that time of day, there was no one inside, with her father about, either doing chiefly things, or attending to the kinds of work that were expected of him as an adult male in the tribe, that being hunting and fishing for food and supplies; they needed blubber for their fires, fur for their clothes and bones for their tools, all of which was found through long hard days out on the tundra. She remembered what she and Sokka had both had to do over the years when their father and the other men went out to fight the Fire Nation, and was personally quite glad those times were long gone, not having to wander off across the icy plains looking for the next meal to feed their village. She pulled her parka up by the shoulders, before pulling it over her head, realising that it wasn't necessary to wear inside, and would impede her work; taking note that she had done so, Azula did the same, both of them placing their parkas on a boat rack that sat by the doorway for that specific purpose.

She gestured over to the collection of furs that she had sitting by a mat, "That's what we have to work with."

"Hmph." the Princess scratched at her chin, "And what exactly will I have to do?"

"The different parts of the parka can be sewn together separately before being put together, like the sleeves and the hood." she explained, before sitting herself down, gesturing to the sewing kit, "You have everything you need there."

Azula simply nodded, sitting down across from her, taking what would become a sleeve and taking the constituent parts into her hands, before she leaned over, grasping a needle and thread; Katara did the same, taking another sleeve, as well as her own needle and thread. Taking the sinew thread through the edge of one half, she wound it through another, creating a tough bind between each of the pieces, ensuring that it would be suitable to wear.

She turned her head to the Princess, deciding that if they were going to be sitting by each other's side, she should at the very least try to make conversation, "So, did you hear about Bato coming back?" she asked the Princess, who tilted her chin up, the downward pursing of her lips suggesting that she wasn't very happy about that.

"I did." she confirmed, before her eyes narrowed with spite, "Despite being half-way across the world, my brother is still able to ruin my life."

She had heard much about her brother Zuko, although Sokka didn't have much to say about him, she understood well enough that the two royal siblings had a rivalry that ran deep; despite that, she was unsure how exactly he was able to affect her, and what that had to do with Bato's return.

"Uh... but he is half-way across the world." she stated the obvious as she continued to thread the two pieces of fur together, "How can he do anything?"

"By remaining Fire Lord." she clarified, before her eyes turned to face her own, staring Katara down, "Just like you, I'm not exactly pleased about me being here in your tribe."

"I didn't say that." she retorted, the Princess scoffing in response.

"Uh, you did. I remember quite clearly the day we first met." she recalled, making the Water Tribe girl cringe; she had said something along the lines of that, but she thought that she had good reason; she was under the presupposition that the Fire Nation military was going hunt her down and put her whole village in danger- of course, that never actually happened, so she didn't hold that argument against her any longer.

"Fine. You're right." she acknowledged her lie, the Princess raising her chin, her smug smile indicating her sense of victory, which only furthered her own spite toward her; Katara knew that Azula was doing a brilliant job at making herself hateable, so much so that she thought she might be doing it on purpose.

She continued to sew the sleeve together, now taking the opposite sides of the now bound piece, proceeding to thread the tube-like shape together; as she threaded down, the Princess decided to make her response, "As I was saying... I'm not here because I want to be, although I will say your people have been hospitable to me. The last place I was invited to I found myself nearly captured by a conspiracy led by a clique of earthbenders; this has been a great improvement." she admitted, harking back to her story; Katara remembered the part about the Dai Li quite well, and how they had barely prevented the Fire Nation government from being overthrown in Ba Sing Se, "But I can't go back home without an army, without support, and because I feel obliged to not dishonour your own people and their allegiances, I am finding it challenging to get any kind of support."

"You can't get much support for anything when you're down here." she suggested bluntly, not getting into the fact that she didn't really want the girl before her out warmongering in the Earth Kingdom to begin with.

The Princess sighed, shaking her head at her words, "No, I already know of people who would be of use to me. There's a group of Earth Kingdom rebels who are friendly with Bato, and they are one of the only ways I expect I could return to the Earth Kingdom safely."

"Can't become Fire Lord through the Earth Kingdom, can you?" she quipped, making Azula narrow her eyes at her spitefully.

She wasn't trying to rub it in that she was stuck in her situation, but rather simply acknowledging the fact that it would be impossible to achieve what she wanted with Bato's supposed allies; anybody in the Earth Kingdom couldn't stand a chance against her brother, who according to the Princess's own estimates which she had made, controlled the vast majority of the Fire Nation's forces.

"No, I can't." the Princess simply acknowledged, looking down to continue her sewing rather than staring at Katara; if there was anything she could compliment her on, it would be the fact that she always seemed to be focused on whatever task was at hand.

It only took a moment for her to realise that Azula was actually ahead of her in her sewing, already having finished one sleeve, making the Water Tribe girl feel threatened; she wasn't trying to be competitive, but it seemed that the Fire Nation girl might have her own idea on that matter. She continued to sew the two sides of the sleeve together, eventually reaching the bottom, where she would have to sew on a cuff.

"You need to sew a band of fur with the fur side facing outwards for the cuffs." she gestured to the strips of fur that lay nearby, Azula momentarily glancing at her before reaching over to grab one for herself, before returning to her work, without a word.

Katara took a strip for herself, coiling it around her own wrist to try and get an idea for the size what she was going to make, knowing that it ought to fit snugly around a child's wrist; she grabbed a bone dagger, before she sliced off a portion of the long strip of fur, which could be reused to make another cuff or some other piece of clothing. As she began to sew the two ends of the band together, which wasn't a very long strip, she glanced at Azula, who in turn narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously; she wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, but rather just curious where she had gotten. As before, the Princess was a little further ahead that Katara, having already sewn her cuff together.

"I'll show you how they are sewn together with the sleeves in a bit." she clarified, to which she nodded, before leaning herself back, holding her hands above her head as she lay herself down on the mat.

She considered telling her that there was far more comfortable places to do just that, but relented, deciding that the Princess was smart enough to figure out that kind of stuff, and Katara certainly wasn't in the mood for doing her any favours. As she continued to sew the cuff together, she noticed that the Princess was playing with a small bit of flame in her hand; it was dainty and shimmered a light blue, and the Water Tribe girl might have even said it was pretty if she didn't have such a strong disdain for firebending as a whole. She knew that benders needed to bend; that was just the natural way of living, but she didn't like the fact that there was a firebender living in her village, it just didn't sit well with her gut. Although Sokka was the one who always said he lived by his instincts, in a way, Katara did too, but unlike her brother, her instincts were based in her well reasoned fears that she held. Firebending was dangerous, foreign royalty were worse, and the threat of whoever wanted said royalty in chains coming after her the scariest thing that she could consider.

"Why is your fire blue?" she asked the Princess; she had never thought to ask the question, but as it had never been mentioned specifically, she found herself curious enough to ask.

Taking up her conversation starter, Azula smirked confidently, the smugness on her face indicating that she felt quite proud of her ability, "Well, according to my father, I am the greatest firebending prodigy in a generation. I have always been better at firebending than others my age, and by the time I was twelve, I could bend fire that was blue instead of the ordinary orange."

"I'm not... too superstitious, but it almost sounds like the spirits gave you a weird blessing." she suggested, the Princess cocking her head up, sending a snide glare her way.

"I prefer the idea that I've trained my bending to the point at which it is more powerful than any other firebending." she argued, not approving of Katara's own idea, "My family is full of powerful firebenders, and my brother was the runt of the family."

She raised a brow, noticing how she spoke of her brother in the past tense, "Was the runt? Did he suddenly get a lot better?"

"Not suddenly." she clarified with a raised finger, "He was exiled for nearly five years before he came back to fight my father. My uncle was probably training him that entire time." she argued, almost defensively, which made the Water Tribe girl think back to the story of their Agni Kai, a duel where the Princess had almost died.

She remained silent after that, before she cleared her throat, gesturing to the cuff that the Princess was holding, "Oh, so the cuffs." she changed the topic of their conversation, before she pulled out her needle, getting her two pieces ready, "You've got to sew the cuff over the top so you can fold it back over to the inside, and then you have to sew over it again. That makes sure it is tightly bound; you don't want snow getting caught underneath."

"That's obvious enough." Azula commented briskly, before she readied her own needle, beginning to do as she had explained; as snarky as she was, at the very least, the Princess was actually heeding her advice.

Katara turned do her own sewing, pulling the cuff over the sleeve before she began to push her bone needle through, in and out along the length of the cuff; she glanced back over to the Fire Nation girl, noting that she was quickly moving along, which prodded her to increase her own pace. There was only so fast she could sew before it got sloppy, so she resigned herself to being the slower, steadier sewer. She chuckling, realised that Sokka had fought Azula with his fists and a boomerang, while she had done the same with a needle and thread; she approved of sewing clothes far more, seeing that it was a productive activity that resulted in a finished product, while her brother would only end up with a singed parka and a few bruises. The Princess certainly wasn't her friend, but she could be accepted quite eagerly as a rival; someone to compete with and perhaps, at times, someone to talk to, if she wasn't feeling in an annoying or snarky mood.

* * *

Grasping his spear from his tent, Sokka couldn't help but grin; he was excited to be going on a hunt, knowing that it was going to be good to hang around Bato and his father together; the three of them were back together, and now they could spend a good night or two pissing around in the wilderness, telling old stories while they looked for a good prize. His father had decided that it would be a good idea to go for a great hunt in celebration of his best friend's return to the village, something that seemed quite reasonable, seeing that they'd likely get a feast out of it if they were successful. If there was one thing Sokka loved more than anything, it was a massive feast, and since it had been a while since he had enjoyed one, he was certainly looking forward to it.

As he climbed out of his tent, he looked around, realising that he had to bid his girlfriend farewell; not only was it tradition, but he did certainly want to say goodbye, give her some warnings about how not to behave and all the usual. For the most part, he and Azula weren't ever much further apart than the span of the village, but from time to time, they did end up going their separate ways, he tried to make sure she was prepared to deal with his fellow tribesmen, who mightn't be as receptive to her as he was. Seeing that he didn't spot her immediately, he decided to go walk around the village to try and find her, knowing that she was probably in the middle of doing some work, or resting; no matter which, he'd gladly intervene and give her a kiss on the cheek, which she'd probably protest, not that he cared; well, he did care, in the sense that he didn't want her to set his hair on fire in response to his unwanted advances, but he still wanted to make his feelings known.

As weird as it had been to spend a few months in his village with her by his side, he had loved every minute of it; even her cringely learning step-by-step how to live at the South Pole, or understand Water Tribe culture, he had enjoyed it all, knowing that while she had gotten to know him and her people, he had been able to see another side of her. The sometimes serious, sometimes awkward Azula who was so distant from the girl that had beat his arse on her Royal Barge that it was honestly concerning to think that she could act so differently amongst friends compared to enemies.

As soon as he found her sitting by the communal campfire, he raced up to her, plopping himself down by her side, making her look at him with a concerned face, "Are you alright, Sokka?" she asked him, the Water tribe teen simply leaning in and kissing her on the cheek, as he told himself he would.

She turned her head away and cocked her chin up, as he guessed she would, but her blushed cheeks indicated that she had appreciated his small token of intimacy, "Did you really need to?"

"Yes, yes I did." he argued, making her roll her eyes as she made a clearly exaggerated sigh.

"Well then, I guess I just have to do this." she told him as she glared him down, Sokka raising a brow, unsure what she intended.

"Do what?" he asked her, expecting a fireball or perhaps a snowball, given their environment, to be flung into his face; he was pleasantly surprised to see that she had instead grappled his chin and kissed him square on the lips, pushing their faces together.

He enjoyed her moment of passion, although as he moved away, the smug look on her face indicated that there had been less romantic motivation for her actions, "I'm the one who kisses first here." she stressed, "And if you're going to embarrass me in public, I'll do the same for you." she crossed her arms, before she took note of the spear he held in his hand, "Are you going out hunting?"

"Yep. Since Bato's back, we want to go kill something big, for a feast." he told her, making her smile with an open mouth, comprehending why he was in such a good mood.

"I am once again reminded that your entire life revolves around food."

"What? Would you prefer if it revolved around you?" he quipped in return, making her grin at him suggestively, raising her hand up to her chin.

"Well, I would, actually." she admitted, before glancing over the campfire, his eyes following her own gaze, realising that Hakoda and Bato were standing across from them, both of them obviously talking about them, "Well, Bato's going to be making you talk about the intimacies of our relationship for a good day or two now, isn't he?" she asked him, warning him of what was to come.

She was right, of course, Sokka remembering what had happened when he had first returned to the Southern Water Tribe, when his father had constantly asked about his relationship with Azula, which had been awkward, to say the least.

"Yeah, you have a point." he mumbled under his breath, considering that that wouldn’t be the most enjoyable experience on his behalf.

"I always have a point." the Princess quipped in return, making him roll his eyes; she didn’t ever lose her smugness, despite all the hardships she had suffered.

"So, are you going to be alright here? Did Katara give you any grief when you were helping her?" he asked her, Azula grinning in response.

"Of course not. I made her jealous by proving that I could sew faster than her." she explained, the Water Tribe teen sighing with annoyance.

If there was one thing he hadn’t wanted his girlfriend to do, bar fighting his sister one on one, it was making her feel inadequate; he had been forced to listen to her complain about not being trained as a bender for years, so he guessed that she would feel even worse if she was being made out as any lesser at something she was actually good at.

"Oh spirits, of all things, why’d you have to make her feel bad about sewing? She’s going to start hating you for it."

Azula couldn’t restrain her smug grin, "What, couldn’t she have a bit of courtesy, or are all you snow savages that petty?"

He crossed his arms, annoyed that she had said what she had, knowing that it was a bad territory for her to cross into; his mind immediately moved to the possibility of her stopping her sewing.

"What if she stops doing it? Who’s going to sew my pants then?" he asked her, trying to argue as to why it was a bad idea to compete with Katara over it.

"Not me, you sexist prick." she chided him, Sokka remaining silent for a moment, trying to think of a response, before sighing, realising that she was right; he was just being immature and sexist, just like she liked to mock him to be at times.

"Okay, you’re right... again." he mumbled, less boisterous in his tone as he realised he should take a path of reconciliation rather than an argument.

When it came to the touchy topic of the role of women, which she had complained about more than once when in the Southern Water Tribe, he didn’t want to start an argument; on previous occasions, he retorted that the Northern Tribe was refuted to be far worse, even compared to the Earth Kingdom, although she said that was no excuse for how a lot of his fellow tribesmen treated women.

"Yes, once you become Chief, I am sure we can work on that specific issue." she added, making him scoff, turning to face her with a perplexed look.

"Sorry, when I become Chief? I’m not even eighteen years old." he told her the obvious fact; his father became Chief at a far older age than seventeen, and beyond that, he didn’t know when his father would step down from his position, if he intended to do so.

"Time will tell who the Southern Water Tribe sees as their leader. I’m not talking about this village, I’m talking about the whole deal." she argued, making his eyes widened; he had thought over it once or twice before, sure, a kind of childhood dream, but Sokka had never seriously considered the idea that he could become Chief of the Southern Water Tribe.

"That’s... probably not going to happen anytime soon." he conceded, the Princess leaning closer, her eyes narrowed and serious, in contrast to her rather humoured expression a few moments earlier.

"Well, you’re not going to let those Northern degenerates and their excuse of a civilisation lord over you, are you?" she prodded him, his eyes eyes turning down toward the snow in thought. 

The Water Tribe warrior didn’t know all there was to know about the history of the Water Tribes, but he knew that his people were independent and distinct in culture and tradition from those people that lived in the North Pole.

"I’m not letting that happen." he declared, deciding that even if he wasn’t the one to rule his tribe, he certainly wouldn’t stand for foreigners ruling over them; he considered his thoughts hypocritical for a moment, when he had previously made the opposite argument to consider why the Fire Nation colonies were better off under the rule of their horrible conquerors rather than the impoverished and divided Earth Kingdom.

"Now, are you going to head off, or are you still in the mood to embarrass yourself?" she asked him, the Water Tribe teen huffing with annoyance, before he glanced back at her; he felt the emotions of indignation and infatuation conflicting with each other, but the latter won over in the end, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

As confident and smug as she was acting, she didn’t stop him from embarrassing her just the same; he guessed that she had begun telling herself that she could do whatever she pleased in front of his tribe, seeing that she was intending to rule the Fire Nation, not them. She pushed him away with a palm to his chest, before pointing toward his father.

"Now, go. You can please her highness as much as you like when you get back." she mocked him, making him look at her with slight discontent.

Their relationship was a little more complicated than him trying to please her, no matter how she liked to put it; she was still beset in her domineering and arrogant ways of a Fire Nation conqueror, after all. No matter how different she might have seemed from the Crown Princess who wiped the floor with the Dai Li, Azula was still that girl, and from time to time, she acted like she still was the ruler of half the known world, or at least what of it that counted.

"Yeah, yeah, I’ll make sure to give you that foot massage that you’re always croning on about." he assured her, making her blush; that was a random thing she had rambled about at one point, and he decided to throw it back at her- the looks she got from the other villagers made her hunch over eyeing him with a face of annoyance that mirrored his own a minute earlier.

"Did you have to say that?" she asked him, the Water Tribe warrior making an unabashed grin, pointing at her before turning away.

"Of course I did, your highness." he mocked her, knowing that it annoyed her more than pleased her when she called her such, seeing that it only reminded her of the fact she wasn’t much of a Princess anymore.

He walked over to Hakoda and Bato, who immediately turned to him as they saw him approach, their faces both humoured after having witnessed his conversation with Azula from over the campfire.

His father cleared his throat before raising his hand, "Is all well with Azula?" he asked her, the Water Tribe teen shaking his hand, to assure him that there was nothing amiss; if his girlfriend wasn’t trying to make a fool of him, then he’d be seriously concerned for her wellbeing.

"It’s fine." he reassured him, before turning to Bato, "So, has Dad been telling you all about our relationship?"

He tensed up and chuckled, momentarily glancing toward the Princess, who was still sitting on the opposing side of the campfire, "Now I get what your father meant we he said you two had a complicated relationship’." he admitted, before he pursed his lips upward, "I’m just glad I was proven right in Ba Sing Se." he called back to when he had predicted their relationship, before he turned back to face his best friend, making a whisper that was clearly intended to be heard by Sokka, "He made the move."

"The move was him kissing her when she was paralysed from chi-blocking, if I recall correctly." his father scratched on his beard, making his cheeks flush red with embarrassment; he realised that he probably shouldn’t have been as thorough as he had been with his story.

His intention to try and get Katara to like Azula failed, and instead he had let his family in on every secret he might have wanted to hold back from when had been away in the Earth Kingdom.

"Oh, that’s actually kinda romantic." Bato mused, before clearing his throat, "If that was your intention of course, catching her when she’s most vulnerable, literally in this case."

"I guess." he responded, in voice a little quieter than he intended, realising that he really hadn’t been thinking through his actions back in that tent; he had acted in the moment, which was how he usually liked to act when he didn’t have a plan, as he couldn’t plan a relationship with another human being.

"So, are we going to go find something big to eat or what?" he changed the topic, his father smirking as he pulled his spear up.

"Of course. I wouldn’t dare let Bato go without a feast for his return." he grinned, his friend laughing off his rather generous intention.

"Well, I do have to come along and help, don’t I?" he retorted, his question proving a good point.

He was going to have to work to get the feast that was intended to be thrown in his honour; that was how it worked in the Southern Water Tribe, everyone working together for the benefit of the whole village, something that Sokka was quite proud of.

"That’s the best part, anyway. You’ll get to enjoy what we end up killing immediately. It’s the best kind of reward." the teen argued, the two older men nodding along with rather impressed smiles.

"I can agree with that." his father acknowledged, before he raised his hand, "Now, who else was coming along for our hunt?!" he asked out to the village, a number of men standing up nearby, with their own spears, daggers and nets on the ready.

From what it looked like, the whole adult male population was ready to pitch in, and Sokka knew that the more of them that went out to hunt, the bigger the prey they could catch; just the thought of what they might find made his mouth water. He raised his own spear up, eagerly shouting as his father had just done.

"Who’s ready for the biggest feast this season?!" he asked them all with a shout, earning a few eager chants as the rest of the hunters approached.

"Take care, we’ll be back with a good meal for all to share." Hakoda waved to the remaining tribesmen, who waved back at him, even Azula perking up as she watched Sokka walk away; their eyes locked for a few moments, and the Water Tribe boy felt more confident than he had before.

"I have a good feeling about this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited sequel to Into The Fire has finally appeared! I apologise to any readers of that story who have been patiently waiting this one, which I have finally begun to write. I hope that the quality of my writing has improved in the months since I wrote Into The Fire, and that you all enjoy the story.


	2. Chapter 2

Approaching her brother's tent, Katara felt a sense of frustration; she knew that it would be more awkward for her to go to find Azula than for her to come to them; her grandmother was concerned when she didn't appear at their igloo for dinner, which she usually would do when Sokka was around, but Kanna sounded concerned that she might not feel as confident going to eat with them without her boyfriend. She wanted to refute her and argue that the Princess actually didn't like them, or more specifically, Katara, and didn't want to be around her if she could avoid it, which she certainly could when her boyfriend wasn't around to drag her to the igloo for dinner. She cleared her throat, deciding that she'd first call inside rather than barging in; she had a feeling that as someone who was used to palaces and servants she probably liked her privacy.

"Azula, are you in there?" she asked, hearing some rustling noises before the dark haired Princess peered her head out of the canvas, looking at her with confusion.

"What is it?" she snappily asked from her, straight to the point; instead of arguing, the Water Tribe girl simply gestured over toward the igloo.

"You didn't come to dinner." she told her the obvious; Azula's eyes widened momentarily before she made a cocky sneer.

"Oh, you're not starting without me?" she asked her, as if to place some higher importance on her needs over that of their family, which was a misjudgement on her behalf; her grandmother was just trying to be courteous, seeing that the Princess had been inducted into their family, even if there was no proper marriage between her and Sokka.

"It's called being polite." she clarified with a steely glare, not that her looking daggers at the Princess intimidated her in any way; no one seemed to be able to intimidate her, not even her brother, who had grown to be a very skilled fighter.

"Well then..." Azula raised a finger to her chin, visualising her thought process by tapping on her jawline, "It wouldn't hurt to come along. I just need to put my parka on." she clarified her intentions, Katara tilting her head down as she pursed her lips downward with disappointment as the Princess returned inside her tent.

She didn't want Azula sitting down eating with them, and not because she wanted her to starve, but because she genuinely feared what she might say or do without Sokka around to restrain her. She didn't know Azula all that well, but what her brother's long-winded story about their adventures together had taught her was that she was not someone to be trifled with. He thought for a moment why Sokka would even have liked a girl who was so different to what she assumed would be his ideal Water Tribe woman, the kind of sexist stereotype that annoyed her greatly, but which he hadn't followed; instead he had chosen a woman who was probably too headstrong and independent for her own good.

The idea that she wouldn't have even eaten dinner without being invited was somewhat absurd, as that contradicted Katara's own basic tenets on life; people lived together, ate together, and worked together. She didn't know what kind of person would willingly shunt out others just because she might have felt slightly unwelcome; however, she did consider that if she was a comparable situation, such as being stuck in the Fire Nation, she probably would be as averse as Azula seemed to be to people. Even if she couldn't stand to like her, the Water Tribe girl could at the very least sympathise with how she might have felt. When the Princess stepped out of the tent, now wearing her parka and gloves, Katara turned her heels and immediately began walking back toward the igloo; she was intent on not speaking to her again until they were with Kanna, so at the very least she could take her questions, but it seemed that Azula had something else in mind.

"Why were you standing there?" she questioned her, almost bewildered in her tone; she turned her head back to face her, confused as to why she was surprised about her simply standing out to wait while she got ready.

"Uh, because I came to get you. If I just went back to the igloo and started eating, that would be rude." she told her, educating her on the general politeness standards they held in her village.

Of course, Azula hadn't probably paid much attention to them, either learning by observation or copying what Sokka did, which didn't surprise Katara in the slightest; she was a Fire Nation Princess, who by virtue of her position ought to only be concerned with her own nation and spreading it's war of domination to every corner of the world.

"Ah... don't you know that the only people who would wait outside someone's room where I came from were servants." she stressed, the Water Tribe girl rolling her eyes; she bet that in Azula's eyes, everyone that wasn't royalty was her servant, the category of which definitely included her own boyfriend.

"Oh, of course. Because you have no equal, don't you, your highness?" she mockingly questioned her, the sarcasm in her voice not going unnoticed; instead of getting angry, the Princess simply narrowed her eyes at her, looking bemused at her words.

"I think you misunderstand." she raised a hand, the two of them stopping their strides toward the igloo, "When I say servant, I don't mean Fire Nation officials, or the Palace Guard, or even the sailors on my Royal Barge." she recounted people that fit under Katara's own presupposition of what she guessed a servant to a princess would be, "I mean the kind that cleans your toes on a whim."

"Urgh." she felt liked belching at the thought of another human being having that as their job; washing her brother's dirty socks was bad enough, she couldn't imagine the kind of mental fortitude one would have to garner to live through cleaning the toes of royals, "That sounds terrible."

"Oh, it is quite a great honour to serve the Royal Family." she raised a finger, before the two of them continued walking, "I never socialised with the servants in the Palace, so I can't be sure, but they seemed content enough."

She stopped in front of the igloo, letting Katara open the door, which seemed to be a courtesy that she had learned on the spot; she didn't smile, not wanting the Princess to think that she was mocking her. Opening the doorway, she took note of her grandmother sitting by the fire with her pot of seaweed stew, which she had been cooking for them to eat; Kanna made a warm smile as she saw her granddaughter enter the igloo, and it didn't relent when Azula followed in after her.

"Ah, Azula." she addressed her, making a gesture with her hand, "Please, sit. There is much for us to share with the men away." she suggested her, pursing her lips, almost looking smug; Katara wasn't concerned about getting extra food, as she thought that she always ate enough anyway, but she appreciated that her grandmother was still cooking as much as she might have otherwise.

"Thanks for making dinner, Gran Gran." she smiled at her, sitting down across from her, while Azula sat down directly opposite to the Water Tribe teen.

"It's no worry, Katara. I've been making dinner for this family for decades now. That's not going to change any time soon." she assured her, making Katara tilt her head to the side and smile, appreciating her grandmother's efforts; despite all the hardships their tribe had been through, she had continued to work hard and remained determined to do so, something that she respected and wanted to emulate.

Once Kanna handed them both a bowl of seaweed stew each, they both looked at each other momentarily, Katara interested as to what she thought of the meal; she didn't grimace, but her expression didn't seem very pleased, either. Picking up her chopsticks, she grabbed a piece of the stew, and put chewed it down; she loved seaweed stew, its texture reminding her of a really nice slow-cooked bit of seal meat, although it tasted a fair bit more bland. The stew was cooked with meat juices, which made the flavour a little more popping than simply seaweed by itself. Her eyes darted up, taking note of Azula, who was eating her meal at a leisurely pace, being rather calm and well mannered when it came to her eating unlike Sokka, who was honestly disgusting to look at when it came to dinner.

"So, did you girls finish sewing together that parka?" Kanna asked the pair, the Princess's eyes darting up from her meal.

"Oh, yes. I think we went well." she admitted, reminding the Water Tribe girl that she had been sewing far quicker than her; that still annoyed her, although she chided herself for thinking so pettily, as she ought to appreciate the fact that Azula was eagerly getting into her work.

"You are good at sewing." she complimented her, a rare occasion, which surprised the Princess, who raised a brow at her.

"Well, I wouldn't have gotten it done as quickly as I did without your guidance." she complimented her in turn, although Katara was unsure whether it qualified as a compliment or rather an observation that happened to be positive- most of the Princess's observations tended to be far more scathing of whomever she was judging.

"She's had a lot of experience." Kanna added, making her chuckle, thinking specifically of how many times she had mended her brother's pants, who seemed to tear them every second day when they were younger; ever since he got back from the Earth Kingdom, he seemed to ask a lot less often, although she guessed that might have been because he wasn't ‘training for the war' all the time.

"It's not my fault that Sokka tears his pants all the time." she clarified, making the Princess snicker, covering her mouth as she continued to chew down on a piece of seaweed.

"Why am I not surprised?" she mumbled, shaking her head with disappointment; Katara pursed her lips upward, realising that if she could make her laugh, maybe they could get along a little better than coldly acknowledging each other and making quips in response to questions that didn't require them.

They continued to eat, before Katara decided she ought to have a conversation rather than remain quiet; she considered that discussing Bato's return and what he had been doing in the Earth Kingdom would bring out some insightful discussion.

"So, Gran Gran, did you hear about Bato's journey in the Earth Kingdom?" she asked her grandmother, who nodded, her eyes narrowing in thought.

"Yes, Hakoda briefly explained it to me. It sounds like he had quite the adventure." she acknowledged, the Princess pulling her chopsticks away from her mouth as she chewed a bit of seaweed.

"Hmph..." she mumbled, before looking at them both, "What did you think about his... proposition, Katara?" she inquired, making her eyes widen; so Sokka had talked to her about his allies in the Earth Kingdom, which sounds like something they might have feuded over, seeing that she was the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, a woman who had intended to become Fire Lord and lord over the lands of said rebels.

"I- well- I don't really have much of an opinion. I haven't met these rebels, and honestly, the warriors haven't achieved much in the Earth Kingdom." she admitted, the Princess snickering; what she found funny about their achievements was beyond her, but that didn't mean that she wasn't offended on their behalf, "What's so funny?"

"The warriors of the Southern Water Tribe achieved something the Earth Kingdom has been unable to do for a hundred years." she raised a finger, "Splitting the Fire Nation against itself." she argued to Katara, who raised a brow with confusion; she had listened to their story, over and over again, and she didn't think that warriors had really achieved much, other than delaying her arrival to Ba Sing Se by a week or so.

"I don't get what our warriors have to do with the civil war that you started." she admitted her thoughts, which seemed to annoy the Princess, who put her bowl of seaweed stew down beside herself.

"Sorry, what? The civil war I started?" she asked her with a growing voice of anger, "My brother was the one who overthrew our father." she corrected her with a snarl, "He forced my hand. If I hadn't gone missing, I doubt my brother wouldn't have gone to fight my father. So, congratulations, the Southern Water Tribe has succeeded, they've finally avenged their lost benders by plunging my nation into a civil war." she proclaimed with a chiding tone, which understandably intimidated Kanna, who raised a hand to try and calm the growing anger that was boiling away in the Princess.

"Please, Azula, there's no need to get so angry. Katara didn't mean to offend you." she assured her, the Princess tilting her chin up, snidely looking back toward the Water Tribe girl."

"No, you're right." she agreed with the elder woman, "You wouldn't have said what you did if you didn't despise the Fire Nation as much as you do." she declared with an accusing glare; Katara's jaw dropped, unsure how to respond, but didn't have a chance to as the Fire Nation Princess continued her argument, "You think we're a bunch of mindless murderers. You think that because the Fire Nation hasn't actually lost the war that they haven't suffered from it, or aren't suffering from it right now, because of my own incompetence?"

"I- uh-" she mumbled, before raising a hand, "I don't hate-"

"Don't lie to me. I've dealt with liars my entire life. You could at least do me the courtesy of being honest." she grit her teeth, before standing up and walking out of the igloo, leaving her food down by the small cooking fire.

"Uh..." she mumbled, the Water Tribe girl turning to face her grandmother, who narrowed her eyes at; Kanna's disappointed glare told her what words couldn't, that she was wrong to have pushed her by saying the wrong things- Azula had overreacted, but in the end, Katara had been the one to push her to into rage.

"Katara, I think you might need to apologise." she suggested, making her cross her arms; even if she knew she was responsible, she wasn't going to apologise.

"No." she refused, "I'm not apologising to her. She has a fit, and I have to apologise?" she questioned her grandmother, who sighed, putting her palm over her face as she looked down at her meal.

"Children..." she mumbled under her breath, before turning up to face her granddaughter, "You've been treating her with cold eyes these past six months, no wonder she thinks you hate her."

"What? Am I expected to like her?" she retorted, genuinely concerned that her grandmother was suggesting that she actually force herself to like Azula, purely to keep the peace.

"This isn't about who likes who, Katara." she narrowed her eyes at her, "This is about making her feel welcome. We want Azula to be a friend of our tribe, not an enemy."

"Why should she have to feel welcome? She knows what the Fire Nation has done to our tribe. Her helping around the village doesn't change what happened." she argued, Kanna nodding, indicating that she agreed with her.

"You're right. But she doesn't bear responsibility for what happened. Her family might have had something to do with it, but from the sounds of it, she has had nothing at all to do with our tribe until our warriors attacked her ship. She might be rude, but she isn't taking you back to the Fire Nation as a prisoner because you're a waterbender, is she?"

She looked down, feeling that she had done something wrong; she knew that Azula was a person like anyone else, but she hadn't considered the fact that she was doing right by her tribe and had shown no indication that she was intending to harm or betray them in any way.

"You're right. She's not doing anything wrong... not really." she admitted the truth, before placing her meal down beside her, "I should go apologise." she declared, her grandmother shaking her hand, gesturing for her to sit down.

"Give her some time to cool off. Eat your dinner, and then perhaps take her meal over to her tent, so she can finish it."

Katara nodded, knowing that Kanna was right; she shouldn't just chase after the Princess, who would likely still be fuming over her rant, but rather give her some time to calm down and collect herself.

"Sorry, Gran Gran." she told her, knowing that she had inadvertently ruined their dinner.

"Don't worry about me. I had to deal with you and Sokka arguing ever since you could both talk. This is no different." she admitted, before gesturing to her bowl of seaweed stew, "Don't forget to eat. It'll get cold."

"O-of course, Gran Gran. I'll eat it more and then some, just to make up for Sokka not being around to do so." she declared, making her grandmother chuckle at her idea.

"Go ahead." she smiled at her, gesturing to the pot of stew that sat beside the dying embers of the fire she had cooked it with.

She picked up her chopsticks and returned to eating her meal, momentarily glancing toward the exit of the igloo; as much as she thought Azula was snide, arrogant and probably undeserving of her brother as her boyfriend, she knew that she shouldn't despise her for things she had no control over. She could choose to join them for dinner, but she had no choice in the Fire Nation raiding their tribe to the verge of extinction; the Princess was right, in the end, she had been judging on the presumption of those horrible things she had experienced personally, and the hardships that had been forced upon the Southern Water Tribe as a whole by the Fire Nation. Even if she ought to be kinder and less antagonistic, she didn't deserve to be hated because she came from the Fire Nation; the hard work she had done ever since she arrived had proven that she was better than what she had imagined Fire Nation people to be like. Katara knew that she would give her her bowl of seaweed stew, leave her be, and hopefully be able to treat her a little better the next morning, and hopefully make her feel a little more at home, to make up for her six months of failure.

* * *

As the snow fell on his uncovered face, Sokka shivered, knowing that he really shouldn't be out at night; hunting was a task that required alertness and constant mobility, meaning that sleep was something that had to be sacrificed. Walking around in the dark was a bit of a challenge, but the moon was bright that evening, giving them a small amount of light to distinguish features with; because they weren't camping, there was no campfire to light the area, forcing him to rely on bare moonlight alone. Their group was walking in file, each of the hunters holding part of their equipment; a few had tents on their backs, others had nets and bags of material to construct traps with. He wiped the snow off of his face, looking out at the wide expanse of flat ice before him; they were walking along the base of some rocky hillocks that dotted the otherwise flat landscape, where various animals would burrow in the caves that naturally formed there. He kept his eyes on the ground, trying to check for any paw prints that would suggest a large animal, but failed to see much. He could make out smaller prints, perhaps from wolves, although he couldn't be sure, as the light made it a challenge to discern anything other than their size.

He heard his father's voice, up ahead near the front of the group, "Everyone! Head up toward the top of the hill! We need to find somewhere to camp!" he shouted out, making sure everyone could hear him.

It made sense to Sokka for them to camp up on the hillside, as they'd be able to easily move out at daybreak and track down one of the animals that must have been living nearby. He thought that they'd best stay on the sea-facing side of the hill, as he was sure that most of the big predators would prey on seals and penguins, animals that would go from inland to the water on a daily basis. Heading up the hillside, he found his feet going deep in the snow, which was softer on the slopes that in was on the flats; he grunted as he took another step, trying not to sink into the snow, not wanting to fall over and get his face frozen. As they climbed further up, he was able to spot a few caverns and recesses in the hillside, which was a mixture of windswept ice formations as well as the proper rock, which was jagged and rough, portions stabbing out of the snow like skyward-facing daggers. He followed the other hunters up along the path his father seemed to be leading, winding around the rock formations, finally finding a fine place to camp, which was a bowl shaped recess in the hillside, bordered on all sides by rock, meaning that they were well protected from the wind.

"Ah, here's a good place to rest!" one of the hunters proclaimed, stabbing the butt of his spear into the snow, "Can we pull the tents out now, Chief?" he asked of Hakoda, who turned to face his fellow tribesmen.

"Of course. We need to get some sleep if we hope to catch something tomorrow." he assured them, before he pointed his hands around, "Put the tents out by the rock walls, keep them nice and covered. Somebody start a fire, so whoever's keeping watch can stay warm." he directed the men, who all complied with his orders; Sokka, who didn't have any tent on his back, decided that he would best use his strength starting a fire, feeling like he would certainly enjoy sitting by the warmth of one.

As he reached the centre of the bowl-like formation, he pulled his bag off his back, pulling out some seal blubber and spark rocks, which he had to put over a stone dish, something he wasn't carrying himself; setting a fire on ice itself, although possible, was something that only those in desperation did.

"Who's got the stone dish?" he asked of the hunters, one of them piquing their head up, his eyes turning around to see Sokka waving his hand.

"Ah, yep, I got you." he assured him, pulling out the stone dish from the bag on his back, before tossing it over to the Water Tribe teen, who caught it with both hands.

He put the dish down, and filled it with the blubber, before he grabbed some of the kindling for his fire, which consisted of a few small dried plants; it wasn't much, but it'd be enough to start the fire. He began to strike the spark rocks against the kindling, hitting them together a few times before a spark finally hit it, setting it aflame; he smiled at his work, pulling his gloves off momentarily to check and see if the fire was growing stronger. To his relief, the fire was intensifying, although quite slowly; fat wasn't the most potent substance, especially when it was so cold, but once it caught on, it'd be a nice warm fire that would also smell quite nice- that was Sokka's opinion on the matter, not that he cared what anyone else thought about the specific smell of burning seal fat. Glancing around, he took note of the hunters setting up the few tents that they'd have to share; as he honestly didn't want to be sleeping in such tight spaces with other grown men, he certainly preferred taking watch, where he could remain by the campfire. His father approached him, sitting down beside him, putting his hands out to appreciate the warmth of the flames.

"Did you want to take watch, Sokka?" Hakoda asked him, the young Water Tribe warrior nodding.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm more than ready to stay up a little longer." he assured him, "I'm not really that tired anyway." he added, making his father snicker.

"That's what sleeping in half the day does to you, son." he warned him, Sokka laughing off his comments; his sleeping patterns weren't ideal, as he seemed to enjoy sleeping in a little too much.

Azula always harped on about it to him, as she was a firebender, who as she regularly reminded him, rose with the sun, and found the antarctic summer to be more than challenging to sleep through, when there were weeks where the sun just didn't set.

"You're right, but I'll be fine." he assured him, not wanting his father to worry about him.

He wasn't sick or anything of the likes, so he knew that he'd be content to sit around the fire, think to himself about the wonders of the universe, perhaps; more than likely he'd probably just grow lovesick, knowing that he wasn't lying beside his girlfriend. Until he had started lying beside her every night, he hadn't truly understood what physical space could do to his emotions; whenever he slept alone, he felt a certain emptiness in his heart, that was urging him to fill it.

"Well then, are you going to share some of your jerky with me?" his father asked him, catching Sokka's attention as he had been focusing his stare into the flames.

"Don't you have your own, Dad?" he quipped in return, Hakoda making a humoured grin.

"Oh, don't let your old man down. I'm sure you could spare just a piece. It's called rationing." he argued, the Water Tribe teen shaking his head; his father liked to remind him that he was indeed his father when he acted exactly how he would.

"I know what rationing is." he retorted, before rolling his eyes, knowing that he couldn't refuse him; he reached into his bag before pulling out two pieces of seal jerky, "There you go, Dad. Don't ask again tonight." he narrowed his eyes at him.

"I won't, I won't." he assured him, before taking a bite of his jerky, "Is this Ashuna's stuff?" he asked Sokka, who nodded in confirmation; Ashuna always made the best jerky, and he was always sure to go get some from her before he went out on long trips like the hunt they were currently on.

He pulled out a piece for himself, and took a bite, his eyes looking back toward the fire, which were mesmerising; it was small, dainty, and not something to be feared. Before he had met Azula, he feared firebenders and by extension fire itself, although in the sense that it made him uncomfortable, forced to remember the attack on his village where his mother had died. But when he saw fire, he no longer thought of that day, but instead he thought of sparring Azula on the deck of her ship, remembering the few weeks they had spent travelling to Pohuai Fortress from Ba Sing Se. Those days were sweet in his mind, even if he didn't exactly like being stuck on a boat surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers; he could even go as far to say that those days made him feel more at home with Azula and all of her entourage. He smiled, remembering the times he had actually been competent enough to beat her in a sparring session, which was a rare, almost celebratory occasion for him.

"Sokka, I've got to say, you've really grown." his father told him, the Water Tribe warrior's eyes darting up.

"Grown?" he asked him, raising a brow, "I'm not much taller than I was last year."

Hakoda chuckled, shaking his head, "No, I mean you've really become a man. You really know what you're doing with your life, you've found love. I'm proud of what you've become." he complimented his son, who made a grin, before offering his arms out.

"Manly hug?" he questioned, the Chief nodding in agreement, moving in to grapple his back.

"Manly hug." he confirmed, making the two of them snicker.

Sokka was just glad that he had made his father proud, after all he had done; he had inadvertently joined forces with and assisted the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, who ought to have been their enemy, and even after that, his father was still proud of him. Once they broke from their hug, his father yawned, glancing at the fire, before turning back to face his son.

"Well, I'll go set up my sleeping roll and all that. I'm sure I can trust you to keep watch and make sure the fire stays on." he commented, the Water Tribe teen grinning at his father, giving him a wave as he rose to his feet and walked toward one of the tents.

He turned his glance back toward the fire, before he leaned himself down, lying back in the soft snow; he turned his head around to make sure snow wouldn't fall on his face, his eyes focused on the stone dish and the flames that continued to flicker, despite the cold. He thought back to his discussion with Azula about Bato's return and the rebels that he was working with; from his knowledge, he had been with the Freedom Fighters and they left Ba Sing Se together, travelling through the Earth Kingdom to a rebel held area in the south-west of the Earth Kingdom. Fire Nation control and supposedly been waning in the area ever since Zuko's coup, and the local rebels took advantage of the situation, liberating villages and towns.

The rebels had been the ones to gift Bato his boat for all of his efforts helping them, and he was sent south with the hope of getting his father's support. He was sure that his father would consider the offer, but the ‘Azula issue' was one that neither of them could ignore. She would want to go with them north, and Sokka wouldn't refuse her, but he knew that she might do things that would threaten their relationship with their potential allies, or worse, prod Fire Nation forces into hunting their warriors down, which wouldn't end well for the Southern Water Tribe. No matter if she intended no harm to their Tribe, she would pose a threat to their safety if she returned to the Earth Kingdom by their side. Whether the rebels would even be able to push the Fire Nation out was something else entirely, but from his own knowledge, even without the support of the Fire Nation's military apparatus, only the smallest, most distant renegade forces would find themselves unable to ward off Earth Kingdom rebels.

Rising up from his position, he sighed, knowing that worrying over the future of the Earth Kingdom and his Tribe's role in it would only bring him unnecessary dread and concern; what he truly desired was to be happy, and for Azula to feel the same by his side. If that involved returning to the Earth Kingdom to gather forces against her brother, he wouldn't refuse her, even if he would make every argument possible as to why that was a foolish and dangerous idea. He scratched at his scraggly facial hair that was dotted with bits of snow, pulling the white particles from his chin and cheeks; Sokka yawned, glancing around the campsite, taking note that most of the hunters were already moving into the tents, where they'd be quickly falling asleep, readying themselves for the hunting they'd do the next morning. He caught what he thought was a campfire in the corner of his eye, glancing out to his left, downhill from where he was sitting; he narrowed his eyes at the light, trying to discern where exactly it was coming from, immediately assuming it was some hunters or travellers from another village heading toward their own. He realised by making out where the ice ended and the water began that the light was actually not on land, and when it was able to make out multiple more faint lights, he realised what he was looking at.

"Is that a..." he mumbled, not wanting to say it, as he certainly didn't want it to be true; years, it had been years since any Fire Nation ship had come in sight of their land, and although he knew their vessels patrolled the waters of the South Pole, for pirates or for Water Tribe vessels, Sokka was certain that a boat wouldn't come that close to sure to try and find Water Tribe ships.

He stood up, stepping away from the glare of the small fire, trying to see if he could better see the light in the distance if it was the only light in view; his worst fears were proven true when he made out a plume of smoke, rising up into the sky, partially obscuring the light of the moon.

"Dad!" he shouted out, gaining his father's attention immediately, the Chief racing out from his tent, his concerned face indicating that he understood the dire tone of his voice.

"Sokka, what's..." he began to ask, before his eyes followed his son's pointing finger toward the light of the ship, "Oh no." he mumbled, his eyes widening with utter terror, turning to face the rest of the campsite, "Everyone, get up!" he shouted out to the hunters, "There's a Fire Nation ship approaching the village!" he told them, a number of warriors immediately pulling themselves out of their tents.

"What?!" Sokka heard one of them shout out, before another rose up, readying his spear.

"Chief, we can't run faster than a ship, especially with the snow this thick." he told Hakoda, who glanced back toward his son with fear.

"I know that." he acknowledged, "But we have to try and get there... before our village is doomed."

Sokka glanced back toward the ship, tensing up with fear, realising what was happening, that there was a raiding vessel was coming for their village. Were they coming for Katara? For Azula? He had no idea, and the very fact he didn't made him all the more afraid.

"Spirits, you've never cared for me before, but please..." he mumbled, looking up to the moon, not knowing if the spirits of his land could hear him or even cared for his words.

"Please save them."

* * *

Azula was alone in her bed, the sleeping roll big enough for two, but only fitting her lithe body inside; she didn't want to be alone, lying there thinking about how she had boiled over in rage at Katara. She didn't even deserve her anger, even if she was a cold-hearted girl who spited her for no reason; Sokka would be furious at her for what she said, and then she would have shouted at him, and then they would have hugged, and he would have told her that he loved her, and that whatever failures she had made, that they didn't matter. Instead of that, she was lying alone, trying not to cry. She didn't like crying, it made her feel weak, it made her feel like she was worthless as her brother, who had sobbed himself to sleep for months after their mother left; she knew however, that if there was anything she ought to cry over, it was her own failure.

She had failed in doing the one thing she ought to have been able to do; defeat Zuko in an Agni Kai, and take the throne, as her father would have intended for her. That wasn't even considering the lies her brother had purported, making it out that he had killed their father in single combat, when he had actually only injured him; he had manipulated her own anger against her, by making her believe he was a ruthless kinslayer. He made her feel unworthy and weak; it was a feeling that had been alien to her all her life, only a threat that she could see from the corner of her eye, knowing it only from how her brother had been treated by their father. It wasn't even that she agreed with her father's actions, but more than she dreaded experiencing that herself. Her brother sat on the throne to spite her, and she hated him for it; if there was one thing she wanted more than anything in the world, it would be to deliver her own retribution upon him, if only to lessen the pain of her failure and incompetence.

She leaned over, deciding that she might as well eat the food Katara had put by her tent's entrance a while earlier; she had been kind enough, or perhaps forced by Kanna, to give her the dinner she hadn't eaten, seeing that she had gone into a fit of rage in response to the Water Tribe girl's own ignorance. The meal had been edible, although she didn't necessarily like it that much; seaweed was bland, and it tasted like the place it was from- the ocean. The taste of seawater seemed to remind her of two very distinctive memories; when she would go out onto her and Sokka's boat and sit on the deck, tasting the salt in the air, and when she had been thrown into the water after her Royal Barge was sunk by the very people she was seeking refuge with. She had to heat up the meal with her firebending, seeing that it would taste even worse while cold; Azula craved the taste of spices, and Fire Nation food more generally, and was looking forward to the day she could taste a fire-flake once again, or some spiced noodles.

Suddenly, she heard a loud thunk in the distance; such a noise was alien in a small village where little construction work occurred, so she felt concerned for a moment that an igloo had collapsed, which would be a serious problem for anyone living inside one. Those concerns were replaced with far more primal fears when she made out screams; not just one, but a number of them, going off in a symphony that could not excite any aesthetic pleasure, but simply terror. Azula didn't fear anything or anyone, of course, as she liked to tell herself, even if it was a blatant lie. She feared death, and she feared capture by Fire Nation forces; if there was one thing she'd hate more than living the life of a peasant at the South Pole, it would be as her brother's personal prisoner.She rose up from her sleeping roll, pulling herself up to a seated position; she couldn't hear anything for a few moments before more shouts and screams called out across the village. Although she might have held some doubt on the matter prior to hearing those voices, she was that they were being attacked; Azula momentarily considered the possibility of fighting her own people, but remembered that she had done just that at Pohuai Fortress to save both her and Sokka from capture.

Pulling herself out of the sleeping roll entirely, she grasped the parka that sat beside her, pulling it over her head and down over her torso. She lit up her tent with the use of her blue flames, momentarily glancing about to find where she had kicked off her boots, before she grasped them, finding them by the entrance. With a growing feeling of dread, she slid her feet into the boots, before grasping a dagger from her bag; she was skilled at close-quarters combat, and knew that if she could hide her firebending and thus her identity for as long as possible, she would do just that. Climbing out of her tent, she glanced immediately toward the shoreline, making out the distinctive red light that was made from the stained windows of Fire Nation vessels, as well as the bursts of fire she could see flying up over the ice wall that encircled the village. Racing forward, Azula readied the dagger in her hand, feeling an unwelcome sickness in her throat from the thought of having to kill her fellow countrymen; as much as she threatened and fought, almost every time she did so, it was never with lethal intent, even if she could easily kill her opponents if she so desired, as when she had fired a lightning bolt at her brother during their Agni Kai.

"Ahhh! Help!" she heard the screams of a child, who upon making sight of, Azula realised was being chased by a soldier who was clearly a member of the Southern Raiders; he had his fists brandished in flames, ready to knock the child down.

She narrowed her eyes at him, letting the child run past as the man continued to approach, his attack now set on her; he sent a fireball right at her head, although she was intuitive enough to duck before it had even left his palm. He was surprised to see her dodge the attack, and even more so when she kicked him in the shin, forcing him down onto a knee.

"Nice try." she mocked him, before sending an uppercut into his chin, making him fall back into the snow unconscious.

Her eyes darted around, trying to make sure none of the other villagers weren't in immediate danger, before she raced on forward toward she caught sight of a few Water Tribe men with their spears and blades in hand, trying to ward off their enemy; she was clearly on the losing side, seeing that most of the tribesmen were only half-awake, and their opponents outnumbered them two to one. She didn't know why the Southern Raiders were there, but she guessed by the fact that they were chasing down children, it wasn't for their prescribed task of hunting down waterbenders, who were believed by all to be extinct in the South Pole, seeing that she was the only person from the Fire Nation who had any knowledge of Katara's existence.

Racing up toward the warriors, she shouted out, "Get out of my way!" she demanded, the men stepping aside as she moved to fight the attackers; she was hoping that she'd catch the attention of the Southern Raiders, seeing that unlike the non-bending warriors, she could easily dissipate their flames, meaning that she was a far better shield against their attacks.

One of the attackers threw a fireball at her, but she ducked under the attack before sweeping her leg out, tripping him over by striking her shin against his legs; she grit her teeth, trying to hold back a shout from the pain, realising in hindsight that without her metal boots, her shins were susceptible to being bruised and beaten as much as any other part of her body. She returned to form, sidestepping a flame-covered fist that came her way, before twisting the soldier's wrist, making him scream out with pain.

"Fuck!" he called out, before she jabbed him in the chin, knocking him out cold, his unconscious body falling back into the snow; glancing back, she noted that the morale of the warriors had increased dramatically, and they were now able to hold off any more Southern Raiders rushing into the village.

Azula then found herself hit by a ring-shaped blast of fire, which struck her in the chest, throwing her off her feet and onto the ground; she grunted, the pain from the fall numbed by the growing sense of anger she felt. She wasn't going to let the village fall, and not because she had any sentimental feeling toward its inhabitants, but because they were her allies; they fed her, they housed her, they tolerated her existence. She was going to return the favour by beating every Southern Raider unconscious, if that was what it would take to stop their attack.

As she returned to her feet, she glanced to the warriors, who were looking rather fearful as they were forced to beat back the enemies fire blasts; she grit her teeth, knowing that firebending in front of the raiders could inadvertently doom her. Readying her dagger in hand, she waited for one of the soldiers to race at her, firing out a volley of blasts in her direction, hoping to her extremities; she rolled forward, before she used the blade to slash at his leg, making him scream out in pain. He readied his hand, aiming it down toward her face, but before he could even send out a puff of flames, she grabbed his palm and twisted his forearm, before she sent her other hand, curled into a fist, right into his jaw, making him stumble back before falling over. Grinning at the results of her quick attacks, she considered for a moment that it might be possible to defeat her opponents without any bending. Before she could decide which soldier to attack next, she realised that the numbers of Southern Raiders was suspiciously thinning out, suggesting that they were running around the other side to attack from behind. Without a word, she raced off to the left, surprising her opponents, before she jumped over a tent, her feet landing on the ice wall, where she could clearly see the raiders making their way around the walls on either side. She ran down the length of the wall, one of them seeing her, shouting out it fear.

"One of them's on the wall!" he shouted, making her grit her teeth as she aimed to ponce at him, suddenly finding herself struck in the side by a fireball, and thrown into the air; she lost all sense of coordination for a few moments, before her face smashed right into the snow.

Groaning with frustration as she pulled herself up to her feet, Azula glanced around, trying to spot the enemy as they made their way around the wall; she decided that if she made her way to the rear entrance of the village, perhaps she would run right into them. A few warriors were racing up to her, looking at her with fearful expressions; one of them offered her a hand, which she slapped away.

"They're going around!" she told them, pointing towards the rear of the village, before returning to her feet, "Come on, are you going to help me or not?!" she accused them, the warriors not saying a word, simply nodding before racing toward the back of the village.

As she began to run, as fast as she could given the thickness of the snowfall, her heart began to beat even faster; she didn't know if they could even win the fight. She was Princess Azula, but she was only one firebender, they had dozens, perhaps, and she would have to beat them back for long enough to ensure that they didn't find and take whatever they were looking for. She still had no idea who or what they desired, but she had a feeling that it might have had something to do with the events that had been occurring outside of their isolated little ice-hole. When she reached the rear of the village, she heard one of the warriors shout out with fear, clearly concerned by what he was seeing.

"Get off of them you ash-maker scum!" she heard one of the warriors shout out, Azula laying eyes upon what looked to be two Southern Raiders grappling children; they wanted to kidnap them, it seemed, and the Princess could only guess for what.

The warrior who shouted ran toward them with his spear in hand, but was knocked down by a fireball; instead of letting another warrior rush forward and needlessly injure themselves, she decided to do it herself, running toward one of the men who was trying to get away with a child. She ducked a fire blast he fired her way with little effort or consideration, before he found himself tripped by her foot, Azula grabbing the child as they fell down. She cried out with fear, and Azula could only point back toward the village.

"Run!" she told her, the child complying as she ran away, screaming in terror. She turned to face the soldier she had just tripped, taking note that he was flaring his teeth at her with vicious rage. He covered his right fist with flames, before trying to punch her in the head with it; she instead rushed forward into his attack, grabbing his hand while he tried to burn her parka. She kneed him in the gut before throwing him down to the ground; when he tried to retaliate by sending a kick of flames her way, she hammered her foot down on his bent leg, making him scream as she obviously dislocated something in that part of his body. She kicked him once more, hitting him in the torso that time, audibly fracturing one of his ribs, before her eyes darted around, spotting a few soldiers heading her way.

"Get her!" she heard the injured, but still clearly conscious soldier demand of his comrades, making her roll her eyes before she kicked his head into the ground, knocking him out.

Turning around she took note of the other warriors coming her direction, still chasing after the soldier who was getting away with another child; she decided to take pursuit, but realised it would be a bit of a challenge if there was a number of other soldiers in her way. She ducked under a fire blast, before she slashed at one of their legs when he attempted to tackle her, making him groan with pain as he fell to the ground face first. The next one found a similar fate as she kicked him in the shin, before stabbing her blade into his hand, making him shout out with pain before he was knocked unconscious.

The last soldier was more intelligent, firing upon her from a distance, which forced her to roll out of the way of his fire blast. She would be shivering from all the snow that was getting on her face and slipping into her parka, but the thrill of the fight kept her warm. She dodged another attack, gritting her teeth as she realised he was getting close to actually burning her; she rose to her feet and charged at him, deciding that she'd had enough of fighting like she was weaker than her opponents- she was stronger than they could ever imagine. He sent another fire blast her way, but instead of dodging it, she simply let her open palm strike it, dissipating the flames immediately; his eyes widened with dread, but he didn't have much time to react as she tackled him to the ground, punching him in the head. She grinned, realising that she had beaten him, but that smile faded as she realised she still needed to retrieve the child, who was being whisked away toward the ship as she lay there.

She heard footsteps nearby and figures approaching, knowing that she couldn't let the village fall, not when she had all the power to defeat a single ship of Southern Raiders. One of them moved to attack her, ready to send a stream of flames right into her face; her instincts kicked in, and she screamed out in anger as she returned in kind. Her flames were far more potent that his own, and threw him back into the air as his armour was viciously singed, shielding him from fire that would have otherwise scarred his chest. As the other Southern Raiders looked at their comrade be thrown back by a stream of blue flames, their jaws dropped as they all began to step back with fear, realising who they were actually fighting.

"That's P-Princess Azula." one of them gasped with utter horror, making her grin, realising that because had just been she found out by her enemies, she would have to go all out on them.

"Congratulations." she told them, celebrating their perception of her identity, before dropping her dagger down to the ground, seeing that she would no longer have any use for it.

As she filled her hands with fire, the Southern Raiders took form, even if they were fearing for their lives, like any sane and knowledgeable person would; she was the most powerful firebender alive, assuming that her brother hadn't gone and finished the deed by executing their father, and the men before her, they were nothing in comparison to her might. Three of them simultaneously sent fire streams at her, aiming to knock her right off her feet; she dropped down, avoiding the attacks while she sent out cutting arcs of fire, which flew underneath the streams and hit the two firebenders to her side, leaving the remaining one looking on in fear as she directed his stream up into the air above them, creating a massive plume of fire that lit up the entire village, the mixture of blue and orange flames flying up into the sky above them. Once her opponents fire stream died out, she sent a kick of flames his way, knocking him off his feet before she glanced around her shoulders, taking note of the numerous soldiers surrounding her.

"Come on, try and hit me!" she prodded them, two of them sending streams her way, which she ducked under, before sending jabs at both of them.

She was able to hit one down, but the other was lucky enough that she missed; he continued sending his stream at her, which she powered through with her own bending, aiming her open palm right into his attack; momentarily, both her stream and his held each other back, before she overpowered his weaker flames, sending them right back at him, throwing him to the ground. She sidestepped another fire blast that was sent her way before returning one in kind, striking her opponent square in the forehead, flinging his head back, before he fell face-first into the snow. Azula dispersed another attack that was aimed at her own head, before sending a stream into a soldier's chest, throwing him into the ice-wall that stood behind him; as he crumpled down by the wall, she glanced behind her, taking note that the warriors were joining her in the fight, beating up the soldiers.

Her attention was drawn ahead, seeing the soldier who had taken a child still running away; instead of chasing after him, she made a calculated decision. The Southern Raiders kidnapping children was only an issue if they could escape, and thus preventing their escape would be a surefire way to stop that eventuality. Spinning her fingers around, she took a deep breath, focusing on the ship that lay some distance ahead of her; she hadn't tried the technique she was attempting ever since it had been shot back at her, but she knew that it was the only one that could deal enough damage to the ship to ensure the kidnapper couldn't get away. The energy growing in her hands, it enticed her further to take form, arcing her right hand from her chest outward, directing it toward the ship; the lightning bolt was blindingly bright, lighting up the entire area and catching the attention of everyone within sight of it, before it travelled right into the bridge of the ship, causing an explosion which sent shards of metal, smoke and flames out of the vessel. She sighed, realising how straining it had been to muster such a powerful lightning bolt, glancing at the clearly fearful Southern Raiders, before she stood up tall, a smile of satisfaction forming on her face.

"Now, now you can't escape."

* * *

If Katara was to be completely honest with herself, she wasn't that great a fighter; she could use a spear to fish and hunt like any other Water Tribesman, but her offensive skill with it, or any other weapon for that, was rather limited. Her waterbending was only useful to throw snow at her opponents or perhaps try to freeze them, although seeing that she had never been in a proper fight before; she had never had to try the latter, the former something she had done to her brother countless times. She was holding a spear with her right hand, she raced toward the seaward side of the village, where she could clearly see that the fighting was concentrated; she had told her grandmother that she intended to help defend the village, seeing that their numbers were limited, and at that very moment, Azula was nowhere to be found. Wherever the Princess was, Katara hoped that she was fighting on their side, after all the tribe had done for her.

She approached the group of warriors who were holding off their vicious opponents, who were throwing fireballs at their opponents, into the air, and at their tents and igloos, a few of which were already damaged, taking note that the wall had been destroyed allowing the attackers to move from their boat right into their village. Taking as best a stance she could, she decided that she at least attempt to waterbend before ignoring it as an option; Katara used her bending to grasp the snow beside her, grasping at it as if she was about to throw a snowball, and thrusting her arm forward, her palm facing upward as the snow followed her command, flying right into one of the soldiers, who were immediately surprised by the fact that they had been attacked with snow. Before they could even figure out what was going on, she made the same move again, tripping one of the attackers, making him humorously faceplant in the snow.

"Waterbender!" she heard one of them call out, pointing at the Water Tribe girl, who readied her spear as two of the soldiers charged at her.

She ducked under a fireball that was thrown at her, before thrusting her spear forward, catching one of the soldiers on the shoulder, throwing him back off his feet; the other firebender sent a small blast right into her chest, throwing her back into the snow, although he was warded off by one of the warriors, who tripped him with a machete.

"Thanks." she smiled at the warrior appreciatively, but he didn't take much notice of her, immediately turning to charge at their opponents.

She readied her own spear, picking it up off the ground, before she returned her feet, glancing at their enemies, whose attention was turned behind them instead of toward the warriors they had been fighting; she realised why a few moments later when a massive whirlwind of blue flames burst out of nowhere striking down most of the soldiers. Those that didn't fall at once were quickly struck down by bolts of fire, making Katara purse her lips into a smile of satisfaction; for once, she was very happy to see Azula's firebending on full display, taking down all of the soldiers. When the flames had dissipated, she made sight of the Princess, who looked exhausted, her chest heaving with each breath, as her hands were remained covered in flames, ready to strike down any of their opponents who would be stupid enough to resist. A few moments later a small child child ran past the Princess with a clearly fearful expression on her face, running up to one of the warriors, jumping into his arms.

"Dad! Dad! They tried to take me away!" he told his father, making Katara's eyes widen as they turned back to Azula; she had just saved that child from being kidnapped by the Fire Nation.

The Princess began to walk forward, bee-lining to Katara, who tried to hold back her awe of what she had just seen; the Princess beating up her brother was one thing, but taking down a dozen firebending soldiers at once was something else entirely. Instead of addressing the Water Tribe girl, she instead leaned over, grasping a soldier by his neck, turning him over so she could see his face, while she held a flame-covered fist over his head.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned him, "What did you want with the children?"

The soldier was dazed, and the Princess decided to wake him up by hammering a fist into his face, breaking his nose, "Ow!" he yelped, rubbing at his face with a clearly pained expression; Katara and a few of the warriors slowly approached the pair of them, obviously interested in what he had to say.

"Do I have to ask you again?" Azula prodded him, her flame-covered fist getting close enough to his face that he began to squirm from the pain.

"Slaves!" he told her in a high-pitched, fearful shout, "We wanted them as slaves!"

"And who put you up to this?" she asked the soldier, whose eyes darted about.

"Th-the commander... you know... the boss of the Southern Raiders." he clarified, the Princess nodding before punching him in the face again, perhaps for good measure.

"No. Who are you working for, idiot?" she questioned, his eyes darting around.

"We aren't loyal to the traitor Prince, if th-that's... if that's what you were thinking."

"My brother is certainly above enslaving people." she raised a finger, as if to assert her position of eminence on all the things her brother would or would not let his subjects do, before shrugging her shoulders, "You people are of no use to me." she declared, her eyes darting up to Katara first, and then to the other warriors, "Well... you all know what to do, don't you?"

The Water Tribe girl's eyes widened, realising what she was implying with her words- Azula wanted the warriors to kill the Southern Raiders. As much as the thought of killing another person disgusted her, she knew that their tribe had no space or want for prisoners, especially those who were directly involved in the raids that had devastated their tribe.

A warrior readied his machete, approaching one of the knocked out soldiers, before he was stopped by the arm of one of his comrades, "No. I've got a better idea than killing them." he declared, before his eyes darted back behind the Princess, where the enemy's ship was located, currently billowing out smoke from what Katara could only guess was the result of her powerful attacks, "We should throw them on their shitty hunk of metal and sink it to the bottom of the sea. That way we don't have to worry about getting any blood on our hands."

"What a fine suggestion." Azula complimented the warriors idea, before turning up toward the ship, "I'll take care of the ship." she assured them, glancing Katara's way with interest.

"Uh... I'll come along." she decided, realising that if there was anything she wanted to be sure of, it was that the Southern Raiders couldn't escape.

She didn't realise until the soldier admitted they were looking for slaves, that the people she was fighting were the very same that were responsible for her mother's death; she was certain of it, and knew if she asked Azula, she would tell her that she was right.

"These people... they're the ones that did it, aren't they?" she asked her as she followed her toward the ship; the Princess tilted her head back and nodded, a grin that she could only call disturbing forming on her face.

"They did. The man you're looking for, as I told Sokka, is retired. I'm afraid that you won't be able to get your revenge today." she explained, Katara's eyes narrowing, realising that Sokka hadn't even mentioned that; of all the parts of the story that he had forgotten to mention, it was the identity of their mother's killer.

She narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists as she approached the ship, feeling that she was incapable of doing the one thing that she ought to be able to do; avenging her mother was something that she had desired for so long, just like she guessed her brother had, but she had never had the means to do it. Azula's news was simply confirmation that she would continue to remain unable to achieve it; the anger was boiling up in her, having been hidden away for so many years, and she grit her teeth, tightening her grip on her spear. She wasn't going to get exactly what she wanted, it seemed, but defeating the Southern Raiders and their abhorrent plan would still bring a sense of satisfaction to her heart. Following after Azula up the boarding ramp that had been perched onto the icy shore, she made her way up onto the deck of the ship, where a few stragglers had escaped to; they didn't last very long when Azula used her firebending to knock most of them down, Katara charging in with her spear in hand, using it to pummel one of the soldiers in the head. Another soldier came at her, and she dropped to the deck to avoid his fire blast before he himself was struck in the chest by Azula's firebending.

"Come on, let's get down into the hull. We need to make sure the engine is inoperable." she explained, gesturing to a staircase that led down from the centre of the deck.

The pair raced down the stairs, making their way into a long and dark metal lined hallway; Katara thought that the interior of the Fire Nation ship, was very sombre and foreboding. She was unsure if they were trying to make themselves look like heartless conquerors with their imposing steel ships, but she certainly thought the Fire Nation were doing a good job of it if that was the case. They continued on down the hallway, until they were once again confronted by some soldiers, who this time, weren't wearing any armour, and thus were much less of an issue to fight. Azula simply aimed a palm forward and sent a stream down the hallway, which battered them to the side; even though they remained conscious after the attack, the two of them were able to quickly knock them out while they were dazed. They made their way all the way to the rear of the ship, when suddenly, Katara heard a sudden mechanical grinding noise, which didn't sound enticing in the slightest.

"What was that?" she questioned the Princess, who narrowed her eyes, gesturing for her to follow.

"The ramp being raised. I think they're trying to escape." she explained to the Water Tribe girl, who immediately understood what they had to do.

"So we'll stop them." she declared, tightening her grip on the spear as they got closer to the end of the hallway, approaching a metal door which was closed shut.

Azula sent a kick of flames right at the door, before they even reached it, sending it flying wide open; it revealed what she was looking for, the engine room, where a few unusually clothed soldiers were standing.

Their outfits consisted of masks, skirts and shoulder pauldrons that were bound by a leather strap across their chest; it was impractical for fighting, but made sense to Katara given the immediate change in temperature she felt as they entered the engine room.

"What is the meaning-" one of them began, before he was cut off by being struck in the head by a curt bolt of blue flames; the other men trembled back in fear.

"P-Princess Azula." one of them mumbled in fear, the Water Tribe girl turning to face her, realising that the people she was fighting were aware of her identity.

"Yes, I am." she grinned at them with a ruthless smirk before sending fire balls at each of them in a quick succession.

Katara used her spear to strike the enemy soldiers, whose lack of armour was their downfall; she was able to jab their extremities and force them back while the Princess's firebending proved to be an unsurprisingly quick and precise weapon for knocking them out cleanly. When all of their enemies were knocked out, they both looked at each other, the Water Tribe girl genuinely relieved that she had been able to beat them back so easily; she knew that being captured by the Fire Nation would be a death sentence for her, and thus, every knocked out soldier was a step closer to having her freedom assured.

The Princess pointed to a large number of pipes that ran through the room, the largest going upward into the ceiling, "Katara, how good are you at manipulating water?" she questioned her snappily, the Water Tribe girl tensing up, knowing that her inadequate training meant that even if she could manipulate her element at will, she lacked the skill to use it as an effective weapon over any other tool like a spear.

"I can do it." she admitted, before her eyes moved down with shame, "But not that well."

"Could you hold back some steam for me?" she asked her, Katara raising a brow with confusion.

"Hold back some... steam?" she asked her with a curious tone.

"These engines run off boiling water to create steam. That steam turns motors. Without the steam, the ship can't move." she explained simply, before pointing to a large pipe.

"That is the steam outlet pipe, which goes up with the smoke from the coalfire. If you use your waterbending to hold it in place, then maybe... well the engine will stop working and explode."

She tensed up momentarily, before nodding; she knew that she could at the very least try, "I'll see what I can do."

"Reach out and grab it. Like you would to pick up a snowball." Azula suggested, making her roll her eyes at her comparison; whatever waterbending was meant to be like, it wasn't like picking up a snowball with her hand.

She raised her hand up, taking a deep breath before sensing forward, taking note of all the water, in the form of steam that was rushing around her; she focused ahead at the pipe, sensing the flow that was moving through it, and moved her hand in sync with that flow. As her hand rose up, she felt the flow within her, smiling as she realised that she was connecting with her element; then she dropped her hand down, feeling the force that she was applying physically. She could feel the water vapour bubbling away, becoming denser by the second, and the sound she could hear from the pipes indicated that it was having an effect.

"Yes, yes!" Azula raised a fist into the air, elated that her plan was coming to fruition, "It's working."

For a moment she felt a certain sense of camaraderie with the girl, but that was quickly broken when their attention was turned behind them as a group of soldiers came rushing down the hallway toward the engine room.

"Shit." the Princess mumbled under her breath before gritting her teeth, "Stay focused Katara. We need to make sure this ship can't escape."

She nodded, turning her eyes back to the pipe as she continued to focus her mind on the steam that was building up; she could sense the pressure growing and it was becoming harder and harder for her to bend it. Her strength as a bender was being tested against the power of heat, and she was beginning to realise the fortitude required to bend was something else entirely. She couldn't rely on willpower alone, but that did help as she reminded herself why she was fighting; remembering the fact that she was trying to defeat those who had been responsible for her mother's death was as great incentive and she felt the vigour in her hold intensify, the build up becoming even stronger; as pipes began to burst, she turned her head toward Azula.

"I think we might need to leave in a second." she warned her, taking note of the large number of soldiers that she was warding off with her firebending.

"Duly noted." she confirmed, before smirking as she charged a fireball in her hands, which grew quickly to be nearly half her height in diameter; Katara's attention turned back to the steam, watching as all of the pipes began to burst and steam began to billow out of the coal furnaces the wrong way.

She then stepped back, moving back to back with the Princess as she charged the flames in her hands, which grew into a wild, uncontrollable blast that she could only direct away from her, flying right into the enemy soldiers that were in the hallway behind them; she didn't see what happened to the soldiers, only the blinding blue light of the flames encompassing the hallway. That was enough of a signal for her to turn her heels and race into the hallway, knowing that the engine was about to blow.

"Let's get out of here!" she told Azula as more pipes continued to burst, the room filling up with steam.

The two of them paced down the hallway, and as the flames dissipated the Water tribe girl took note of all the unconscious soldiers; she reminded herself that despite the beating they had received, that they all deserved it. As they approached the staircase they had entered through, Katara heard a booming explosion, which seemed to have occurred from her tampering with the steam; it was only when they climbed onto the deck that she realised what had happened.

The chimneys of the ship had exploded into flames, the build-up of steam and smoke having become literally explosive; her jaw dropped, turning to Azula with a sense of amazement, "I did that."

"You certainly did." she acknowledged her efforts before she turned around, taking note that the ramp was still raised, even if the ship hadn't left shore, "Well that's just annoying." she grumbled, stepping forward as she glanced back toward the Water Tribe girl with a rather smug face, "Let me take care of that." she suggested, before she sent an impressive fire stream toward the railing to the left of them; it didn't seem like she was hitting much, but a few seconds later, she could hear a cracking noise as the ramp suddenly broke free, slamming back down onto the ice.

The two of them made their way back down the ramp, as a number of warriors and other tribesmen approached them with surprise, "By the spirits, you did it!" one of them exclaimed with shock.

"I can't believe it, the Princess saved our village." another gasped, before Azula herself stood forward.

"I wasn't saving your village, I was simply returning the favour. You have helped me by keeping me safe. It is only logical that I return in kind." she explained her actions, in such a way that made her seem as amoral as possible; Katara snickered, thinking how stupid it was for a person to want to not seem good.

"What is it?" she quipped at the Water Tribe girl accusingly, "Did you have something to say, Katara?" she tried to intimidate her, only making her step closer with a grin, realising that if she wanted to offend her, she only needed to say one thing.

"How does it feel being the good guy?" she questioned her, the Princess's eyes widening for a moment before she snarled, her hands filled with blue flames that made the ice shine a bright blue below their feet.

"This has nothing to do with being good!" she growled with barely contained fury.

"It has everything to do with being good. You just saved our children from being enslaved." she retorted, Azula glaring her down for a few moments, before turning to face the warriors.

"Are they all dealt with?" she asked them, the men nodding with relieved expressions.

"Yeah, the rest of them were-" he began, before she cut him off as she walked forward, barging through the group, making a bee-line right back toward the village walls.

"Then I'm going to bed. The Southern Raiders are yours to punish."

* * *

For Sokka, making sight of his village both brought relief and dread; he could see that the structures there were still clearly standing, although he could make out damage to the wall, but there was no clean sign of an enemy force, or worse, dead tribesmen. He didn't know what had happened but he was sure of one thing; the Southern Raiders had attacked his village, or at the very least, intended to, and he had no idea why. He had been mulling over the possibilities as he and the other hunters rushed back toward the village; he considered there were multiple reasons for the Fire Nation to attack once again. One was that they had been tracking Bato's small vessel as he travelled back to their village, and intended to take him out; another was that they had found out about Azula or Katara, through word of mouth or by raiding other villages that they were in contact with. The Princess was a hard thing to keep secret, and although she wore the same clothes and did the same work as any other person in their village, she was not one of them; it would have been easy enough for some travelling hunters or traders from another village taking note of her appearance and word getting back to the Fire Nation. The same could be said about Katara, seeing that everyone in the village knew that she was a waterbender, all it would take was someone in the Southern Water Tribe talking to some Fire Nation spy or the likes, and the Southern Raiders would move to capture her.

He increased his pace as soon as he could see the village walls, and quickly enough the features of the small settlement he called home were becoming more noticeable; there was damage to the walls, ash and cracks covering them, as well as a gaping hole where his watchtower had once stood. His father was leading the group, but he was not far behind, and despite how tired they all were, the men were no less intent on getting back to their home. The sun had risen not that long ago, and the glare on the ice was hurting Sokka's eyes, although he didn't complain, knowing that getting back to the village was more important than his petty grievances. As they neared the walls, a few villagers stepped out, surprised by the appearance of the hunters, and their rather exhausted and dishevelled state.

"They're back!" he heard one call out, before one of the warriors, who he remembered to be called Aujaq, approached the Chief with a bewildered look.

"Chief! You're not going to believe what happened." he told Hakoda, who placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The... the Southern Raiders." he panted, trying to catch his breath, "Did they attack?"

"Yes, but we won. We kicked their arses." he clarified, "Well, actually, that's the unbelievable part. The warriors didn't need to do much." he told him with an excited tone, before eyeing Sokka momentarily, "The Princess, she completely destroyed them; she even disabled their ship!" he exclaimed, the Chief sighing with relief, turning to face his son.

"I take back anything bad I ever said about that girl." he told him with a chuckle, "That's great news. Do we know why they came here?"

Aujaq's expression became a whole lot more serious when the Chief addressed him about that matter, "Y-yes, yes we do. They were coming here to kidnap children."

"What?" Hakoda's eyes widened with shock, "Did they think there might be more waterbenders or something?"

"Something. That something was slavery. I don't know what they need the labour for, but I'm guessing it might have something to do with what's happening the Earth Kingdom." he clarified, making Sokka's jaw drop with shock.

"You're kidding me..." before he glanced about, remembering that he mentioned disabling the enemy ship, "Uh, but where did the ship go?" he asked Aujaq, who tensed up, before turning to face his chief.

"We picked up all the ones we beat, chucked them on the boat, and sent it out to drift. The Princess damaged it enough that it's probably sunk by this point." he explained, the Water Tribe teen looking at him with disbelief; he knew that Azula could hand down some damage, but if the crew was all onboard, they had the chance to repair it.

"Are you sure they won't just get away?" he asked him, the warrior nodding with a serious expression.

"Yes. Your sister destroyed the engine with her waterbending. They can't get away." he explained, making Hakoda and Sokka smile at each other with pleased surprise.

"That's my girl." the Chief grinned with pride in his sister's achievement, a sentiment that his son shared, "Where is she, and the Princess for that matter?"

"Uh..." the warrior scratched at his chin, "I think Katara's with your mother, but I don't know where the Princess is."

"I think I do." he admitted, thinking that Azula would likely be in two possible places, mulling around in her tent, or doing the same by the icy shoreline, away from the other villagers; although she loved to mock him, she wasn't very sociable with anyone else in his village, and was more than likely sitting by her lonesome.

He turned back to face his father, who seemed to be both relieved and exhausted at the same time, "So, should we go see Katara and have breakfast?" he questioned him, the Chief not even nodding, simply striding forward into the village, which Sokka took as an affirmative.

As they entered the village, Sokka witnessed the damage that had occurred due to the attack; a number of tents had been destroyed by fire, and a few of the warriors were clearly injured, walking around with bandages on their extremities. He sighed, realising that they really just seemed to have bad luck; they would have had double the warriors to defend the village if they hadn't gone out on a hunt, although he realised that on the other hand, if Azula wasn't there, their village likely would have been destroyed and all of their children would have been kidnapped. It was not that he doubted his fellow warriors abilities, but rather the fact that previous raids had been with the intent of capturing waterbenders, not enslaving the populace of the Southern Water Tribe. They approached their family's igloo, his father stepping through the doorway first, before Sokka followed him in; he immediately made sight of his grandmother and sister making breakfast, both of their faces brightening up with relief.

"Dad, Sokka, you're back!" his sister exclaimed, hugging them both, which they accepted, enjoying the long group hug that the Water Tribe boy would admit he had sorely needed after the panic-attack he had had upon seeing the Fire Nation ship.

"What happened?" Hakoda asked of his daughter, "Aujaq told me your destroyed the ship's engine. That's amazing."

"It was amazing." she told them, "Azula was there to help of course... she did most of the work... actually." she clarified, her tone becoming a little less happy; that indicated to her brother that she felt like her toes were being stepped on a little with the Princess taking the bulk of the glory and recognition for their victory.

"I'm so proud of you." he told her, before he rubbed at Sokka's scalp, making him cringe back, "I'm proud of both of you."

"Thanks, Dad. I know you guys must have gotten back here as quickly as you could." she admitted, "So, I guess you saw the ship."

"We did." he clarified, clearing his throat before gesturing to his son, "Well, Sokka did first."

"I did." he took the credit he thought was fairly given to him, "But I knew it wouldn't help much. They were too fast, and we had to run while it was snowing, so we couldn't get there until... well, just now."

"You did the best you could." Kanna assured them, "Now, I assume you two are very tired, but I was just making breakfast. Did you want some?"

"That would make my day, Gran Gran." Sokka grinned at her, sitting down on the mat in the centre of their igloo, as she had her pot of sea prune stew ready.

The four of them sat around the pot as she poured them each a bowl, which he sniffed to enjoy the aroma as he received his one; he sipped some of the liquid portion of the stew, thinking it was rather a superior alternative to water, which was usually a lot colder when he drank it, as well as tasteless. He realised that Azula wasn't at breakfast with them, which felt odd for some reason; she usually stuck out like a sore thumb with her snarky quips and lack of respect toward others, and he missed that part of the breakfast experience for once.

He turned to face his grandmother, thinking that she would likely have the best idea where Azula was at that moment, "Uh, Gran Gran, have you seen Azula?"

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "No, I haven't. I thought your sister was going to invite her to breakfast, but she obviously did not." she commented, bluntly making out his sister's indifference toward his girlfriend.

"I- I didn't want to. Your saw how angry she got last night, and that was before we had to fight the Southern Raiders." she tried to argue with her grandmother, who simply raised a hand.

"That doesn't matter. She saved our village, you ought to at least give her some slack." she clarified, before turning to face her grandson, "I'm sorry, Sokka. I haven't seen her, and as your sister said, she has been in a bad mood."

"Ah." he raised a brow, taking a bite from one of the sea prunes, considering what she was saying; it was obvious that Azula and Katara didn't like each other, but he didn't understand the full extent of that animosity.

As he finished chewing the sea prune, he cleared his throat, "I think maybe I should go talk to her. After I finish breakfast, of course."

"Food goes before your girlfriend. Why am I not surprised?" his sister chided him, the Water Tribe teen's brow twitching, trying to restrain his anger.

He could understand at that moment why his girlfriend didn't like her, although he wouldn't take Katara's comments personally, seeing that she was simply pointing out a fact; he was more concerned about eating breakfast than he was about going to see Azula, as bad as sounded when he spelled it out in his head.

"Did you just have to walk all night? Because that's what Dad and I just did." he growled at her, making her shrink back, realising that she was in the wrong in making her argument, "If I don't eat, I won't have any energy, and that means that I'll probably pass out before I can properly comfort my girlfriend."

"You make a good point, son." Hakoda acknowledged, "I'm about five minutes away from falling asleep flat on this mat."

The igloo fell silent after that, the four of them eating their breakfasts in silence, the only sounds being made was from Sokka slurping up the liquid in his bowl as he quickly finished it off.

"Thank you, Gran Gran, that was a great breakfast." he thanked her, before rising to his feet, "Now, I have- uh- business to attend to." he told them.

"You make it sound like you're going to the toilet, not going to see your girlfriend." Katara commented, the Water Tribe teen rolling his eyes.

"Just... whatever." he waved off her words as he turned his heels, heading out of the doorway.

He didn't want to bother listening to stupid comments from his sister, let alone have the argument that he could see coming from a mile away with Azula; despite his best efforts, it just seemed like he wasn't going to catch a break. Walking back out into the village, the Water Tribe teen made his way past the injured warriors, dropping his head down, knowing that he ought to have been there to fight alongside the warriors. He knew that a feast would have improved the mood of the village, and an excuse for celebration was something that they needed; as happy as he was being at home with the Princess by his side, he was sure that the rest of the villagers, after years of the men being await, although not continuously, had strained their small community.

It wasn't just his village, but the entire Southern Water Tribe that seemed to be suffering because of it; his father had always told him that leaving to fight the Fire Nation was a necessary sacrifice, but he realised after his months away in the Earth kingdom, that as noble as their intentions had been, their absence had done no good for those back home, and the victory they hoped for never came. As he approached his and Azula's tent, he knelt down, pulling the canvas open to check if she was awake; she certainly was, sitting on their sleeping roll with her hands on the headpiece that she used to wear, back before the Agni Kai, when she had to dispense of any ornaments that would make her stick out as herself. Her eyes darted up to face him, bags under them and her lips pursed into a half-frown, although her expression brightened slightly for a moment, before it turned back to a harsher glare.

"It took you long enough." she grit her teeth at him, Sokka stepping into the tent, sitting himself down; he knew he screwed up, but even his instincts couldn't have predicted the Southern Raiders were going to attack.

"I'm sorry. We should have all been here. I should have fought by your side." he told her what he had been feeling ever since he saw the ship himself; that they ought to have been there to defend their village, instead of going out to find something big to eat, just because they felt like it.

"You haven't slept since you saw it, haven't you?" she guessed correctly, the Water Tribe warrior nodding before he slumped down, crossing his legs as he sat on the other end of their sleeping roll.

"I haven't." he confirmed, before looking down, remembering the sense of horror he felt as he and the other hunters packed and made chase after the boat, "I couldn't. I guess that was like how you felt after you woke up when you got... uh- zapped." he admitted, realising that she must have felt similarly; compelled to act, even if she couldn't make any meaningful contribution until it was too late.

She narrowed her eyes at him, seeming annoyed by his mention of that evening, which he knew to be one of her greatest regrets, "Do you want me to punch you in the face or something?"

"Something." he chose, making her roll her eyes.

"That's very witty of you. I see that your brains didn't freeze while you were out in the snow." she gave him a rather unusual compliment, but he accepted it nonetheless.

"Thanks, Azula." he pursed his lips upward, "So... are you alright? After what happened, I'm guessing that... well, you get annoyed easily." he admitted, making her narrow her eyes at him before laughing, realising that she was getting agitated at that very moment.

"Ah!" she hammered her palms together, "You are right, savage."

He laughed along with her, before her expression became more serious, which was a good indication for Sokka to press a more specific question.

"Did something or someone specifically annoy you?" he asked her, the Princess widening her eyes before nodding, contemptuously looking at her fingers for a moment.

"Yes. Your sister." she told him, not in any way surprising him; their relationship was mutually antagonistic, it seemed, and even if they were fighting common enemies, that wouldn't stop them from butting heads.

"Katara is... well, she's kind in heart." he admitted, knowing that she wasn't the nicest of people, especially when it came to people with extremely different moral codes and personalities, like his girlfriend, who prided herself on her rationality and supposed amorality.

"She's a bitch, sometimes, honestly." she clarified, before she decided to offload a rant onto the only person in the village who would care for it, "She's completely ignorant of what your people did. You, your father, Bato, you all essentially allowed my father to be deposed by making my brother and uncle think I was gone for good." she declared, making Sokka's eyes widen; he knew that his actions had consequences, but he didn't really consider what they had done that night on her Royal Barge actually amounted to much more than delaying her arrival to Ba Sing Se.

"W-wait... are you serious? Was Zuko not going to go ahead with taking down his father because he thought you were alive?"

"Of course he wasn't! He's a coward, above all else, and if he had been certain I was still alive when he went out to defeat my father, he wouldn't have done it." she declared; he was unsure if he was right, but he didn't feel brave enough to question her any further.

She furrowed her brow, before returning to what she had been previously talking about, "Now, she has the audacity to say that your people hadn't achieved anything, just because the Fire Nation continues to rule the world. She despises the Fire Nation without even realising the fact the man ruling it now is the kind of principled do-gooder that she so adores."

"I mean, you have a pretty good point. Although I don't know how much of a do-gooder he can be if he shot you with lightning." he commented, not having the highest opinion of her brother after that incident.

She tensed up before raising a finger, "Ah... yes, that is a fair point. But he wanted to end the war. You told me that was what he said in his speech to the commoners, didn't you?" she questioned him, the Water Tribe teen nodding.

He remembered Zuko's impassioned speech outside of the city hall of Yu Dao, it being the first time he ever laid eyes upon the young Fire Lord, as well as a basic introduction to his intentions for the Fire Nation.

"Yes, I think he does. Although ending the war can mean many different things, when you think about it." he acknowledged, the Princess chuckling as she considered his proposition.

"You have a good point. I desire peace just the same, although perhaps not the same kind that Zuko does." she admitted, making Sokka lean closer.

"And what does that look like?" he asked her, genuinely curious, and hoping that she might reveal her own intentions, which she had kept close to her heart ever since they came to the Southern Water Tribe; she wanted to be Fire Lord, but beyond that, her future seemed murky.

"It doesn't matter." she grit her teeth, before raising her eyes to meet his own, "As I was saying... your sister was acting as if the world hasn't changed, when it most certainly has."

"I agree." he smiled at her reassuringly, "And not just because I want to agree with you... Katara's just ignorant if she thinks that your brother taking the throne wasn't a big deal. He overthrew your father in an Agni Kai and has intentions to end the war your people have been fighting headstrong for a hundred years."

"Well, if you were as stupid as her, then I'd be concerned that you had knocked your head and forgotten everything that happened in the Earth Kingdom." she quipped, before narrowing her eyes, "And that was only at dinner."

"Oh." he mumbled, his eyes widening when he realised that Azula had further complaints to make, "Well, then what else did she say?"

"She mocked me." she snarled, clenching her fists as she raised them into the air, "She mocked me after I fought to defend your village against the Southern Raiders! The very people that killed your mother!" her voice rose to shout, Sokka becoming concerned; he didn't know what his sister had said, but he had a feeling that it must have been pretty audacious to get the Princess as riled up as she had been.

"What did she say?" he questioned her, the Princess turning away as her fists remained clenched, indicating that she was still just as agitated as before.

"She asked me, ‘how does it feel to be good?'" she quoted Katara, before Sokka reached a hand out to her shoulder, understanding why she had gotten so agitated about it.

They were a double-edged sword, his sister's words; first, she insulted the Princess by telling her she was acting altruistically, even though by her own principles, she was simply being an honourable ally. Sokka understood why she'd be offended, knowing that when he had helped Azula in Ba Sing Se, in suppressing an Earth Kingdom revolt, he was being honourable, but there was nothing good about his actions. She probably thought that fighting against her nation was against what she herself desired to do, and therefore bad, even if she was being honourable by protecting her hosts. Then there was the darker, more underlying meaning behind Katara's words; she had told the Princess that she had been bad, perhaps evil in the past, despite the fact that she knew little to nothing about the Princess's rather disturbing upbringing. Azula probably never thought that she was evil, just as she had never thought she was good, and being accused of one, or in this case, both, would infuriate her beyond belief.

"I... I get it." he admitted, the Princess turning back to face him, her face still scrunched into a scowl instead of a pout, "Don't listen to her." he told her, "You aren't evil, Azula, you never were."

"Then what do you call what I intended to do to all the protestors that Jet and his goons were going to rile up?" she questioned, reminding him of that specific argument they had had after interrogating Long Feng for the first time.

"You were misguided in your heavy-handedness." he assured her, the Princess's harsh expression softening upon hearing his words, "I honestly didn't think you had malicious intent in trying to protect the peace your nation established. Do you think your ancestors decided to conquer the world in the name of being evil?" he questioned her, the Princess rolling her eyes as she tried not to laugh.

"They didn't." she confirmed, "As was always taught at school, Fire Lord Sozin invaded the Earth Kingdom to spread the prosperity of the Fire Nation, " she clarified, making the Water Tribe teen shake his head with disappointment; he wasn't exactly surprised by the Fire Nation's excuses for their actions.

"What, spread it to a few cities on the coast of the Earth Kingdom that were under his rule long enough to forget the fact their countrymen were being slaughtered?" he asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"He didn't have the benefit of hindsight like we do." she argued, before narrowing her eyes at him, "You really are stupid if you think I'm a good person, though." she argued, the Water Tribe teen sighing as he leaned back.

"Well, I never said I was smart, did I? You were the one complimenting me just a second ago." he grinned at her making her put a hand on his chest, forcing him down on his back; a mild punishment for his jesting words, "You don't need to be good to be the girl of my dreams, anyway. As you love to tell me... it's about doing what's right, not about what's good."

"You don't literally dream about me... do you?" she questioned him with a curious tone.

"Oh, well, I'd like to. I'm more enamoured by the smell of a fresh pot of sea prunes." he joked, making her punch him.

"Two can play that game, savage." she failed to hold back her grin; Azula had to be the only girl in the world who could go between setting you on fire and making out with you for insulting her, which was something he tried not to think about.

"Oh, come on, try me then." he grinned at her, the Princess raising a finger to her chin in thought.

Instead of responding at once, she leaned over to hug him, lying beside him as they lay on top of their sleeping roll, "You're the most annoying person in this village."

"I could say the same." he grinned at her, before kissing her on the forehead, "Now, if you don't mind, I need to catch up on the sleep I missed out on."

"Oh, you want to sleep?" she mocked him, the Water Tribe teen narrowing his eyes at her.

"You can't be serious, I'm not in the mood to spar. I can barely stand as it is." he refused the suggestion before she could even make it; she rolled her eyes before kissing him on the lips, suggesting that she wasn't exactly in the setting-his-parka-on-fire mood.

"Don't play stupid with me."

* * *

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Azula was simply glad that she had gotten enough sleep, unlike the night prior; she had fought, once more, and properly, to defend her allies, and was proud of the fact she had succeeded, no matter how much she was annoyed that she had to fight her own countrymen. She didn't refrain from blaming Zuko for that turn of events, but by that point, with her boyfriend sleeping soundly beside, Azula the Southern Raiders were behind her, and hopefully, they didn't make a return visit. She didn't want to take part in the heavy-handed punishment of the Fire Nation attackers, knowing that she didn't want to feel remorse or conflict in her actions; it was simpler to avoid having to decide their fates, and to let the warriors deal with it. She thought they had done the right thing; they didn't slaughter the Southern Raiders, something that was perhaps, in their eyes, below them, and rather sent them out adrift in the icy sea, hopefully where they would remain, rather than foolishly attempting to return to shore.

Although she hadn't seen them do it before, she was sure that the Water Tribe men, led by Hakoda, would not be as merciful as they had been that night; their enemies, even if they were Fire Nation, were weak. As much as she knew her opinion had become biased due to her relationship with Sokka, she was sure that they were deserving of being called such, after all the things they had done, for little gain, for both the Fire Nation and the world as a whole. As her father told her with one proverb or another, life was always about the strong surviving, and the weak perishing; the Southern Raiders, despite all their efforts, didn't even stop the Southern Water Tribe from wanting to fight the Fire Nation, and in fact, they were the root cause, the spark at the bottom of the haystack, that had led to her father's overthrowal, even if Zuko had been the one to deliver the final blow.

She rose up from her sleeping roll, feeling a slight chill in the air; it was the South Pole, and it was always cold, as any intelligent person would assume, but their tents were usually well insulated and heated by their warm bodies, meaning that it was unusual for there to be any chill in the tent. She took note that the tent had been opened already, and glanced at the end of their bed, taking note of a bowl of food that was covered by a leather rag to keep in relatively airtight. She raised a brow, considering where it might have come from; leaning forward over the bed, she picked up the bowl, realising that it was still warm, so much so that she realised it must have been put there not long before she woke up.

She took off the leather covering, and her eyes widened as she smelled the food inside; it wasn't just any food, but Fire Nation food. She thought for a moment that she was being stalked or something of the likes, but realised that was unlikely, knowing that none of the Southern Raiders would have made it into the settlement to mock her with a bowl of noodles and spicy komodo rhino meat. As much as she liked the aroma, she could tell from the texture of the meat and the thin noodles that the meal was not of the highest quality products; that was even compared to the kind of food that she and Sokka had been eating while travelling to the South Pole with the extremely stretched budget they had at hand. The poor quality of the food itself indicated that it indeed was military rations, although how it had gotten to her tent, she still didn't know; she considered that perhaps someone had stolen it from the ship when they beat the Southern Raiders.

"Hmph?" she heard a curious grunt from Sokka, who rose up from his bed, "I smell- mhmm... Yu Dao food." he made a sleepy, but clearly pleased smile, before his eyes widened with realisation, "Yu Dao food? Wait a minute, why is there spicy Fire Nation food in my tent at the South Pole?"

"Um... I have a few guesses. Most of them raise more questions than answers." she admitted, the Water Tribe teen wiping the sleep from his eyes before yawning.

"That's... uh, kinda weird." he acknowledged, Azula looking back down at the meal.

"No, very it's weird." she furthered on his own words, "I don't know where this came from, but I really ought to-" she began to plot out her plan to unravel the mystery, before Sokka raised a hand, cutting her off.

"Wa-wa-wait!" he tried to hush her, making the Princess scowl; she for one, didn't like being told to shut up, "I know where this is from."

"You do?" she raised a brow at him suspiciously.

"Well, remember our argument... or... whatever you'd like to call it?" he asked her, the Princess chuckling; to her, every conversation was an argument waiting to be had.

"A civil discussion, I'd say, seeing that I didn't up setting you on fire. That would have been unfair, given you were sleep deprived." she admitted, making him smile at her, genuinely appreciating her thought.

"Oh, how unusually considerate of you." he admitted, the Princess grinning at him.

"The less kindness you give, the more it counts in the end." she raised a finger, thinking that was a succinct argument as to why she refrained from complimenting and praising the Water Tribe warrior all the time; she didn't want him to think that her words were cheap, rather preferring that they have the proper gravity expected that a princess.

"Now, sorry, back to what I was saying. After you told me everything that was said, I had a ‘civil' discussion with Katara." he explained, making her jaw drop.

"I can fight my own fights, savage. You didn't need to swoop in and do so for me." she grit her teeth, annoyed that he would have gone out of the way to do such a thing when she was perfectly capable of giving his sister a verbal beatdown herself.

"She's my sister. When she acts out, it's my duty to make sure she knows she screwed up." he retorted, the Princess sighing, understanding that he did have a point; if it were the alternate situation, with Zuko and Sokka arguing, she guessed that she would prefer to handle her brother.

"Fair enough. So, uh, what does Katara have to do with komodo rhino noodles?" she questioned, making his eyes widen, realising that they were going off topic again.

"She was the one who made them." he simply gestured down to the bowl, raising a brow in thought, "Or Gran Gran... probably both of them."

"And how did she get this? Off the Southern Raiders ship?" she asked once more, Sokka nodding.

"Yeah, supposedly the tribesmen raided their pantry, seeing that we were having a little food problem." he clarified, reminding her of the fact that they had unsuccessfully gone out on a hunt, and in doing so, had wasted resources while gaining nothing meaningful; that wasn't even considering the damages to their village and supplies that could have been avoided if all of the warriors had been there to face off the Southern Raiders.

"Little would be an understatement." she quipped, making him chuckle, before continuing to explain.

"She told me that she wanted to apologise, but in a way that was more meaningful. I guess this what she decided on doing." he connected all the dots together, Azula's eyes narrowing on the bowl in her hands.

"Huh..." she mumbled, unsure how to respond to such a gesture.

Katara had made her food that reminded her of home, which was both painful and uplifting at the same time; she wanted to see her country once again, and not have to fear for her safety in doing so, but she also knew that the food itself was proof that the Fire Nation wasn't that far away, nor was its influence. The latter aspect was more than obvious, given the Southern Raiders attack on the village, despite the fact that they hadn't actually come to the South Pole to properly hunt down waterbenders since the raid that had killed Sokka's mother.

"So, does it look good?" he asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"It's navy rations, it can't be that good."

"Isn't that the same kind of stuff that we were eating on the trip from Ba Sing Se westward?" he asked with a curious voice, as if he weren't able to put two and two together.

"What you were eating." she grinned, unable to hold back her appreciation for her position and its former benefits, "I got the royal treatment... quite literally."

"Okay, okay, fair point." he acknowledged with a chuckle, "So, are you gonna... take a bite?" he asked her, making the Princess's eyes turn up to face his own, narrowing suspiciously upon considering his words.

"You want some, don't you?" she asked him, the Water Tribe teen raising his hands defensively.

"I wouldn't dare steal your gift. That'd be unfair. Your reward for saving the village." he argued, the Princess raising a brow.

"No offence, but unlike you, I don't think a little meal from your sister is a reward. It's a fair repayment for her acting like a xenophobic dumbass, that's true, but for saving the village... I don't know."

"You've earned their respect." he suggested, "Well, I think you have. You already had mine, and now you've got theirs. Even Gran Gran's warming up to you. She was asking last night why we weren't coming to dinner."

"Ah, yes, sorry about that." she apologised, something that she usually wouldn't do, but after all he'd done for her, Azula knew that Sokka was at the very least afforded that, "I know you might have liked to enjoy your family dinner." she admitted, realising that she might have overstepped some bounds by demanding they eat together in their tent.

"I enjoyed it with you instead." he grinned at her brightly, making her cheeks turn red, something she tried to mask by turning away from him; she wasn't used to feeling chosen, elevated above others, not because of some need for respect, but because someone actually liked being around her.

She decided to take a bite from the meal, eating with some utensils that had been left inside the bowl; she wasn't going to complain about the bone instruments being damp of all things, knowing that if she started complaining about all the minor inconveniences she found at the South Pole, she mightn't ever stop. The komodo rhino was soft, a little too much for her liking, but the taste was just as she remembered it, and it made her smile, knowing that her home still existed, even if she couldn't return at that moment. As she ate up the meal, she appreciated the fact that it had been given to her by a girl who for all she knew, probably still despised her; even if it was meant as a kind of peace offering, no quantity of her kindness would soften her rough edges, something that she was unsure if Katara understood. She decided that she would thank her for the meal, and that would be that, knowing that trying to endear herself with the Water Tribe girl was a stupid and probably unproductive idea, seeing that she had failed to do so, and even if she were able to earn her respect, that did not mean that she'd ever like her.

She turned back to face Sokka, knowing that he'd probably want a bite, even if he was trying to say otherwise, "Come on. I've had most of it, you can have a bite." she suggested, the Water Tribe warrior smiling at her, reaching to grasp her shoulders before giving her a hug; she struggled to hold the bowl upright as he embraced her, but she didn't complain, not desiring to ruin the moment.

He took the bowl into his hands and began to scoop up some of the noodles, before taking a whole lot of them in one foul bite.

"Ah." he mumbled as he chewed them down, "That's... pretty good, actually." before he took a bite of the komodo rhino meat and chewed it down, his eyes widening with surprise.

"Oooh... that's even better!" he exclaimed with a bright grin on his face, making the Princess roll her eyes; he was always a little too enthusiastic when it came to food, after all, "The Fire Nation might have tried to conquer the world, but they make good food, I'll give them that."

"Of course, we are the most advanced of the nations after all. Cuisine is just one of those many advances that we have other the rest." she proudly declared, making the Water Tribe teen raise a finger, as if he were to argue her claim, before he smiled.

"I'll let that one pass... if only because I agree that your people's food is... pretty good." he pursed his lips up before taking another bite of the meal, "Mhmm!" he made a muffled vocalisation, indicating that he couldn't contain his enjoyment.

"Now, I'd like my breakfast back." she gestured to him with an open palm, the Water Tribe boy pouting as he accepted her request.

"I will stay by my word." he assured her, as she returned to eating it in a far less excited manner than he was; she did enjoy the meal, but not so much that she was going to gleefully mumble every time she took a bite.

As she finished off the meal, Azula wiped the moisture from her lips before smiling at her boyfriend, at the very least glad that she had had a good breakfast for the first time in what seemed like forever; Water Tribe food wasn't completely unpalatable to her tongue, but it was nothing compared to what she was used to.

"So, are you going to go thank her for making it?" he asked her, making her raise a brow; she knew that she was obliged to do so, as much as it pained her dignity to do so.

"I mean, you're going to force me to, aren't you?" she retorted, the Water Tribe teen chuckling, crossing his arms as he leaned back.

"I can't force you to do anything, remember? I just have the power of persuasion." he told her with a smug look on his face; he was right, but his words implied something a little more intriguing.

Sokka had persuaded her before in the past with his compelling arguments, but she was guessing that he was meaning that he was persuasive in other ways, the kind that she did approve of, of course.

"Do you mean that literally... or in the other sense?" she asked, unable to hold back a pleased smile, the Water Tribe teen not responding for a few moments as he raised a finger up to his chin, as if he actually had to think about his response; she was certain that he was just stalling.

"Oh, well, just like I have a variety of weapons: my club, spear, dagger, machete, and boomerang, I have also... a variety of ways to persuade." he suggested to her, making her laugh at him, knowing that without saying anything directly, Sokka had proved her assumptions true.

"You're right. You can't make me do anything, but you can give me some fine incentives, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe." she agreed with his presupposition, before her lips straightened and her tone darkened, "However, the incentive I have to thank your sister is building rapport among your fellow tribesmen to ensure that I can achieve my aims beyond the South Pole."

"Oh." he mumbled, seeming unsure if she was being truthful in her words.

She hadn't lied when she told him she was incentivised to try and ingratiate herself with his people, neither had she when she implied she would enjoy to tumble in the sleeping roll with him as a reward; he just had to see that her actions were never one sided. She was playing a number of games of Pai Sho at once, and their relationship was just one of them, even if she placed its priority above all else at that very moment; that was how she lived her life, always calculating the benefits, risks and damages from every thing she did, as often as she could. In the heat of battle it was a lot harder to do just that, but that didn't mean that she did not try to act as strategically as possible.

"Don't worry, I have a life outside of trying to manipulate the world into venerating me like a living god." she declared with a grin.

"The only person who's supposedly a living god is the Avatar." he retorted to her words, "That doesn't mean that you can't try."

"Oh, I will." she assured him, before she kissed him on the cheek, making him tremble slightly; she was unsure if it was out of fear, but the reaction excited her, "Now, is there any advice you have to give me about talking to Katara? I'm assuming that you've had to apologise to her a few times in the past."

"You're thanking-" he began, before his eyes widened, "Huh, well, thanking and apologising are the same kind of thing. Gotta remember that one." he mumbled to himself, before raising his eyes up to lock with hers, "Well, I always tried to make her feel better by bonding. Maybe you should go do some... activity together."

"Sokka, that's what you call dates. You're not suggesting I go on a date with your sister, are you?" she questioned him, making his face flush red as he tried to hold back laughter.

"Ah- yeah- that's- uh- not what I meant." he admitted, before dropping his eyes down, "I'm really stupid with my words sometimes."

"No kidding." she agreed with him, the Water Tribe boy wincing before he turned his eyes back up to her.

"Sorry. What I meant to say was that going out together, hanging out, working... whatever it is, that's a good way to make her like you. And plus, if you help her out with a chore, that's a practical way of paying her back for breakfast." he explained himself without mincing his words, the Princess nodding before she rose to her feet, glancing over to see her parka and boots.

"Well, I'll do that. This better work, Sokka." she turned back to glare at him, her boyfriend simply making an uneasy grin, giving her two thumbs up.

"You got this, Azula." he assured her, making her roll her eyes; she didn't want to end up fighting with Katara, let alone when she found herself in a situation where she couldn't walk away.

Putting her boots on, she sighed with annoyance, realising that she was going to have to do something before she even had a chance to decide how she wanted to spend her day; she would have preferred to sit around, but that would be unproductive, and she hated being unproductive. Her inner voice was being hypocritical, and it seemed that the side that argued for being dutiful won out over her edgy and apathetic side; she wanted to mock that side and call it the ‘little Zuko' in her head, but that made her feel uneasy, knowing that comparing herself to her traitorous brother only made her feel more uncertain about her own identity and future.

"Stay safe, Azula." the Water Tribe teen waved to her, as he continued to lie on their sleeping roll; she raised a brow, realising that he probably ought to go and get himself a full breakfast, seeing that was almost always his main priority when he woke up.

"Aren't you going to get breakfast?" she questioned, the warrior shrugging his shoulders before he pulled himself back into the sleeping roll.

"Nah... I prefer sleeping in. You wake up really early." he simply told her, making the Princess roll her eyes; she woke up at the most logical time, sunrise, as any firebender would, although admittedly, it was far less logical in the poles, where the days and nights wildly varied in length.

"That excuse is going to run dry when winter sets in, you know." she warned him, making him grin uneasily at her.

"Sure, sure it will." he dismissed her words, although the tone suggested that he was afraid of being forced out of bed every day when the day was only a few hours long and they had to toil away in the darkness.

"You better be out of bed by the time I get back from whatever I end up doing with Katara, otherwise I am going to set our bed on fire. I am a woman of principle." she warned him, the Water Tribe teen nodding intently.

"I will! I will!" he raised a hand, as if he was swearing he would; even though she could trust him with a lot of things, getting himself out of bed by his own volition was not one of them.

She rolled her eyes at him before pulling her parka over her body, making her boyfriend pout; she was under no illusion that he didn't ogle her whenever she was out of the thick coats they had to wear outside, seeing that Water Tribe undergarments were rather tight fitting, at least in comparison to what she was used to in the Fire Nation.

"I'll see you soon." Azula assured him, the Water Tribe boy eyeing her momentarily, his lips pursing before he waved at her.

"I'll miss you." he told her in return, the Princess chuckling.

"I'm going to be gone for a few hours, not a few days, idiot." she told him, before she opened the canvas flaps, letting the light of the morning sun peer into the tent, looking back at him one more time, "I'll miss you too." she mumbled, unsure if he could hear her, before closing the canvas flaps, making sure the tent stayed warm, as she liked it.

She immediately grabbed the spear that she had perched up beside their tent in the snow, pulling it out with her right hand, before she realised she ought to put her gloves on; pulling them out of the small bag she had on her shoulder, she slid them over her hands, making them seem a lot larger than they actually were, given how thick they were. It made a lot of sense though, given how cold it was outside; she didn't want to get frostbite, even though it was unlikely to happen anyway, given her instinctual use of firebending to heat her hands up. Making her way down through the village, she realised that she must have been one of the only people awake, seeing that there was no one roaming the icy grounds, or sitting by the communal campfire; she was certain that Katara was awake, because she had made her breakfast.

She approached the igloo, sure that she would respond as soon as she knocked on the icy doorway; it lacked an actual door, only having the same canvas covering that each of the tents had to block out the cold. As much as she didn't want to force herself to spend time with Katara, she knew that she ought to thank her for the thought she had taken giving her breakfast; after defeating the Southern Raiders, she found herself in a unique position where she could spend time with the Water Tribe girl and not be at the receiving end of her snide attitude, due to her act of unintentional heroism. She was forcing herself, or rather had been forced to by circumstances, spend time with Katara, and she would shut her mouth and act as courteous as possible, knowing that was the best way to make her not to think of her as her rival or enemy, but as an ally. When she knocked on the icy doorway, she could immediately hear footsteps coming up toward her, before she forced a smile to her lips; when she opened the canvas and their eyes locked, the Water Tribe teen looked at her with surprise.

"Oh, hi, Azula. Did you get your breakfast?" she asked her, Azula simply nodding before she held up her spear.

"Yes, I did. Would you like to go out fishing?" she tried to sound as normal as possible.

"Uh..." she mumbled, looking uncertainly at her before her eyes darted back into her igloo.

"Is something wrong?" she prodded, hoping to get a straight answer.

"No, nothing's wrong. I need to get my things... but, yeah, we can go fishing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took a little longer to write than expected, because it was a little longer than I expected it to be. If you haven't noticed yet, the chapter lengths are going to be substantially larger than those in my previous stories. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Opening his eyes, Aang blinked a few times, realising that he had no idea where he was; all he could see was a Water Tribe girl leaning over him, staring into his eyes with amazement. He realised he must be the Southern Water Tribe, taking note of the cold moisture that he felt on his robes; the last thing he could remember was he and Appa flying through a storm, and being forced into the water, before he blacked out. He realised that maybe he had washed up ashore, after the storm ended; he was just glad that he was alright, and the smile on the girl's face made his heart skip a beat.

"I need to ask you something..." he questioned, realising that there was something he had wanted to do when he got to the South Pole.

"What?" she asked him with surprise, the young airbender whispering in response.

"Please... come closer." he requested, the Water Tribe girl moving in closer as, before she questioned him once again.

"What is it?" she asked him, Aang making a bright smile as he asked his question properly.

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" he asked her, making the girl lean back, looking at him with slight unease; in hindsight, he realised that his question probably seemed a bit odd, seeing that she had just found him in what looked like the middle of nowhere.

"Uh..." she began to mumble, before she was interrupted by another girl, who placed a hand on her shoulder, giving the young airbender with a steely glare.

"We're not going penguin sledding." she declared, before stepping closer, her finger pointed at his chest, "What were you doing in an iceberg?"

"I don't... uh- I'm not sure." he admitted, completely dumbfounded by her question; he had just woken up after he and Appa had a rough ride through the night- he wasn't in an iceberg.

He turned his head around, realising that he was lying down on what seemed to be a large iceberg, with a crater sitting right behind him; he gulped with fear, realising that the angry girl might have been right. He turned back to face her, unsure what exactly had happened between him hitting the water and when he had just woken up.

"What's going on here?" he asked her, the girl stepping forward, her gold eyes staring daggers at him; he realised at that moment, judging from her complexion, hair colour and the most obvious aspect of her eyes being a bright gold, that she was Fire Nation, unlike the other girl, who was clearly Water Tribe.

"You tell me, Avatar." she addressed him, making his eyes widen with fear, realising that she already knew that he was the Avatar; he had left the Southern Air Temple for the exact reason that he didn't want to be the Avatar, but it seemed he couldn't escape his fate that easily.

"H-how did you know?" he mumbled, bewildered that she already knew that he was the Avatar on the spot, without him even having said or done anything that indicated that to be the case.

"You've got the tattoos of what I believe is an airbending master, you're wearing the robes of an Air Nomad, a race of people that no one has seen for a hundred years." she simply explained herself, the other girl looking at him with shock.

"You're the Avatar?!" she exclaimed with utter shock, Aang forcing himself to nod; there was no point lying about it if he couldn't keep the secret very well.

Suddenly he heard a low gruff noise behind him, realising that Appa was awake; he grinned, turned his heels and raced up the icy slope behind him before jumping down onto his friend's head.

"Appa! Are you alright?" he asked him, leaning down over his eyes, which were closed, "Wake up, buddy."

He opened one of the sky-bison's eyelids, trying to make him move or at the very least make a grunt; once he let go of the eyelid, it simply closed, before he decided to take another tactic, jumping down in front of his head, grasping his jaw, trying to pull his head up. He finally got a reaction from his friend when he opened his mouth and licked him with his tongue, which assured him that he was alright.

"Ha, ha! You're okay!" he beamed, before he hugged Appa by his nose, just happy to be with him.

He had been unsure after waking up where he was, but was glad that they were still together; Aang knew it would be easy for his big furry friend to get lost in the icy seas of the South Pole.

He heard the voice of the angry Fire Nation girl, who unlike before, had a rather relieved, albeit sarcastic tone in her voice, "Ah, see Katara, now we won't freeze to death. We can ride the giant monster instead of hoping you're anywhere near competent at bending us a raft." she derided the girl, which made him cringe slightly; he hadn't gotten the best first impressions of the Fire Nation girl, who confused him by the fact she was in the South Pole, with no obvious indication of the fact that she was from the Fire Nation as of yet.

"This is Appa, my flying bison. He doesn't take kindly to being called a monster." he warned her, making her scan his sky-bison.

"Yeah, I don't think I'd like to get in a fight with him." she admitted, the young airbender chuckling.

"You would not. Sky-bisons are some of the toughest creatures in the world, and they can airbend!" he exclaimed, before his attention was diverted to Appa, who was making a deep inhale, indicating that he was about to sneeze.

Foreseeing it, he ducked before he sneezed, watching as the blast of green snot being sent out of his nose, right at the Fire Nation girl, who dropped down flat to dodge the sneeze just as he had; although part of her parka was splattered with the green substance, she amazed him with her agility.

"Wow, that was a good dodge." he admitted before smiling reassuringly at her, "Don't worry about your clothes. It'll wash out."

She touched the top of her hood, feeling the green snot in her hand, and making a face of disgust, "Eww..."

"So, do you guys live around here?" he asked them, Katara nodding while the Fire Nation girl simply glared at him without uttering a word.

"Yeah, we do." she admitted, before furrowing a brow at him, "Sorry, I'm just a little confused, what is the Avatar doing in the South Pole... in an iceberg?"

He raised a brow, realising what she was saying, "In an iceberg?" he looked around him, "Are you trying to say I was frozen?"

"That's quite likely." the Fire Nation girl told him with a serious face; he was the Avatar, so he thought that he ought to be the one who would believe absurd and unnatural things, but at that moment, he was the one who was in disbelief.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked her, making her furrow a brow pointing at him.

"What's the last thing you remember?" she asked him, Aang raising a brow, knowing for sure that he was riding Appa in a storm, but he felt a sense of dread, considering why her had been doing so.

He had fled from the Southern Air Temple, knowing that the monks wanted to separate him and Monk Gyatso, send him to the Eastern Air Temple, so he could continue to train without his guardian.

"I was riding Appa. We were in the middle of a really bad storm, and we got hit by a few waves, and I think I might... I might have got knocked out." he admitted, before she stepped closer.

"Okay, but where did you come from?" she furthered her questioning.

"The Southern Air Temple. My home." he added without a second thought.

"And do you live there alone?" she asked him, the Avatar raising a brow in thought; he was never alone, because there were always monks and other children around.

"No. The temple's full of people. Some of those people... I don't like." he added, not wanting to ignore the fact he had left because of the demands of the monks like Tashi that he put his Avatar duties above all else; Avatars weren't even meant to find out that they were the Avatar until they were sixteen, but for some reason they had told him when he was only twelve.

"I've got some bad news for you." the Fire Nation girl admitted, Katara's eyes shimmering with fear, grasping her by the arm, and pulling her away from Aang.

"Azula, don't." she tried to stop her, the young Avatar stepping forward, feeling a growing sense of dread.

"No, I bear responsibility. My family does. I ought to be the one to say it." she grit her teeth, at the Water Tribe girl.

"What do you mean your family bears responsibility? Who are you?" he asked her, the girl, whose name he now learned was Azula, simply sighing as she looked at him, seeming more annoyed than saddened.

"My name... my name is Azula. I am the daughter of Fire Lord Ozai, and until a few months ago, I was Crown Princess of the Fire Nation." she clarified, the Avatar furrowing a brow with confusion; he was pretty sure that a man named Sozin was the Fire Lord, and that he didn't have any children.

"Who's F- what..." he began to mumble, unsure what question to ask first, "Something happened." he simply acknowledged the most obvious fact that he was faced with.

"That is the greatest understatement of history." she admitted, "You were probably in that iceberg for over a hundred years."

"A hundred years?!" he exclaimed with utter shock, "But... I'm twelve!"

"I can see that." she gestured to him, before sighing, "You being alive and in not ageing that entire time probably has to do with you being the Avatar."

"That's... impossible." he mumbled, in a state of utter disbelief.

"She's not lying." Katara backed her up, approaching him, "You were frozen that entire time... and a lot of things have happened. Everything has changed."

"Everything?" he asked her with an uneasy voice, Azula looking at him with the same steely glare, her seriousness not fading.

"I didn't even tell you what happened." she admitted, before sighing, looking as if she didn't want to say it, "Your home, your people, they don't exist anymore."

"D-don't exist?" he asked her, unsure of what she meant, "I mean... people don't live a hundred years." he admitted, knowing that if he had been a hundred years, all of his friends would be long gone.

"She doesn't mean it like... that." Katara admitted, placing a hand on his shoulder, "It would be better if you... uh- sat down for this." she suggested, before raising a brow, "We didn't get your name."

"Oh, I'm Aang." he grinned at the pair, before he sat down, as she had suggested, looking up to Azula, whose expression looked tense; whether she was sad, angry or regretful, he couldn't tell, but she was full of emotion, even if she wasn't letting it out in any way other than dagger eyes.

"One hundred and two years ago, Sozin's Comet passed by our world, and with it, the power of firebenders was increased dramatically; the Fire Nation's armies attacked the Air Temples." she explained, Aang trembling with fear as he heard it.

"Wh-what... what do you mean? Why would the Fire Nation attack the Air Temples?!" his voice rose to a shout, now angered by the thought of what had happened; his rage was already boiling up, even if he didn't truly understand what had purportedly happened.

"Because my great grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, desired to destroy you. Because you were the only thing that stood in his way to conquer the world."

"C-Conquer the world? How could they even..." he began to mumble, utterly shocked by what he was hearing.

He couldn't imagine that the Fire Nation would even try to do such a thing; Aang had friends in the Fire Nation, and he was sure that they wouldn't approve of such a horrible thing.

"Sozin's Comet was only the beginning." she admitted, before looking at him with a steely glare, "A hundred years passed, and by the time it came back again, my father and his armies used it to conquer Ba Sing Se, the last stronghold of the Earth Kingdom."

"And... and now what? What happened to the rest of the world?" he asked her, Katara sighing as she sat down.

"I'm the last waterbender in the South Pole. The rest were taken by the Fire Nation, by a group of savage soldiers called the Southern Raiders. They destroyed us." she admitted, making his jaw drop; he couldn't imagine the possibility of his people being destroyed, but all the benders at the South Pole, that was just as bad, and he could tell from the tone of her voice that she was speaking with certainty and authority on that matter.

"Wh-what about the other tribe?" he mumbled, knowing that there was another one at the North Pole.

Of all the things he had said, that was the thing that had made Azula laugh; he was unsure why anyone would laugh over the fate of a nation, but she found the time suitable to do so, much to his shock.

"Hiding behind their walls of ice like cowards." she declared with a rather snide tone, "They've done nothing. If any of the nations deserved to be destroyed, it was them, if only for their complacency. They haven't done a thing, they didn't even send a boat south to help the Southern Water Tribe, despite all that has happened here."

"B-but... you're a princess?! Why are you here?! If Fire Lord Sozin wanted me dead, why aren't you trying to kill me?!" he accusingly asked of her, feeling a growing sense of dread just by looking at her.

"Why would I do that?" she simply retorted, "I let you out of that iceberg."

He looked around, before glancing back at her, "You... you let me out?"

"Yeah. We found you by accident, but Katara asked me to crack it open, because there was obviously a twelve-year-old boy in there with glowing tattoos."

"Glowing?" his eyes darted around, touching his forehead instinctively.

"Yeah, it was pretty weird, actually." Katara admitted, making him look back at his sky-bison, fearing that what he had just been told was true, and somehow a result of his Avatar powers, something that he understood little about; he knew about the role of the Avatar as the bridge between words, but he didn't really know how to play that role when it came to something like a world war, let alone if he'd how the power to stop it.

"What... what do I do?" he mumbled, the Water Tribe girl approaching him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I... I don't know, but you should come with us, back to my village. You can't just stay out here."

"I wasn't planning to." he admitted, making a grin, "But do you still wanna go penguin sledding?" he asked her, Azula stepping forward and pointing at him.

"Enough about the penguin sledding." she grit her teeth, before her finger pointed to Appa, "Can your sky-bison fly us out of here or what?"

"Uh, yes, of course he can. He's a sky-bison, it's in his name!" he assured her, before he used his airbending to lift himself up into the air, landing on top of his friend's neck, where he could grab a hold of the reins that were tied around his horns, "Get on the saddle, I'll show you." he grinned at them, Katara's expression brightening as she clambered up onto the saddle, Aang offering her a hand to help her up.

Azula, instead of climbing up like he'd expect her to, instead stood still, clenching her fists; he looked at her with confusion, "Uh... I'm confused. Are you still angry or something?" he asked her, making the Water Tribe girl beside him chuckle.

"She's always angry." she noted, the Fire Nation girl turning around and pacing a few strides back from Appa's saddle, before she turned around and raced back toward them; just before she would have ran straight into him, she shot herself into the air with an impressive show of firebending, landing skilfully on the saddle beside them.

He made a double take, just realising that her firebending was blue, not orange, like any normal firebending ought to be, "You're fire's blue... wow." his jaw dropped with awe, making her flick her hair out of her face before smirking.

"Indeed it is." she declared with a rather self-satisfied look on her face.

"How'd you learn how to do that?" he asked her, genuinely curious how she was able to bend fire that wasn't just the ordinary orange, the Princess sitting herself down on the saddle.

"Oh, just years of training. It helped that I was born a firebending prodigy." she explained, making his eyes widen with surprise; he was sure that whoever was running the Fire Nation would have to be good benders, but something like blue fire, that was completely unheard of, at least from what he knew of firebending, which was honestly very little.

"Anyway, first time flyers, hold on tight!" he warned them, the two girls grasping onto the edges of the saddle, "Appa, yip-yip!"

His sky-bison growled, before he moved his tail around; then, without any warning, he launched himself up into the air, Aang grinning as he watched the awe grow on their faces. A moment later, however, his flight was cut short, simply falling down in a belly-flop into the water; instead of trying to get back into the air, Appa simply began to paddle his way through the water.

He whipped the reins again, not wanting to disappoint his new friends, "Come on, Appa. Yip-yip!" he told him, a little more tersely than before.

"At least we're moving." Azula sighed, before glancing out onto the water, looking at the numerous icebergs that surrounded them, "It won't take that long."

"Don't worry, Appa's tired right now. With a little rest, he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see." he told them, specifically looking to Katara as he made a bright smile; he looked at her and he wasn't going to lie to himself that he thought she was very pretty, although he realised that she was a fair bit older than he was.

"Eyes on the icebergs." the Princess warned him, Aang snapping out of a stare that he realised might have gone on for too long.

"Oh, yeah, you're right." he turned his eyes around to focus ahead, pulling on the reins slightly to guide Appa around the numerous ice floes that sat around them.

"Aang, thanks again for letting us come with you." Katara added, making the young airbender grin at her.

"It's my job to help people... I am the Avatar after all." he admitted, although his voice quietened as he finished, reminding himself of the fact of the matter.

"I'm sure you'll do a great job. You seem like a pretty nice kid." she assured him, making him blush, turning away.

"You think so?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl nodding, before he heard Azula scoffing at the other end of the saddle.

"Well, being nice isn't exactly what the Avatar's supposed to do." she clarified, the two of them glancing back at her.

"And why would you know what the Avatar is meant to do?" Katara quipped at her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Did you not listen to a word I said? My ancestors have been trying to find him for three generations. Even my brother, the one who just became Fire Lord." she explained with a rather snide tone.

"Your brother?" Aang raised a brow.

"Fire Lord Zuko, that's what they're calling him nowadays." she narrowed her eyes, "He was banished and sent to find you... about five years ago." she recalled, before chuckling, "And in the end, I was the one to find you."

He tensed up, looking back at her with a fearful expression, "And what are you going to do now?"

"Watch you do what you're supposed to. Restore balance to the Four Nations." she declared, Katara looking at her skeptically.

"And how exactly could Aang do that? It's not like he can just tell everyone to stop fighting."

The young airbender raised a finger to his chin, realising that her joke suggestion sounded quite enticing, "Well, I mean, I could try that."

"Good luck. You haven't seen what's happened out there, not yet, but when you do, you'll see why that's going to be a lot harder than you might think." she warned him, the young Avatar's expression turning into an unsure one, feeling that she might know a lot about the world, far more than he did, especially if what they were saying was really true, that it had been a hundred years since he hit the water in that storm.

"I guess I'll have to see it for myself."

* * *

Holding Aang's sleeping body in her hands, Katara slid down the slide of Appa's saddle; they had made it back to the village by that evening, and understandably, the villagers were shocked to see a sky-bison show up at their village walls; they hadn't ever seen one, let alone think that they still existed. She had a growing sense of dread that the sky-bison before her might by the last of his kind, just like Aang; the idea that a single child could be all that was left of the Air Nomads was something that shocked and saddened her at the same time. But as Azula had succinctly put it, if there had been a smidgen of evidence about surviving Air Nomads, she would have known about it during her time as Crown Princess, seeing that he concerned herself with becoming just like the conquerors that Katara herself despised. She realised however, in seeing how she interacted with the young Avatar, that perhaps she wasn't fully prescribing to the beliefs that might have been forced upon her; to think that her brother enlightened the Princess of the ways of harmony and peace was humorous to say the least, seeing that of all the people in her village, before he had joined the warriors, Sokka was the one most obsessed with trying to be a warrior, preparing himself to face the Fire Nation.

It was at that moment that she saw her brother racing out of the village with a face of utter dread on his face; he raced up to her and Azula, who had climbed off Appa's saddle after her, "Wh-what is that thing? Who's the kid in your arms? And where did the boat go?" he asked them a tirade of questions, the Princess stepping forward to try and calm him down.

"Not so fast, idiot. It's a bit more complex than a three sentence answer." she tried to stress, before her expression turned to a cringed one, "And sorry... the canoe got destroyed."

Sokka's eyes widened before he face-palmed as he tried to contain his frustration, "Urgh... Dad's not going to be happy about that one." he admitted, before Katara chuckled, patting her brother on the shoulder.

"Sokka, this is on me. I'm the one who couldn't save it, despite the fact I'm a waterbender." she admitted, not wanting her brother to feel guilty about something that was completely outside his control.

"So... uh... who's the kid?" he asked her, making her sigh, realising that she'd have to explain the situation.

"Don't freak out." she warned him, to which he nodded, still intent on finding out what happened, "He's the Avatar."

"Th-the..." he mumbled before his eyes turned to Azula, "Oh... oh this is... well, it's kinda funny, isn't it?"

Azula narrowed her eyes at him, before she made a curt nod, "I don't see any humour in this situation."

"Zuko spent all those years looking, only to give up, and then look at this." he gestured to Aang, "You found him."

"Yes, yes I did." she admitted, before staring him down, "And now I have to face the consequences of my actions."

"Ah... consequences. I thought we left them back in the Earth Kingdom." he joked, making her snarl with annoyance, although Sokka was quick to place a hand on her shoulder, "I'm just kidding. Let's... uh- talk about this."

"You go do that." Katara prodded them, wanting to go take Aang and let him rest somewhere; he seemed to tire awfully quickly when they were coming back to the village, and fell asleep soundly, and she guessed it probably had something to do with being frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years.

She continued to walk along toward the village, a number of people approaching, all wanting to get a look of Aang, and all whispering the same thing- 'Avatar'; Appa groaned behind them, making her turn around, tilting her head with a pout, knowing that the sky-bison probably didn't trust them much yet.

"I'm sorry, Appa. I just need to take him somewhere warmer to lie down and rest." she apologised to him, even if he couldn't understand her.

Taking Aang all the way into the centre of the village, she decided that she would best put him down in their family's igloo, which was warm and spacious, and would offer him the warmth that she guessed he would appreciate; she had taken note that he was wearing clothes that seemed unsuitable to the South Pole, although she guessed that perhaps his airbending helped him stay warm, like how Azula's firebending did for her.

As she approached the igloo, she immediately made sight of her father and Bato, who both rose to their feet from where they were sitting by the communal fire, "Katara... who is that?" her father asked her with a clearly concerned tone, the Water Tribe girl looking down at Aang before her gaze returned to him.

"He's the Avatar." she simply told him, both of their jaws dropping with shock, the other villagers turning her way with similar expression

"Did you just say the Avatar?" Bato's questioned her, before he narrowed his eyes at the young airbender, "But... that kid, he looks like he's only eleven or twelve." he expressed his disbelief.

"He was stuck in an iceberg, and from what he was saying, he spoke as if the war hadn't even happened; as if he were from a hundred years ago."

"So he's like... a hundred and fourteen, but hasn't aged?" her father narrowed his eyes with an understandably confused tone.

"That's what Azula says... and I trust her more than anyone when it comes to this stuff. Supposedly the Fire Nation royal family has been hunting down the Avatar for decades, and until now, none of them were able to find him." she admitted, before her father stepped closer.

"Is she... reacting alright?" he asked her, "It must come as a bit of a shock, and I would assume she'd feel a little bit conflicted about helping him."

"I think she's okay. As okay as that girl will ever be." she admitted, knowing that it was hard to read Azula's emotions even though she could easily read her own.

"What's his name?" her father stepped closer, taking a look at Aang, his expression softening.

"Aang. I think he's in a bit of a shock, but I don't know if he believes us. It would be a bit of a crazy story to hear."

"A lot happened in the past hundred years." Bato suggested, the Chief sighing with a bittersweet smile.

"Indeed." he agreed, before his eyes turned to Katara, "Just lie him down in the igloo. Once he wakes up, we can tell him what's happened... properly."

"Yes, yes we can." she agreed, remembering the things that Azula had been saying to the young Avatar; even if they weren't lies, her view on the world wasn't exactly lacking bias or misconstrued by whatever 'education' they did in the Fire Nation.

She walked into the igloo, taking note that there was no one inside before she decided to lay Aang down on her own bed; he was sound asleep, surprisingly so, seeing how much she had moved him about since she got off Appa. She knelt down, laying the boy on top of her sleeping roll; if he was still asleep by that evening, she would put him in another sleeping roll, something she realised she would have to procure out of somewhere for him.

"I wonder what the world was like back then." she mumbled, knowing that he couldn't hear her, before rising to her feet, "Probably a lot better than it is now." she acknowledged the obvious fact of the matter; a world where there was peace and the Southern Water Tribe was still united and prosperous was something that was in the far past for her, and she hoped that she would arrive in a future where that past could be restored, somehow.

Walking out of the igloo, she glanced around, realising that the villagers would want to discuss the turn of events; finding someone out in the ice floes was news in and of itself, but the fact it was the Avatar made it probably the biggest news in her tribe for a long time. The Avatar was thought to be missing, and hadn't been heard of since the previous Avatar died, according to her grandmother, who said that the last one had been from the Fire Nation, but he died before the war began. No one actually knew of the Air Nomad Avatar who happened to be Aang; most probably would have guessed he would have been a hundred year old man. That would have been more disconcerting though, knowing that if he had been around all that time and willingly done nothing to stop the war, he would be as bad as the perpetrators himself; not that he was a bad guy, he was just a kid, a chirpy kid who didn't deserve what happened to him. He had been taken from his own time, without any choice in the matter, from what she could tell.

"Katara, are you alright?" her father broke her chain of thought, making her eyes dart up from the snow as he placed a hand on her shoulder; she flinched back momentarily, before sighing.

"I'm fine, Dad. I'm more worried about Aang, honestly." she admitted the truth, before he tilted his head toward the fire.

"Come sit with me. I just want to know what happened." he asked her, making Katara chuckle, before she followed him, sitting down beside him a few strides away from the flickering flames, which warmed the left side of her face as she turned her head to the right to look at her father.

"Where did you want me to start?" she asked him, the Chief furrowing a brow.

"When you left the village. You went fishing with Azula, didn't you?" he asked his daughter, who gave a curt nod in confirmation, "So... how did you exactly come to find the Avatar in an iceberg?"

"We went out with the canoe. I wanted to take Azula to the ice floes, because that's the best fishing spot." she explained to her father, who straightened his lips as he tilted his head up in thought.

"It's also quite dangerous." he noted, his daughter signalling her agreement with a humoured nod, knowing that he was certainly right in that regard.

"Yeah, it is. Sokka and I nearly got caught out there a few years ago." she admitted, remembering one time when they had gone out fishing, and he had narrowly paddled them out of a current; Azula hadn't succeeded in the same task, perhaps because she wasn't as well attuned to dealing with them as her brother was, "This time, Azula and I weren't as lucky. We had to row between two icebergs that were coming together, before the canoe got jammed into a bunch of ice floes."

"So it was crushed?"

She nodded, "Yep, and that was just the beginning. After we were stranded, Azula prodded me into fighting her with my waterbending."

"She did-" he began to ask before sighing, "Well, I'm not exactly surprised. I see her beat your brother up every day."

"Yeah, I wasn't either. So, I played along, and threw a snowball at her." she explained, before remembering Azula's powerful show of firebending, "Her attack... well, it was a lot stronger than mine. She hit the iceberg behind us and split it in two. We got a bit of a fright, but then another iceberg emerged out from underneath that one, where I saw Aang. He was in this big spherical iceberg, and his tattoos and eyes were glowing." she furthered, making Hakoda's eyes widen with surprise.

"Glowing?" he asked, getting a nod in return before he leaned back, "That must have been a sight to see."

"It was, and then I realised that he was in there, and asked Azula to break it open." she explained, her father's eyes narrowing at her.

"She agreed to doing that?" he asked her, Katara pausing momentarily before she nodded; in hindsight, she realised that it was unusual for her to agree to freeing him out of the iceberg, especially seeing that she seemed to immediately recognise him as the Avatar.

"I don't know why she agreed to do it, but I was glad she did. She used her firebending and cut it open, and then it burst apart. Then, out of the iceberg there came this massive beam of light that went up into the sky, far brighter than the southern lights. If that wasn't shocking enough, then Aang climbed out, and he was still glowing!" she exclaimed, remembering the moment where she had trembled with fear and awe.

"Wow..." he mumbled, "So... when did he stop glowing?"

"Just after that. He passed out and fell down. Azula and I got to him by the time he was waking up, and then we talked with him. She knew that he was the Avatar immediately, for some reason. She explained it having to do with her ancestors trying to hunt him down or something." she admitted, still a little confused that the Princess had been able to recognise that Aang was the Avatar on the spot; she did acknowledge that there was only so many people in the world that could have glowing eyes and tattoos.

"So, then you came back... how exactly to achieve that without the canoe?" he asked her, making her gesture backwards toward the rear of the village.

"His sky-bison, Appa. He's out the back of the village. Just don't get too close, he might sneeze on you." she warned, making her father laugh, seeing the humour in such a situation.

"Oh, who had to experience that?" he inquired, making her smile, glad that she wasn't her.

"Azula." she answered his question before raising a finger, "She was able to dodge most of it, though"

"If she could fight all of those Southern Raiders, I'm sure she could avoid a... sky-bison's sneeze." he slowed himself, probably considering what Appa might even look like.

"If you wanted to go see him, you need only ask." she suggested with a humoured tone, her father standing up.

"Show me this 'Appa'." he asked of her, Katara chuckling before she grasped her father by the arm.

"Right this way."

* * *

When he saw the expression on Azula's face as she got off of the sky-bison, Sokka knew that she was obviously distressed by what had transpired while she had been out with Katara, and as she explained it in more detail, he came to understand why she would be feeling such dread. After decades of looking for the Avatar, the Fire Nation was unsuccessful in capturing the Avatar, and Azula had realised in the moment that she released him, that the Fire Nation never needed to find the Avatar; in fact, finding the Avatar was actually the worst thing that could happen for them, seeing that otherwise, he would be soundly ensnared in an iceberg, which Azula told him she guessed was of his own making.

"I think... I think you need to try and calm down." he admitted the first thing he said after she had given him a tirade of information detailing what had happened while she and Katara were out on the ice floes.

"Calm down?" she twitched an eyebrow as she stood up inside their tent, "How can I calm down?! I may have just inadvertently doomed my nation."

"No, I got that." he assured her, knowing that her ramblings did have some reason; releasing the Avatar was not in the best interests of the Fire Nation, seeing that he was the only one that could reasonably oppose them.

"Then why are you telling me to calm down, Sokka?" she snarled at him accusingly, "You understand what I did. If the people of my nation found what I did, they'd despise me. Think of what could happen if he's let loose on the world."

"I know." he agreed with her, "What you're talking about are possibilities. Nothing's happened. He's just a kid, passed out, probably more confused than we are about what has happened." he suggested, making her sigh, sitting back down.

"I know." she repeated his own words back to him, "That doesn't change what I've let out. What I've done."

"Katara would have tried to and probably succeeded in breaking him out if you refused, according to the story you just told me." he clarified, making her eyes narrow, "Don't blame yourself for something that hasn't even happened yet. Who knows, maybe he and your brother might get along."

"That'd be even worse." she grit her teeth, "I need to get rid of Zuko, not get the Avatar to be buddy-buddy with him."

"How are you going to do that, exactly?" he raised an eyebrow at her skeptically; as much as she liked to spout her desire to take him down, she didn't exactly have a means to do so.

"Steal that sky-bison, go to the palace, and assassinate him." she offered a fairly realistic plan, "We have enough supplies to feed us for that journey."

"One: don't steal his damn sky-bison, and two: why would you do that?!" he asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him before raising her chin.

"Because it is my destiny to rule the Fire Nation. I can lead our nation into peace; destroy the dissenters, ensure that those damned Southern Raiders are gotten rid of, before I make sure Fire Lord Sozin's plans can be realised as they should have been."

His eyes widened, remembering their discussions on said intentions her great-grandfather had had when he invaded the Earth Kingdom, "Spreading prosperity?" he asked her with an uncertain voice, the Princess nodding.

"Indeed, savage. I can even help your tribe, make sure the Northerners don't try to lord over you all. Make you truly independent and as dignified as the other nations." she offered him, the Water Tribe teen wincing, knowing that more than anything, he would want to see the Southern Water Tribe return to its former glory, and perhaps surpass that, after they adopted the technology that the Fire Nation harnessed against the rest of the world.

"That sounds nice and all, but I think you're ignoring the fact you'd have to... y'know, off your brother to do it." he admitted, "As much as you despise him, you shouldn't have to kill him for simply doing what he believes in."

"If he runs my country to the ground and shatters it into chaos, then what will we do? Sit here in our igloos and tents and hope that the world gets better?"

"Of course not." he assured her, "We need to make sure there's peace. That's the only way the Four Nations can move forward." he stated their common belief.

"I agree, Sokka, but are... are you really taking his side? Do you think he should be Fire Lord?!" she questioned him, her voice becoming audibly pained; she was offended by something that he hadn't even said, her only evidence being omission of him proclaiming her the better Fire Lord.

"I'm... I'm not." he assured her, placing his right hand over her own, "I know you are better. I might be biased, but I don't care." he assured the Princess, who tilted her chin up, her eyes glaring back at him accusingly.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better." she accused him, the Water Tribe teen sighing, grasping her cheek with his left hand, touching it softly.

"No, Azula. I believe in you." he told her the truth; above anything, he held belief in her resolve, because that was the one thing that seemed to power her forward, whether she was in a forest in the middle of nowhere in the Earth Kingdom or in the icy tundra of the South Pole, "I love you." he told her, trying to assure her of what she already knew; she tried to turn away from him, before she looked at him, still clearly disgruntled.

"I don't want him to take my future away from me, Sokka. I should be on that throne, not him." she declared, the Water Tribe boy's eyes locking with her own; he wished that had been how their adventure had turned out, knowing that it was so much more painful for Azula to lose.

"This is just a hurdle." he assured her, "Maybe... maybe this Aang kid will provide you with what you need to become the person you want to be." he suggested, knowing that even if the young Avatar wasn't exactly aligned with Azula's point of view, if they were to work together with him, maybe she would see things in a better light, whether she ended up on the throne or not.

"I don't think the Avatar's going to hand me an army." she argued, before he raised a finger.

"I think you're forgetting a certain army that wanted our help." he reminded her, the Princess's eyes widening.

"You don't think..." she mumbled, before she clenched a fist, "Maybe, maybe you're right." she admitted, before he leaned in and hugged her.

"Don't worry, Azula. I know you'll do what's right. Just don't do anything stupid." he told her, making her rather cautiously wrap her hands around his back; she wasn't as confident as she usually was, but he couldn't blame her, after the day's events.

"So, don't act like you?" she asked, making him roll his eyes.

"You're such a smooth-talker aren't you?" he sarcastically asked her, before lightly kissing her cheek; she blushed slightly, before pushing him back with her open palm, "What?" he questioned, unsure why she was rejecting his advances.

"We need to go talk with your father and Bato. They'll probably have some ideas about how to best use the advantage we've gained." she argued, the Water Tribe teen raising a brow at the suggestive use of the word 'we'.

"We? Are you saying that you're advantaged by finding the Avatar?" he asked her, the Princess shaking her head.

"Not me specifically. The Southern Water Tribe as a whole, and when they win, I win, because for the moment, I'm stuck here." she explained herself, before furrowing a brow, "And... what do you think will happen when your tribe finally reasserts itself?" she asked him, making Sokka lean back momentarily, considering what she was asking him.

The Southern Water Tribe was a loosely organised grouping of villages, with little to no organisation; the extent of said organisation came to the warriors of the tribe uniting to go against the Fire Nation, but that was about it. He guessed that Azula was referring to whatever reorganisation would obviously occur once they found themselves at peace; there might be a chief, and due to his role in their expeditions north, his father might end up as the head of all the Southern Chiefs.

"Oh..." he mumbled, realising that was what she intended in her question, "So, if Dad becomes the head chief, that means that I might eventually take his place?"

"Exactly, Sokka." she pursed her lips upward, offering him a hand, "So, should we go discuss how to better your tribe with the help of our guest, the Avatar?"

"Yeah." he grinned, standing up, feeling more confident than he had when they entered, "Let's go do that."

The two of them rose to their feet, opening the canvas flaps to exit out into the village, Sokka glancing out to take note of the sun already nearing the horizon; early autumn days were long, but the sun seemed to fall quickly. Azula grasped his hand and led him along toward the centre of the village, instead of letting him walk himself; he did appreciate the gesture from a romantic perspective, but it made him feel like a child, something that he didn't approve of. He pulled his hand free, making the Princess glance back at him with dagger eyes, the warrior trying to give her an appeasing smile in return. Approaching the communal campfire, Sokka made sight of his sister, father and Bato, all sitting by the fire, looking like they were probably discussing what had happened out on the ice floes.

"Ah, here they are." Hakoda addressed the pair, "How are you?"

"Good, I'd say." the Water Tribe teen smiled, looking at the Princess, who had a straight face as she turned to look at the Chief.

"Yes, we're fine." she voiced her own opinion, which sounded a little more dour than what he had said.

Azula let her boyfriend step ahead, before he sat himself down beside his father, "Uh, so what did you three talk about?"

"The Avatar." Katara stated the obvious, "Then I showed them Appa."

"He's a very big... thing." Bato admitted, "I didn't think there were land-animals that massive."

"I don't think there is anymore." the Princess reminded them, "Sky-bison were hunted down, like the Air Nomads that rode them."

"That's sad. If Appa's the norm, they must have been a friendly bunch." Hakoda sighed, before turning his eyes back to his son, "So, did you two discuss what happened?"

"Yes." he simply confirmed, "I made sure Azula was alright, and now we're here to discuss... whatever you'd like to call having the Avatar sleeping in our village."

"A miracle?" Katara raised a brow, making him chuckle, knowing that having someone so important around could go both ways.

"It's only a miracle if he doesn't attract the attention of the Fire Nation." he stated the obvious thing; it was what he was told as a youth, that they ought to always, above all else, avoid attracting attention to their village, lest the Fire Nation find reason to attack them.

"Seeing what happened last time, maybe that won't be a problem." Hakoda admitted, "Thanks again for dealing with the Southern Raiders." he addressed the Princess, who simply nodded, as if it had been nothing; it obviously wasn't, but even then, she probably did think there were far greater feats she wanted to achieve, compared to saving one crummy little village in the South Pole.

"We should consider what might happen next. You said there was a beam that came out of the iceberg, Katara?" the Chief asked of his daughter, who nodded, "I don't want to sound paranoid, especially after we just kicked them out, but the Southern Raiders could have seen that light, right?"

"Certainly." Azula jumped in, "I know we shouldn't have to worry about fighting after what happened, but you can never be too careful." she suggested, Bato leaning forward, making a long sigh as he looked back at his best friend.

"Ah, well, I guess we have the best and worst luck in the world." he commented on the turn of events, making the Chief chuckle.

"I'm sure that we will be able to beat them if they come back. We have probably the most powerful firebender alive to protect us." he argued in favour of the Princess being their one-woman-army against whatever might the Southern Raiders sent their way.

Sokka rested his chin in his open palm, thinking how frustrating it was having to deal with the possible threat of another attack; the Southern Raiders, and by extension, probably most of the Fire Nation renegades like them would want the Avatar dead or imprisoned, seeing that he was the only one who could pose a reasonable threat to them bar Zuko's loyalist forces. The young boy and his sky-bison had popped out of an iceberg, and now they were probably going to be hunted to the ends of the earth as long as they remained free.

"So, if they're going to hunt him down no matter what." he began to plot out his thoughts, "It doesn't matter where he is." he added, before smirking, realising that he had a good idea, "We just need to send him north on the sky-bison, make the Southern Raiders believe he's heading to the Earth Kingdom, and they'll be none the wiser when he circles back."

"He doesn't even need to circle back." Azula suggested, before turning to face Hakoda, "Do you think that you'll get a better deal with those rebels if you offer the Avatar as an ally?" she asked the Chief, whose eyes narrowed in thought.

"He is the Avatar, after all. Maybe they'll take us a little more seriously." he pursed his lips upward, approving of her idea.

"If the Avatar works with those rebels, then maybe they'll be able to push out the Fire Nation forces, and the Earth Kingdom can be free again." Katara suggested, the Princess cringing at her words.

"I don't think it'll be as easy as that." she retorted, "Do you think that the Avatar would be best used as a political tool? As useful as he would be, how do you think that would go down with the Fire Nation, and not just the rebels, but my brother as well?" she asked, the Water Tribe girl looking dumbfounded as she turned to her father.

"Uh... Dad?" she asked him for some proverbial backup, Hakoda obliging as he cleared his throat.

"Azula, you have a good point, but what other choice do we have? The Fire Nation renegades who fight to control the Earth Kingdom won't just give up. We need to stop them."

"I have an idea on that front." she admitted, Sokka turning to face his girlfriend, already guessing what she had in mind.

"Please don't tell me you want to do what I think you want to do." he made a cringed expression at her, Azula cocking her chin up, making a snide glare at him.

"You think it's a bad idea to leave all those soldiers roaming the Earth Kingdom. I have a very useful thing for them to do, and it will make everyone happy." she declared, Katara, Hakoda and Bato all looking at her with confusion.

"What exactly do you want to do?" the Chief inquired, making her raise a finger.

"Six or so months ago, I was leading a large force of Fire Nation soldiers to go seize the colonies located along the Mo Ce Sea coast, which is the most heavily developed and colonised area of the former Earth Kingdom." she recounted the plans she had originally had, before Zuko had defeated her and their forces were left without a leader, "Those soldiers might have been beaten back by my brother, but they likely are still in control of large portions of the Northern Earth Kingdom." she clarified, Katara's eyes widening.

"Wait, you're saying that your followers are ruling a large portion of the Earth Kingdom?" she inquired, the Princess nodding.

"Well, whether or not they are still my followers is up for debate, but I believe that they might be amenable to my leadership." she declared, Sokka chuckling at her words; she was counting on her former followers having an ounce of loyalty, which despite what she herself might have thought, was quite unlikely.

"What, are you going to hope that you can wow them by showing off the Avatar?" he quipped, making her roll her eyes.

"No." she glared at him, "You all believe that we could ally ourselves with these rebels. It is only one step up to get both of those groups, my former supporters and the rebels, to work together to force my brother out of the Western Earth Kingdom; the rebels get their land back, and I get the colonies. The Earth Kingdom would be 'free', as you'd like to call it, and I would be in a position to both face off my brother and assist your tribe."

"Assist us?" Hakoda raised a brow, looking curious as to what she meant exactly.

"The colonies are full of factories, mines and farmland. It produces a vast portion of the Fire Nation's economy output, and I know that with a few well placed taxes, I could send dozens of ships south, full of equipment and resources to help you rebuild your tribe." she suggested, before raising a finger, "And unlike the Northern Water Tribe, I have no intention of ruling this place."

"What about the Northern Water Tribe?" Katara raised a brow with confusion, making her brother clear his throat.

"After the war has ended properly, I'd guess that they might try and reinstate their rule over our tribe, especially if we end up building up industry like they have in the Fire Nation." he suggested, her eyes narrowing in thought.

"That'd be a little unfair." she admitted, Sokka nodding in agreement with that specific sentiment.

"Exactly." he declared, "Nobody wants that to happen."

"So... what exactly do you intend to do with these Fire Nation colonies?" Hakoda asked the Princess, who narrowed her eyes into a cold glare.

"I intend for those people to be ruled by someone competent, that being myself. The possibility of the Earth Kingdom ruining all the great things the Fire Nation has done there is a serious threat for me to ignore." she argued with a stern voice, "The concept of the Four Nation is quite outdated at this point, seeing that there are only three of them, and one of them is essentially controlled by the other."

"Why should we even support you conquering a part of the Earth Kingdom?" Katara looked at the Princess accusingly, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Because you, the Southern Water Tribe, will benefit greatly because of this. I will not forget the hospitality your people have shown me, nor the great things that you could do if you only had the resources to achieve them." she declared, Hakoda clearing his throat.

"Now, I know we don't see eye to eye, but what Azula's offering, it's a lot better than the kind of deals we were getting when we were fighting alongside the Earth Kingdom." he pragmatically described their situation, making his daughter sigh.

"Fine." she mumbled, before her eyes turned up to the Princess, "But you'll get rid of the Southern Raiders, won't you?"

"Yes." she nodded, before grinning, "With no less than the fleet my father intended to conquer your northern cousins."

"Oh." Sokka turned to face her, "You really think you can trust Zhao to do that?"

She narrowed her eyes at him with disbelief, her mouth opening slightly, "Who said I was trusting Zhao with anything?"

"This is the guy who bombarded Yu Dao, isn't it?" Katara asked, her brother nodding with a cringed face, remembering all too well the massive fuck-up that had been that evening in Yu Dao.

"Yep, and he probably hasn't gotten any more sane since we last saw him." he admitted his thoughts on the matter, before turning to face Azula, "Let's just not think too much about all of this yet. For all we know, the whole situation in the Earth kingdom could be a whole lot worse."

"Chaos is a tool for some." Azula quipped in return, pursing her lips into a snarl, "You remember what the Order of the White Lotus did. What the Dai Li intended to do." she reminded him, the Water Tribe teen sighing, knowing that both of those situations hadn't exactly helped anyone; she was right, but he didn't want to abuse chaos, he wanted to prevent it- chaos was the kind of thing that led to the Southern Raiders attacking his village for the first time in a decade.

"I don't think anybody wants the Earth Kingdom to be in chaos." Hakoda admitted, "But we are stuck with the odds we will find. We best make use of them." before he turned to face the Princess, "When Aang wakes up, you can explain your plan for him to go north and distract the Southern Raiders, and we'll see what he thinks. If anything, that'll get them off our backs while we go assemble the warriors again."

"Again?" Katara raised a brow, "Are you really going to head back to the Earth Kingdom now?"

"With the return of the Avatar... we have opportunities we might not have had before. I think the fleet should be assembled at once and I'm sure the other Chiefs will agree to it once they know that we have the Avatar as a friend."

"Is he your friend?" Azula asked him bluntly, "Our friend? Katara and I just found in an iceberg, and yes, he helped us back to the village, that doesn't mean that he'll help you or even vouch for you when he goes to... do whatever he intends to do."

"That's something we should find out." Katara added, before turning to her father, "I'll try and explain it to him when he wakes up. So he understands the situation that we're in."

"It's pretty self-evident." the Princess raised her hands, gesturing around her, "Just look at your village. You're the only bender he'll see around here. I think that proves whatever you have to say before you do."

"He's just a kid. It might go over his head." Sokka voiced his own opinion, remembering how ignorant the little children had been of the war in their village, even though they had grown up knowing what had happened; until two days ago, most of the children hadn't seen, let alone remembered the Fire Nation raids, "We'll need to show it to him. The shipwreck, that is."

"Huh... usually I'd recommend against going near that thing, but it's a very useful way to show him what we have seen." Hakoda admitted with a smile.

"If we're lucky, he'll agree to helping us get friendly with these rebels. Then we might have a chance to really make a difference in this war." Bato voiced his own thoughts on the matter, "I guess... that's all that has to be said."

"Yeah." Katara agreed, rising to her feet, "I have chores to do. But when Aang wakes up, I'll be ready."

Her father smiled at her wordlessly, before she turned her heels and walked away; Sokka glanced over to his girlfriend at that moment, considering whether they should do something.

"So... did you want to rest after your fishing trip?" he asked her, Azula shaking her head as she rose to her feet.

"I got enough rest on the sky-bison's saddle." she glanced back down at him, before she offered out a hand, "Let's go test your fighting skills, Sokka." she suggested, her chin cocking upward as she looked out to the horizon in thought.

"You may need to use them properly, sooner rather than later."

* * *

As she sat by the warmth of the campfire, by her boyfriend's side, Azula felt a sense of calm; she did not confuse that calmness with contentedness, knowing that it would be a struggle for her to ever be content. Despite that dissatisfaction, she wouldn't deny that she appreciated sitting beside Sokka, and eating a meal; she wanted to chide herself for being so selfish, knowing that she ought to be happy. The Water Tribe teen had followed her around the Earth Kingdom for months, wishing for nothing in return but an opportunity to return home, and unlike anyone she had met for a long time before that, he truly believed in her; it wasn't about loyalty, it was beyond that. Loyalty was for soldiers and citizens, those who would worship their Fire Lord and die in their name; Sokka was a person she disagreed with more than not, but even then, he understood her.

She had always refuted herself as a people person, and when she first met him, she could only think of one thing to call him: an idiot, and a smug one at that; once they had washed ashore, he treated her like an equal, as if everything that had happened before that didn't matter, and that made her think he was both uncultured and ignorant. It turned out, however, that he was only the former, as he proved his knowledge, strategic ability and insights to be of great use to her; he wasn't just useful because he was smart, even if he was, but because he was someone that she could work with. No one else treated her as an equal that wasn't her father, and even then, he was certainly in a position of power in their relationship; even Zuko, who was, until his banishment, the heir of the Fire Lord, probably thought himself to be lesser than her, but Sokka did not, despite his origin and lack of bending.

He showed her what she guessed a 'normal' relationship was like, understanding well and truly after her time with him that her father was rather deluded in his worldview; that there was the strong and the weak, and that she had to destroy or force into submission any that were rightfully below her. Azula learned how to be kind, how to be intimate, and more than any of that, she was able to feel a sense of commonality, of identity, with the Southern Water Tribe of all places. She was as patriotic as the next Fire Nation citizen, but that didn't mean that she hadn't grown to care for the place she had called her home.

It wasn't a kind place to live, and the people were not necessarily as warm as their parkas would suggest, but that didn't mean that they weren't hard-working and honest people, just like the man she had come to love. She understood that she had been somewhat ignorant and xenophobic in her view of his people, knowing that they were simply shaped by their circumstances; just because they lacked warships, factories and a proper population of benders didn't mean they were any less of a culture. Their own traditions of equality and merit-based rule was something that she genuinely respected; she knew that because of her own skills, she would likely still have the power she did in the Fire Nation if it had been run in such a fashion. It was a fair place, not one where cronyism and elitism ran amok; the people there were free to do and think as they pleased, even if they were forced to live a life of hardship.

As she put another scoop of the seaweed stew she had been eating into her mouth, Sokka turned her way with a warm smile, "Are you enjoying your dinner?"

After she finished chewing the bit of stew down, she gave a quip in response, "It's better than the sea-prunes."

"They're really not that bad." he argued, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I am inclined to disagree." she retorted, making him roll his eyes, knowing that she was just being difficult for the sake of it.

"Whatever. At least you like the seaweed stew." he mumbled to himself, making him snicker at him, knowing that his rather defeatist reaction was truly hilarious to witness.

"Are you really going to not argue in favour of your great Water Tribe cuisine?" she prodded him, the Water Tribe teen shaking his head.

"Can I persuade you to like sea-prunes?" he retorted, the Princess scrunching her lips up for a moment as she considered his argument for not arguing; she wasn't just going to start liking them because he gave her arguments for why she should.

"I see your point, Sokka." she conceded, before looking back toward the fire, taking a bite from the seaweed stew; as she swallowed it, her boyfriend leaned over, putting an arm over her shoulder, Azula flinching forward slightly before she leaned into his embrace, knowing that however argumentative she was feeling, she shouldn't take it out on him.

"So... are you really over the Avatar being back?" he asked her, making her almost choke on the stew she was eating.

She cleared her throat before swallowing the bit of seaweed in her mouth, "I'm fine. I just hope that he's cooperative to our ideas."

"You don't have to lie to me." he added, making her tense up, "I know this is hard. You don't want to betray everything you were taught." he explained his own thoughts on her situation, making her sigh; he was right, of course, seeing that he was rather observant when it came to things like her inner thoughts, which he seemed to deduce without actually asking her about it.

"I wish I hadn't let him out, but then again, it was probably inevitable. If peace benefits the Fire Nation, and he can ensure peace, then I can't argue against him doing his Avatar duties." she admitted, before looking back toward the flames, which flickered blue from her own bending, which she wasn't even using consciously, "I want to be the Fire Lord that betters my nation, brings it forth to a new age of prosperity, but I don't even know if Aang doing his job will end up making the Fire Nation better. It might make it a whole lot worse."

"I- I think get what you mean. You are afraid. We've all been afraid to take that step. I was afraid to trust you in that forest, but I did it anyway."

"You're just lucky that I'm more honourable than most in my nation." she quipped, making the Water Tribe teen chuckle.

"You're right. You are honourable." he assured her, making a warmth rise in her chest; she didn't acknowledge it, but his words, his certainty, it made her more certain of herself, "You love saying whatever you do, by default is right, because you decided to do it. So... do something. Make your own right." he argued, the Princess sighing, before she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek; he blushed for a moment before his lips widened as he grinned with contentment.

"Thanks." she simply told him, before she tilted her head, her eyes locked with his own, "You actually give good advice."

"I'd like to think that I'm a wise elder in the making." he declared, making her roll her eyes; eldership was something quite far from their present affairs, far more so than anything else she could consider in their future.

"You're a long way from being an elder; maybe think about becoming Chief first, seeing that's a lot closer." she suggested, the warrior's eyes widening.

"I mean... I do think about it." he acknowledged, before grinning, "I'm going to do a lot of things before then."

"What kinds of things?" she cocked an eyebrow up, Sokka grabbing her by the shoulder and making a confident smirk.

"Saving the world." he declared, making her scoff.

"You're going to have to do something impressive to start calling it 'saving the world'." she suggested, making him furrow a brow.

"Let me think about that one. It'll probably have something to do with our new friend." he suggested, the Princess taking another bite from her dinner.

"Really?" she asked him, before chewing the seaweed down, "And when did you become 'friends' with Aang?"

"Well, you have a point, but I'm sure we'll get along."

"Yes, you two and your positive outlooks on the world; the only thing you'll disagree with is probably morality." she admitted, the Water Tribe boy raising a brow.

"Morality?" he asked her with a confused tone, the Princess glancing back toward the fire.

"The Air Nomads were self-declared pacifists. According to the records that I've read, they were vegetarians and hated all forms of violence." she explained what she had learned in her time reading restricted document.

After the reign of Fire Lord Sozin, it was quite hard for anyone to find anything about the Air Nomads in books, but she was formerly the Crown Princess, meaning that she could pursue whatever information she liked without much repercussions. She was glad in hindsight for those liberties, because it gave her knowledge that could allow her to comprehend the Avatar and his culture, as well as being able to predict his future actions; if he were a pacifist, like the most, if not all Air Nomads had been, then he was likely to oppose any wide military action, especially between the nations themselves.

"I'm not a pacifist, and neither are you, as much as we might want peace." Sokka admitted, agreeing with her own assumption on the matter; he was more than willing to fight if it would secure the future he desired for his people, "So... that might be a bit of an issue... seeing that you being Fire Lord is the one thing that might really help our tribe."

"That's the problem we currently face, Sokka." she acknowledged the point he raised, knowing that was something she had already been considering.

She knew that trying to get Aang to support her intentions was hard, but then again, she was unsure if she could gather enough support behind herself to reasonably threaten her brother's hold on power; in the six months she had been at the South Pole, for all she knew, she might have fallen into obscurity and from the minds of the people of her nation. Of course, the Southern Raiders recognised her, but no one would simply forget the association of her with blue fire, something that she took pride in, but realised that it would be a threat to her safety if she were to go against Fire Nation renegades who would want to get their hands on the Avatar.

"Azula!" she heard Katara's voice shout out; the couple turned their heads to face her, and Azula immediately took note of her bright expression, guessing that it was good news that she had for her, "Aang's awake." she told her, the Princess rising to her feet, relieved that the young Avatar had finally awoken from his slumber.

"So, can I see him?" she asked, the Water Tribe girl narrowing her eyes at her.

"As long as you don't get all angry with him." she gave her a simple condition.

She strode forward, approaching Katara with a serious expression, "I won't. I just want to discuss what we talked about." she explained, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"I know. I already told him what we discussed, but if you have something you want to tell him personally... go ahead." she gestured to the igloo, Azula nodding before she patted her on the shoulder.

"I will. Make sure Sokka doesn't do anything stupid while I'm gone." she jokingly suggested, the other girl's lips pursing upward as she held back laughter.

"I- uh- yeah, I can do that." she agreed to her request, obviously knowing him as well as she did.

She approached the igloo, parting the canvas covering at the doorway, before she made her way inside, glancing around to spot Aang sitting by the bed, wearing only his pants; she noted how he was young by noting his scrawny arms and skinny frame, but she thought such a body-type would make sense, given the nature of airbending itself.

He tilted his head up, his expression bright before it dropped to a more neutral one upon realising that it was her that had entered the igloo, "Oh... hi, Azula." he addressed her, making the Princess chuckle.

"Were you expecting someone else?" she asked, the boy's cheeks turning a rosy colour as he shook his head.

"Of course not, you- uh- got me out of that iceberg... you must be wondering how I am." he argued with a fast paced, jittery voice.

"Yes." she agreed with what he had just assumed, "Well, I can already see that you are alright. You must be tired after being frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years."

"U-uh... yeah." he mumbled, uneased by her reminder of what had happened. Perhaps something else had happened to him before he was in that iceberg, or the gravity of the fact was hitting him; he was the Avatar, and he had been stuck in an iceberg for a hundred years, and thus was unable to fulfil his duties, which back in the day would have probably involved fighting off Fire Lord Sozin and his armies. Instead of doing that, he had gotten himself accidentally ensnared in ice for a century, and the world continued on without him, for better or worse.

"I'm here to talk about what's happened since you got frozen, from a personal perspective." she explained herself, his eyes widening with realisation.

"Oooh... so you're going to tell me the story of how Fire Nation royalty ended up here in the South Pole?" he asked her, his expression brightening with interest; although she had told that story a few times before, she wanted to be succinct in her explanation of the events of the hundred year war and her life.

"Not exactly. An abridged version, perhaps." she admitted, the Air Nomad nodding intently, before he picked up his robes that sat beside the sleeping roll he had been napping in.

"O-of course. It'd take a long time to explain it all. I asked Katara, and she said you've been here for six months. That's a long time." he admitted, before he pulled his robes over his head, dressing himself properly.

"Yes." she mumbled, tensing up for a moment before she sat down beside him, "It has been. I can tell you with experience that unless you've got good reason, you shouldn't stay here."

"Oh..." his mouth went agape, "Is this about the... distracting 'the Southern Raiders' thing?"

"No. I'll get to that later, what I want you to know is why I'm here, and who is doing what out there. I've seen the players, and I've played the game."

"Pai Sho?" he asked her curiously, Azula relenting to laugh, remembering that the Order of the White Lotus was a very important player in the events of the past eight or so months since her ship was sunk.

"It's quite ironic that you just said that." she admitted, before clearing her throat, wanting to start at the beginning, "Five years ago, my elder brother Zuko, who was the Crown Prince at the time, spoke out of turn during a war meeting, declaring an elderly general's plan to be a betrayal to the soldiers he commanded."

"Uh... what does your brother have to do with this? Isn't he Fire Lord?" he asked her, the Princess sighing, wishing he had remembered what she had told him earlier that day.

"Don't you remember what I said?" she glared at him, raising a hand in gesture, "Because of what he said, he was forced to fight in an Agni Kai duel. Do you know what that is?"

"I've heard of them... from my friend Kuzon. He's from the Fire Nation." he clarified, making her raise a brow.

She realised he was telling her that Air Nomads could come and go to the Fire Nation, even in the years just before Fire Lord Sozin decided to wipe them out; that only made what happened all those years ago all the more disturbing- an Air Nomad could have been friends with people who came to wipe them out during the comet. She shook her head, knowing that she shouldn't distract herself with such matters, returning to her story.

"So, my brother came to the Agni Kai chamber, believing he was to fight the general he insulted, but instead, he came to fight my father." she explained, as the boy's eyes widened with shock.

"The Fire Lord fought his own son?" he gasped, making her shake her head; she would have been a little less disappointed in her brother if he had at the very least tried to fight their father, as fruitless as any effort might have been.

"No. My father demanded him to, and when my brother refused to, he burned his left eye, to mark his dishonourable actions."

"It's not dishonourable to refuse to fight his father." he retorted, Azula waving her hand up; she was both annoyed and amused by the Avatar's input, as without knowing that actually happened by the end of her tale, he was making a lot of uninformed and sometimes ironic commentary.

"That was my father's decision, not mine." she retorted, before she sighed, "My brother was exiled from the Fire Nation on the condition that he capture and bring back the Avatar... that being you."

"But... I was in an iceberg." he narrowed his eyes at her, "So, he probably wasn't going to find me, unless he was really lucky, like you were."

"Exactly." she confirmed his presupposition; that was probably her father's intentions in exiling Zuko in the first place, just to get rid of him, and if Aang had ever showed up, her brother would have been set to track and hunt him down at any cost.

"You didn't appear to save the day. Three years passed, and Sozin's Comet arrived... you might know it as the 'Great Comet'."

"What is that?" he asked her with a fearful tone, the Princess knowing already what it had last been used for.

"It's better if you don't know. Let's just say it is the ultimate weapon to the Fire Nation, but it only appears briefly, once every century, to be wielded. With its power, my father led his forces to destroy the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se and conquer the city, all while my brother remained in exile. I was back in the Fire Nation, governing in my father's stead as Princess Regent while he consolidated our final conquest."

"So... the entire Earth Kingdom was conquered?" he asked her, the Princess nodding, believing that such a judgement was accurate; the Earth Kingdom had fallen with Ba Sing Se, that being all of it that counted to the Fire Nation in building their empire.

"It was. My father returned home, and a relative sense of peace had been established. The only area free of Fire Nation control was the North Pole, and even then, there has been a long campaign ever since the passing of Sozin's Comet." she explained what had actually happened, before facing the fact that they were in a place that was relatively free of the Fire Nation, even if the Southern Raiders had just come down to attack them, "The South Pole is free, but that is only because my father, or grandfather, saw no need to conquer it."

"So... that was two years ago." Aang stated the obvious, "What happened between the Fire Lord winning and you ending up here?"

"About nine months ago, I was sent on a mission by my father to Ba Sing Se to deal with a conspiracy against his rule. I sailed on my Royal Barge, but about four days before we were about to arrive in Ba Sing Se, it was attacked by what I initially presumed were Water tribe pirates."

"Oh... so that's how you met this Sokka... Katara's brother?" her asked, the Princess nodding; she realised at that moment that he actually hadn't met her boyfriend, although he understood who he was.

"Yes. He attempted to capture me, but failed. Before my men could thoroughly defeat the intruders, our ship was sunk, and I was injured when I tried to attack my enemies."

"So... you were shipwrecked? Did you become friends with him after that?" he asked, his head moving up as he eyed her intently.

"I guess I did. We found each other after we washed ashore, and travelled north through the forest, hoping to find a settlement where we could get help. We fought a group of Earth Kingdom deserters, and then travelled to a small village called Fuchang. We met some helpful people there, but we couldn't stay long; the deserters came around and told them all I was a firebender."

"Just because you're a firebender doesn't mean you're evil or something." he argued, making Azula laugh, knowing that in their world of war, the kinds of things parents told their children about the other side, it made entire nations hate each other.

"Well, they did. We had to run away, but we got some help from a friend we made, and disguised ourselves as peasants. Then we made our way to the closest port, which was luckily for me, where my guard and crew had evacuated to after the Royal Barge sunk." she furthered her story, the young airbender's eyes narrowing at her.

"So... I'm a little confused. I get that this is your story, but how does this have to do with your brother being Fire Lord." he admitted, Azula chuckling.

"Fair point." she agreed with his words, before raising a finger, "The Water Tribe warriors did not attack my ship for no reason, they were hired by an organisation called the Order of the White Lotus, who intended to have me kidnapped."

"But why?" he asked her, Azula tensing up as she remembered what Sokka had told her; the whole time, her uncle had been at fault, for everything that had happened to her.

"Zuko. That's why. My uncle was part of this secret society, and he had told their members that my brother had decided to betray my father, and wanted to become the Fire Lord."she explained, the Avatar's jaw dropping with surprise, before his expression became more concerned.

"Do... do you even know why he did it?"

"Probably due to frustration. I don't know what it would be like, stuck on a boat for five years straight, but I guess it muddled with his mind, and drove him to desperation."

Aang cleared his throat, "So, your brother tried to have you kidnapped?"

"No. It was a man by the name of Jeong Jeong that organised it. He and some other members of the Order of the White Lotus decided that the best way to ensure my brother got on the throne was by getting me out of the way." she explained, the Avatar simply nodding without a further word, indicating for her to continue, "After we found safety, Sokka joined me, because he wanted to secure passage to the South Pole. We went to Ba Sing Se, just as my father had asked, and I played my role as the 'diplomatic envoy'; on the first night we were there, Sokka went out and got drunk- by that I mean he drank far too much baijiu and nearly passed out. He was kidnapped by an organisation called the Dai Li, but was saved last minute by a group that call themselves 'The Freedom Fighters'."

"Wait... so these Dai Li people... they're from before your dad conquered the place?" he asked, the Princess nodding.

"Although it took a while, we were able to figure out exactly where and how the Dai Li had been accessing the Governor's Palace. Sokka and I broke into a safe house and interrogated an agent. We weren't able to get much information other than that the Dai Li were led by a man called Long Feng. I guessed well enough that he was heading their operations in the Crystal Catacombs, right underneath our feet in the palace." she explained, the Avatar bunching his lips up as his eyes brightening with interest.

"So these Crystal Catacombs... were they really catacombs made of crystals? That sounds pretty cool." he admitted, making her chuckle, Aang having jumped ahead a bit.

"I didn't see them, actually. Before we could organise a task-force to go deal with the Dai Li, they attacked the palace itself, by making us fight each other. They had brainwashed the Governor and a number of his close associates."

"Brainwashed? Wait, like they scrubbed their heads clean?" he asked her with understandable confusion.

"They were able to be triggered to act in a way by some kind of messaging. For example, they made the Governor call me a traitor and desire to arrest me." she explained, opening his mouth wide with fear as he scampered back.

"Wh-what?! That's crazy?! Does the Fire Nation do that too?"

"No. We don't. We are far more... direct with our affairs." she clarified, before sighing, realising that they were going off track, "Anyway, we defeated Long Feng and captured him. By using him as a hostage, we stopped any further Dai Li attacks, but then I found out that evening my brother had killed my father."

Aang's face paled, "I know b-burning someone's face is bad... but he killed him?"

"Well, that's what the messages said. It turned out later he was lying to save his own skin."

The young Avatar's unease lessened, almost sighing in relief that her father hadn't been murdered; she was amused by such a reaction, knowing that if the boy knew her father personally, perhaps he would be far less happy that he was alive, even if he was probably rotting away in some prison cell.

"I called on any nearby Fire Nation military forces to heed the call to the command of me, their new Fire Lord. Technically, I was only a claimant, seeing that the Fire Sages would need to crown me to make it legitimate, but the military had little care for that."

"So you were... kinda Fire Lord." he mumbled, the Princess nodding.

"Essentially. I took as many men as I could and sailed west to meet with a man who opposed my brother by the name of Admiral Zhao, who controlled a large portion of the Navy." she explained, before clearing her throat, "I spent the next month or so travelling west, before I went overland to the colony of Yu Dao, which I sought to submit under my rule."

"By conquering it?" he asked her with an uneasy voice, making her chuckle.

"Conquest is for the stupid. I was far more tact in my approach. I intended to intimidate the local mayor into supporting me and allowing me to use his resources against my brother, but I failed to consider one thing." she admitted, knowing that without hindsight, her plan was well formulated and seemingly set to succeed.

"What?" he narrowed his eyes at her, sounding like he wanted her to get on with finishing her story.

"My brother. He showed up around the same time I had, and I decided to cut my campaign short by making him fight me in an Agni Kai." she explained before sighing, knowing that she would have to speak of her greatest shame- her defeat by Zuko, "Then we fought a fair and even fight. But I failed, I tried to end the duel by firing lightning at-" she began before Aang's eyes widened with surprise, seemingly for the tenth time throughout her tale.

"Lightning?! You can make lightning?" he asked her, genuinely amazed by the idea.

"Yes, I can." she told him with a tone of confidence, remembering that she was still capable of doing so when she had shot at the Southern Raider's vessel three days prior, "But it wasn't good enough. Obviously my uncle had taught him a new technique, and he used it redirect the lightning right back at me. I was knocked out, and when I came to, I was in the house of one of our allies with Sokka by my side, in a state of extreme fatigue and sharp pain."

"Wow..." he gasped, before his eyes softened, "That sounds tough... like, really tough. You must be strong if you survived that."

"I am." she made a small smile, appreciating the respect the boy could hold for her, even if he didn't agree with her actions, "Sokka and I fled the city in a fishing boat, as my subordinate Admiral Zhao, was attempting to destroy it with his fleet." she explained, the Avatar looking at her with a disgusted grimace, "Yeah..." she mumbled, knowing that she wouldn't have ever agreed to what Zhao did; needless death was just that, needless, in the end, and he had a propensity for wasting both the lives of his opponents and his own men, "Let's just say he had a very strong grudge against my brother."

"Why would he try to destroy a city?" he asked her with an understandable tone of disbelief.

"Zuko gave Zhao the same mark that our father gave him." she clarified, the Avatar grimacing.

"Your brother doesn't sound like a very nice guy." he admitted, the Princess nodding.

"I agree. He chose to redirect the lightning into me, after all." she admitted with a frustrated tone, before chuckling to herself, knowing that despite what he had done, he had proved that their father was wrong; even if he didn't have the guts to murder his own father in cold blood, he was more than willing to ruthlessly fire her lightning right back at her to win their duel.

"So... you fled? How'd you get here?" he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes, remembering the long and straining journey the two of them had taken south.

"A long trip on that fishing boat. We used the money Sokka had on him, his allowance I had given for him to buy things in Yu Dao; we survived on it for nearly two months, and then we finally arrived here. Katara attacked her brother, thinking he was a soldier, and then he told her the story I just told you, with a little more detail."

"Huh... so that's it?" he asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him.

"What I want you to understand, is that the order of things, how they were, it's been turned on its head. The Order of the White Lotus. The Dai Li. They all want power and control, one way or another, even if they don't have especially malicious intent in how they want to wield that power." she explained, "The war isn't over just yet, but I'm guessing that you will want to make sure that peace comes."

"Y-yes." he nodded, "I guess that's what I'm supposed to do. I'm the Avatar."

"Exactly, you are the peacemaker. Balance and peace mean the same thing, and without the force you hold, it won't be possible. I ask one thing, and one thing only."

"Um... okay? What was it that you wanted?" he asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him with a serious expression.

"Balance is just that, balance. If you take one side, you will turn the world on its head, just as my brother did." she warned, Aang nodding, his eyes sombre, and understanding of her intentions.

"I think I get it. This whole... war thing, it's new to me, but I know when the world's gone wrong." he admitted with a hopeful expression, before he raised a finger to his chin, "So... was that all you wanted to tell me?"

"No. Three days ago, a Fire Nation vessel attacked this village. The Southern Raiders, as Katara obviously already told you. We beat them, but I'm afraid they'll come back."

"Come back?" Aang asked her with a disconcerted tone.

"They were here for slaves. They wanted the children; I guess that's so they could indoctrinate them, brainwash them in a far more straight-forward fashion than what the Dai Li did." she explained, the Avatar standing up.

"I- spirits..." he mumbled, before looking at her with a serious expression, "That's horrible. Maybe... maybe it's time the Avatar comes back to teach them a lesson."

"Ah." she mumbled, smiling with appreciation as she realised that he had come to the exact conclusion she had wanted him to, "I have a suggestion."

"How to beat them?" he asked her, the Princess making a cringed expression.

"Well, I do not recommend you face off a whole fleet of Southern Raiders just yet. I'm guessing you've only mastered airbending."

"Y-yeah, that's right." he nodded, before raising one of his eyebrows.

"So, if you don't want me to beat them, what do you want me to do?"

"The one thing more important to anyone like the Southern Raiders than getting slaves or captives... is getting the biggest captive of their careers." she argued, pressing her finger on his sternum, "You."

"You want them to capture me?" he gasped with shock, making her roll her eyes.

"Of course not. I want you to fly on Appa, catch their attention, and they will give chase; you can obviously outrun them, seeing that your sky-bison can supposedly fly, and can go overland, while they cannot."

"He can definitely fly, you'll see." he argued, puffing his chest up; his confidence indicated that he agreed with her plan, making her purse her lips upward.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to it. You snot-producing friend, he will be much better than any mere ship."

"Well, he is." Aang raised a finger, before peering behind her, "So... could I go out of the igloo now. I'm kinda hungry."

"Uh... yes." she acknowledged, "You don't need to take orders from anyone, you're the Avatar."

"Huh... good point." he mumbled, "But I better be polite. How else can I get her to like me." he argued, before he covered his mouth, acting as if he shouldn't have uttered the last part of his response.

"Oh... get her to like you?" she made a smug expression, before gesturing to the exit of the igloo, "Go ahead, I'm sure you'll have great luck with a sixteen year old."

"I'm one hundred and twelve." he argued, proving her guess right purely by his response, even if he didn't exactly admit he had eyes for Katara.

"Probably one hundred and fourteen, actually." she corrected, the Avatar sighing.

"That's going to take a while to get used to." he admitted, making her snicker.

"If I woke up one day and was told I was a hundred and fourteen years old, I wouldn't believe it too."

* * *

"Do you want to come to the North Pole with me?"

Aang was hopeful that Katara would react positively to his question, having figured out well enough that she wanted to learn waterbending, and seeing that she was the only waterbender at the South Pole, the only place for her to learn her bending art would be at the North Pole. He was actually surprised by how giddy she got, hugging him on the spot; he tried to hold back his blush, before she leaned back, grinning at him brightly.

"Thank you, Aang, truly. I've wanted this ever since I learned that I could bend." she beamed, the Air Nomad scratching the back of his hairless scalp.

"U-uh, so, you really do want to go with me?" he asked her one more time, wanting to make sure she wasn't be brash; his brash decision-making had inadvertently got him stuck in an iceberg for a hundred and something years, so he decided he would do his best to make sure neither he nor his friends made that same mistake.

"Of course I do. Dad will have to let me... his excuse was that it was too dangerous for me to go, but who could catch a flying-bison? Not the Fire Nation, that's for sure." she argued, making him nod, agreeing with the sentiment; Appa was faster than any old ship, he was probably the fastest creature in the world, even if he didn't coil and spin around in all directions like dragons supposedly did.

"Yeah, that's right, nobody could!" he grinned, "Appa's really fast, and I'm sure you'll become great friends if you came along."

"I'm sure we would." she made a soft smile at him, before she turned to face the ice-fields outside of the village, "So... you mentioned penguin sledding?"

His head jolted up at the mention, "Oooh! Yes, penguin sledding! Do you know how to do it? I've never tried it before, but I've heard it's really fun!" he asked her, hoping that she did.

"Well, I do. Sokka and I used to do it when we were little... a bit smaller than you, probably." she explained, before she turned back toward the village, "But before we do that, we should probably tell my dad what you just offered. He's going to have a heart-attack if I just jump on Appa when you leave without telling."

"Of course." he agreed, before his eyes widened with realisation, remembering the letter he had left for Monk Gyatso; in hindsight, he felt so bad for just leaving a mere letter when he could have told his mentor what he was going to do, and perhaps even asked if he wanted to come with, "I think that's a good idea. A very good idea." he assured her, making her raise a brow at him suspiciously.

"Uh... okay." she nodded, before tilting her head back toward the village, "Let's go talk about this with Dad, and Sokka too, because I guess he'll want to come along too."

"Really? Even after all that happened with Azula?" he asked her, remembering the story that the Princess had recounted to her; even if he didn't know whether of them very well, he thought it would be a bad idea to leave the South Pole if the Fire Lord was going to hunt them down.

"My brother's the protective type. He wouldn't let me leave this village without knowing I was with someone he trusts." she explained, making him him clear his throat, realising what her words were implying.

"He doesn't trust me?" he asked her with a fearful voice; he didn't even know Sokka, so he was unsure why he would mistrust him.

"Oh, not yet, but I'm sure you'll get along." she gave him a warm smile in return, calming his fears; Katara was nice, and he really hoped that she would come along with him, since he didn't know if any of his friends were still around after a hundred years, so he was in dire need of finding some new ones.

The pair made their way back into the village, Katara glancing around, probably looking for her father; he figured out pretty quickly that she couldn't actually see him, and she made her way straight toward the igloo, Aang following in tow. She pushed through the canvas openings, and he too followed, getting a few glances from the villagers, who were intrigued by him, as he was probably the only foreigner they had seen up close other than the Princess and the Southern Raiders, the latter of which they were probably less interested in and more terrified of.

When they walked in Katara's grandmother, Kanna, rose to her feet, looking at the two of them with interest, "Ah, Katara, did you come back from your break to do your chores?"

"Uh, I will get around to those," she assured her, before gesturing outside the igloo, "We're looking for Dad. I need to ask him something."

"A request?" she guessed what her granddaughter wanted; she nodded, before glancing back toward Aang, who gave her a reassuring smile.

"Aang has offered to take me to the North Pole to learn waterbending."

"Oh." Kanna's eyes widened, "That might be a problem." she admitted, the Water Tribe teen's expression turning to a pout.

"W-wait... are you forbidding me from going?" she asked her, the elder woman rising to her feet.

"No, no, Katara, I'm not. You will probably be wasting your time if you do so."

"Why would learning waterbending be a waste of time?" the young Avatar questioned, offended by the suggestion that bending wasn't worth Katara's time; it was part of her very being.

"Because they won't teach it to her." she clarified her answer, "At the North Pole, women learn how to heal and men learn how to fight. That is how they do things, and even if you say you're the last of the Southern waterbenders, they won't listen. They're a bunch of stuck-up fools." she sighed, making her granddaughter's lips purse downward, as she realised what she was being told.

"Gran-Gran... I- how did you know this?" she asked, Kanna turning her head to the side, her expression looking nostalgic and pained at the same time.

"Because I'm from the North Pole. That's where I was born. When I was a young girl, about your age, I fled an arranged marriage to the South Pole, because I was disgusted by the way in which I was treated only because of my sex." she admitted, her granddaughter stepping forward and hugging her.

"It's okay, Gran-Gran." she assured her grandmother, who shook her head.

"No, no it isn't. The Southern Water Tribe, it's full of good, kind and fair people. No one here ever argued anyone was any more worthwhile because of their sex, or their age. Everyone respects each other. It was a good place." she told them both, "The Fire Nation destroyed all that. They destroyed our tribe, and everything good about it, while letting the rot fester in the North. They get to continue living their fantasy of peace and tranquility, while we've had to suffer."

"It's not fair." Aang simply acknowledged the fact of the matter, "That's not fair. Your Tribe has suffered all these years, and from the looks of it, the Northern Water Tribe hasn't even tried to help you."

"They haven't." she confirmed, before the young Avatar stepped forward.

"When I go there, I will tell them what has happened here. I'll make sure things are made right. Katara, Katara's going to be a great waterbender, and they'll have to teach her."

"I hope they listen to you." she made a bittersweet smile, "Because if they don't listen to the Avatar of all people, I don't think they're ever going to change."

Aang looked back at her with a determined glance, sure that she had to be wrong, "Change and growth they're part of life, that's what the monks taught me. I'm sure they'll realise that they're wrong. Looking at Azula, even the Fire Nation must treat women far better than they do, and they've tried to conquer the world."

"We can only hope." she admitted, before sighing, "I guess that's all there is in the end, hope."

"Don't worry, Gran-Gran. If Dad lets me go, I'll make sure that problem gets fixed, and fixed properly." Katara assured her, before she fluttered her eyelids a few times, "Oh, sorry... we got side-tracked. Where is he?"

"I was sure he was down by the shore fishing with your brother." Kanna explained to her, the Water Tribe teen nodding before smiling at her.

"Thanks, Gran-Gran. I- I can't believe you never told me."

"The memories are painful... especially given what happened here after I arrived." she admitted, "I lost all my friends there, and I lost most of my friends here as well."

"Well, I'll ask around if we go to the North Pole and see if anyone remembers you. I'm sure they will."

"Some certainly should." Kanna's eyes narrowed in thought, before she lightly pushed at her granddaughter's parka, "Now, go. If you want to get going, you better ask for permission instead of bugging your grandmother."

"Thank you for your story." Aang bowed to her respectfully, which she returned a small smile, before he and Katara made their way out of the igloo; he heard a familiar voice call out to them as soon as they did.

"What are you two doing fumbling about?" he heard Azula address them, the Water Tribe teen turning to face her with an annoyed look on her face.

"We're not fumbling. I went to ask where my father is, so I can ask if I can go with Aang to the North Pole.

"Oh, good timing then." the Princess pursed her lips upward as she approached them, "Can Sokka and I come along too? I have some... unfinished business along the way."

"Let me guess... Zhao?" Katara questioned him, the Princess tilting her chin up as she looked into the air in thought.

"Uh... he is one aspect of it." she clarified, before looking back at them, "There's a few people I need to find and things I need to figure out."

"Like organising your conquest of the Fire Nation Colonies?" the other girl prodded her, making him raise a brow with confusion.

"Conquest of the what..." he mumbled, before he actually comprehended what she was saying, "You want to conquer them?!" he asked her with genuine concern; the Fire Nation Princess had been mostly helpful to Aang, but there was a point at which her actions became a little too extreme.

"Well, technically, I want to instate myself as the rightful Fire Lord." she argued, raising a finger, "I am the legal heir of my father."

"That doesn't mean you need to conquer the Fire Nation colonies." he quipped in response, not wanting to be a party to such a devastating plan.

"You are assuming conquering is going to involve violence. I will try to make sure, for the sake of lessening any unwanted disdain toward myself and my rule, to instate myself as peacefully as possible. I might add that until my Agni Kai, when I lost control over my forces, there had been no casualties of either my forces or my opponents."

"Okay." he mumbled, seeing that she did actually have a good point; it was a political upheaval, yes, but it didn't necessarily involve he going around setting people on fire, "I can see where you're coming from, but... I would say that's a bad idea anyway." he stood his ground, making the Princess roll her eyes.

"Well, we'll see if you change your mind when you see what's going on over in the Earth Kingdom." she argued, before striding forward, glancing at both him and Katara, "Well, are we going to see Hakoda or not?"

"You're coming?" the Water Tribe girl asked her, making Azula groan with annoyance, looking at her as if she were a lot dumber than she was.

"Of course I am. Well, seeing that Sokka's being dragged along with us no matter what, I thought I ought to be there to watch his reaction."

"You two have a weird relationship." Katara snidely commented, making the princess raise a finger, as if she were about to insult her, before she shook her head.

"I'm not taking the bait." she grit her teeth, before prodding them both with a gesture, "Come on, let's go." she demanded, the pair glancing at each other, Aang trying to give as sympathetic a look as he could to the Water Tribe girl; as kind as she was to him, she seemed to act rather mean-spiritedly toward the Princess, who really didn't seem to have done anything wrong to her.

The three of them made their way along through the village, approaching a large hole in the wall, which he guessed was not there by purpose; the Southern Raider attack was only three days ago, according to what Azula had told him. The Princess led them through it, reaching the front of the village, where he could see a few villagers sitting by the shoreline, including Sokka and his father, Hakoda. As they walked along the ice shelf toward them, the two turned their heads back toward them, standing as they made sight of the trio nearing; Katara's brother was the first to address them with a curious tone.

"What are you three doing here? Did something happen?" he asked them, his sister laughing at his words.

"Kind of. Dad, I wanted to ask you something." she turned her gaze to Hakoda, his eyes widening before he darted them toward the young Avatar.

"What did- what happened?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl sighing.

"I want to go to the North Pole, so I can learn waterbending."

"Y-you want to go to the North Pole?" he asked with a disbelieving voice, before he looked back at Aang, "I see that you have a method, with the flying bison and all, but are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Gran-Gran told me what they're like." she admitted, addressing the matter that most concerned the young Air Nomad himself; how the Northern Water Tribe could be so sexist and demeaning was beyond him, and he truly hoped that in the years since Kanna left that they had improved, "But I want to go. I need to learn waterbending, and I think Aang needs some help."

"Uh... thanks." he rubbed the back of his scalp, making an awkward grin before Sokka stepped forth.

"Well, if you're going, then I'm going- and Azula's gonna- oh..." he began to realise what had just happened, "I just got dragged along for another adventure without my consent, didn't I?"

"Yep." his girlfriend confirmed with a giddy smile, "You better get your things."

"I didn't say whether I was going to let you go." Hakoda raised his hand, stopping everyone in their tracks; for a few moments there was silence among them all, even the other villagers who were fishing looking their way with slight concern, "I am, by the way."

Katara's eyes widened with surprise, "Wait, really?"

"I can trust your brother to take care of you, and I guess this means that I'll have some reassurance. Aang will have you to help him, and then you can make sure everything goes... the way it's meant to." he suggestively told them, although the young Avatar didn't miss what he was implying.

The Chief had his own aspirations for the world after peace was finally achieved, but what that might entail, he was unsure of- he assumed it was the same as whatever his two children wanted.

"We will." his son assured him with a pat on the shoulder, "But... we're not leaving right now, are we?"

"Appa probably needs to rest for a little longer... but as soon as he's ready, we can head right for the North Pole."

"Don't forget the Southern Raiders." Azula raised a finger, Aang's eyes widening when he remembered that issue.

"Oh, yeah, of course." before he turned back to face Chief Hakoda, "I'll make sure they get off your back, Chief-sir." he gave him a salute, making the only adult amongst the five of them laugh.

"I'm counting on it. Don't be afraid to whack them with that staff of yours. They're certainly asking for it." he gestured to the glider staff that he had in his hand.

"Well... it's not for whacking... but yeah, I can show them a little airbending, for sure." she grinned, making Azula raise a brow at him skeptically.

"You don't just want to show off, do you?" she glared him down, Aang shaking his head, trying his best to give her a reassuring grin.

"No, no, I'm all about fighting in the name of justice. I'm the Avatar." he declared.

"Isn't it balance?" she corrected him, the young Air Nomad raising a brow, realising that she was the one correcting him about the things he himself ought to know; the fact he had only just been told he was the Avatar and what it entailed meant that the details were somewhat foggy.

"How do you know so much about the Avatar, anyway?"

"I was under the assumption that if you returned, that my father would send me to hunt you down. I took the precaution to do my reading." she clarified, making him narrow his eyes at her, remembering a certain part of her story; her brother had been banished to go find him, so the idea that he'd send his other child to find Aang seemed a little absurd.

"So you were going to stop your brother from returning to the Fire Nation?" he asked her with a serious expression, slightly concerned by her attitude toward her elder brother, who despite the fact he had shot her with lightning, didn't necessarily seem to be the worst person, especially if he was making the Fire Nation turn against him- if they were evil, he had to be doing something right.

"I'm not going to answer that question." she simply refused, making her boyfriend chuckle, patting her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, great idea." he sarcastically remarked, before turning to face Aang, "Sorry about Azula, she gets... a little too ruthless at times." he apologised, before his eyes widened, "Oh, I just realised, we haven't been properly introduced." his head rose up, before he approached the young Avatar, offering him a hand to shake, "It's nice to meet you, Avatar Aang."

"Uh, it's nice to meet you too." he awkwardly accepted his handshake; the way that both Katara and Azula spoke about him made him seem a lot more immature than he actually was, or maybe it was that he didn't know him well enough yet, "So... if Katara's a waterbender and Azula's a firebender, then what can you do?" he asked the Water Tribe boy, who only responded with a chuckle, although it was clearly uneasy in tone, before he cocked a smirk, pulling something off his back; it was some kind of axe-shaped blade, the same gleaming white and blue as everything else in the South Pole.

"Boomerang." he declared confidently, before his sister rolled her eyes and his father laughed.

"You can do a lot more than just throw a boomerang, Sokka." he suggested, Azula stepping forward, before clearing her throat.

"Sokka, how about a demonstration. Remember what you've been working on for the past six-months?"

"Oh..." the Water Tribe teen scratched at his chin, "To Aang?"

"You may as well. I want to see if a non-bender can beat the most powerful person in the world." she suggested, the Air Nomad looking her way with confusion; he was unsure how Sokka was going to beat him, seeing that he could probably evade whatever attack he sent his way.

The Water Tribe boy took a fighting stance, but he didn't have any weapons in hand, "So... you can't bend?" the Avatar asked him curiously, making him grin.

"I don't need to be able to bend to beat benders." he assured him, before making a motion with his fingers, "Hit me."

"Uh... okay." he agreed, making an awkward smile as he took his own stance, readying his staff, "I won't try and hurt you."

"I know. Azula already said you were a pacifist." he clarified, making him narrow his eyes at him; Sokka sounded cocky, too cocky to just be confident, making Aang suspicious that he might be hiding something.

The others stepped back slightly, before Aang spun his glider staff around, sending a blast of air right at the Water Tribe boy, hoping to just knock him off his feet; instead, he watched with surprise as he rolled out of the way of his attack before kicking the end of his staff, knocking it out of the way as he approached the young Air Nomad. He opened his mouth wide with shock, making a slight shout of fear as he aimed a blast of wind toward his opponent; he grasped Aang's wrist, letting the gust of wind fly up into the air above them. Before he could further react, he found himself jabbed in the gut in quick succession, stumbling back before he retook his stance, moving to throw him off his feet with a wind blast; his eyes widened as he realised he couldn't even send a puff of wind from his hands, trying once more by kicking up his staff and attempting to use it to whack Sokka, just as his father had told him to, although that was against the Southern Raiders, not his son. The Water Tribe teen was able to duck under his staff, before tripping him, the young Avatar falling flat on his behind.

"Ow!" he grunted, before his eyes darted up to the teen who had just beaten him with his hands and feet alone, "What was that?"

"Chi-blocking." he pursed his lips upwards, before offering him a hand, "The best technique a non-bender can learn against benders."

"You can stop people from bending? That's... scary and cool at the same time." he admtited, making him grin widely.

"Yes, it is. You can thank Azula, who was in turn beaten up by her childhood friend with it. Without her, I wouldn't have gotten to figure out this skill."

"So is that what you've been doing since you got here?" he asked the Princess, who made a sheepish smile.

"Well, that amongst other things. He takes his time to learn, that's all."

Sokka rose up to his feet, "I would say I'm pretty good at chi-blocking, thank you very much." he argued, Katara stepping between the two of them.

"Now, now, no need to turn an argument into an actual sparring session."

"We've got the time." Azula quipped in response, before her boyfriend raised a hand in objection.

"Well, actually, I'd prefer to spend any time we have left in the South Pole enjoying Gran-Gran's cooking. Who wants stewed sea prunes?" he asked them, "I'll help make it, so we'll have extra." he suggested, his father and sister nodding with agreement.

"Sounds good, son." Hakoda patted him on the shoulder, with the Princess turning away with a disinterested look.

"Are sea prunes bad or something?" Aang asked her, Katara shaking her head, answering for her.

"They're fine. She's just a grouch." he assured her, Azula rising to her feet with a defiant look on her face.

"No, I just think it's gross. I'm allowed to have my own opinion." she argued, Sokka stepping forward, looking like he was ready to intervene in the next argument that popped up.

"Okay, time out! Now is not the time for arguing." he told them, the two turning their backs from each other, Aang only making out the disgruntled look on Katara's face, "Follow your own advice, sis." he raised a finger to her, before turning back to face his father, "I guess this cuts fishing short." he admitted, the Chief chuckling, turning to face both his children.

"Don't worry. We can have a meal together. It's the least we should do if you're going to leave. You don't even know how long you'll be."

"What about you?" Katara asked him, "Are you just going to stay here with Gran-Gran and the other villagers?" she asked, the Chief shaking his head.

"No. We'll organise the warriors once again. I want to take them north, and finally put an end to the Southern Raiders. What was it that you did to the engine?"

"Blocked it and let the pressure build up. That was what Azula told me to do." Katara added, making the Princess grin.

"That worked it's charm. If you do that to a few dozen ships, no one will ever try to bother your tribe again." she suggested, before turning to face Aang, "What do you think? Maybe we should scare them a little with your sky-bison."

"Appa's not for fighting." he argued, before raising a brow, "I mean, he can fight, but he's not cut out for eating fireballs or anything like that."

"No, I got that, it's just that the people of the Fire Nation have thought Air Nomads, as well as sky-bisons to be extinct for a whole century. I bet you could intimidate them by just landing on a deck and mooning at them."

"Don't actually do that, that'd be stupid." Sokka argued, before making a wistful look, "Although, it would be hilarious to see the looks on their faces."

"I'm not going to show my butt to a bunch of strangers. That'd just be weird." he argued, before scratching his chin, "Why did you of all people suggest that?"

"I like practical jokes." Azula excused her rather unusual suggestion.

"The fact that we're talking about the Avatar mooning Fire Nation sailors is making my head spin." Katara admitted, "Everything has changed in only a single day."

"Changed for the better, that is." Sokka suggested, "Now, I have an excuse to go and find some Fire Nation spicy jerky again. I've been craving it." he declared with a grin, making everyone look at him with confusion; Azula, however, face-palmed at his words, obviously embarrassed by association.

"I bet we could find you some." Aang assured him with a grin, liking his eager attitude, before his expression turned more serious, "As well as a waterbending teacher for Katara and I; that's what really matters."

"Luck is on our side, once more." Sokka argued, his girlfriend looking back at them with a skeptical look in her eye.

"Don't get your hopes up. Things can go from fine to horrible in the blink of an eye if you don't pay attention."

"We'll pay attention. I just need to keep focus." Aang told them, before he turned back to Katara, "Oh, yeah, we were going to go penguin sledding."

"Yes." she acknowledged his words, "But we'll need to be quick, otherwise we'll miss dinner."

"You won't be missing much." the Princess offhandedly remarked, making the Water Tribe girl glare her down.

"Aang and I will go off for a bit. Don't worry. I won't go anywhere dangerous."

"You went fishing and found the Avatar. Don't blame me if I'm a little skeptical of that claim." the Chief admitted, making Aang chuckle uneasily, looking to him with a reassuring grin.

"I'll make sure your daughter is safe, sir, uh- Chief Hakoda."

He snickered at his unease, tilting his head to gesture, "You can just call me Hakoda. Now go along. Sokka will never forgive you if you skip a meal." 

"That's true. It's the greatest insult a cook can ever receive." Sokka piped up as he and Azula began to walk back toward the village, "So, be quick, penguin-sledders." he warned them.

"We will!" Katara shouted back at him, before grasping him by the hand, "Let's go."

As she dragged him along, he felt a little giddy, smiling at her as she grinned back; he was making friends, and a pretty girl was going to take him penguin-sledding. All-in-all, Aang thought he'd had a pretty good day since he woke up and found out he had been frozen for a hundred years; he'd met interesting people and learned all kinds of things, about the history of a banished Princess and her adventures, as well as the story of a tribe that had suffered long and hard in Aang's absence. Even if he felt giddy at that very moment, he felt more confident than ever to be the Avatar; he could be happy, be a kid, and still help return the world to balance. He wasn't doing it to spite the monks, but he smirked at the thought of disobeying them even after a hundred years, just to prove them wrong. He was going to make Monk Gyatso proud, and he knew that with his new friends, maybe he'd be able to make the new world he found himself in a better place.


	4. Chapter 4

Looking at all the faces before him, Sokka felt a sense of regret; he wanted to go help both Aang and Azula, and he knew that it was the right thing to do, but as he saw his village looking back at him, he couldn't help but think that he might be making the wrong decision. He didn't like second guessing himself, and it was one of Azula's pet peeves about his personality; she hated when he was indecisive, and for the most part, he had avoided being so ever since he returned home to the South Pole. The thing he honestly got most indecisive about was what he'd ask his grandmother to make for dinner when it was his turn to choose; with most things, rationality and his opinions applied, he was able to figure out a decision pretty quickly. He turned back to face his father, who had just hugged Katara, and he leaped in, without a second thought; he wasn't going to be indecisive about saying goodbye, knowing that if he was going, he wanted to make sure his father knew he had every intention to return.

"Good luck, Sokka." his father whispered to him, the Water Tribe teen trying his best not to tear up.

Ever since he had been shipwrecked, he had actually been dreading the moment he was currently experiencing, that he'd have to say goodbye again; first he said it to the Freedom Fighters and Bato, then he said it to Iroh, then his friends Kori and Sneers, and before he knew it, he was back home, now saying goodbye to his father, something he had never had the opportunity to do when they were on the ship. Both of them expected Sokka to jump aboard one of their sail-ships and leave along with the other warriors, but instead, he distracted Azula and set off a chain reaction that led to her defeat in an Agni Kai against Zuko.

"We'll be back. Don't worry, Dad." he assured him, before smirking, "Plus, once Aang has to learn earthbending, maybe we'll see each other in the Earth Kingdom." he suggested, his father tilting his chin up in thought.

"We still intend to help those rebels out. Make sure Aang tells them about us being friendly and all when he pops up and tells them he's the Avatar."

"Of course. I wouldn't miss an opportunity to help the tribe." he declared honestly, knowing that his people needed all the help they could get, and assisting the Earth Kingdom rebels seemed like a sure way to secure some support after their country had been liberated.

Hakoda turned to face Katara, who moved into a group hug with the two of them, "Come 'ere." he prodded her, as she reached in, the three of them having a warm family hug; Sokka cherished the moment, knowing that even without their mother, they were still a happy family.

"Gran-Gran, get over here." his sister asked of Kanna, the elder woman stepping forward slowly as she approached the other three.

"Of course, I'll miss my two grandchildren." she assured them both, before she first hugged Katara, before Sokka joined in, squeezing them both tightly.

"Take care of Dad, will you. He might still need advice from time to time." he suggested, making his grandmother snicker.

"Oh, anything for my darling son." she assured Hakoda with an overly babying voice, who turned away with a blush, embarrassed by his mother's words.

"Uh... thanks, Mum." he mumbled, appreciating her words, but not the public setting in which they were spoken.

"I'll even miss the angry, fire-breathing girl. I'm glad she ate my cooking, at the very least." she added, making Sokka muffle a laugh, not wanting to do so when the Princess might have heard her.

"She's not that impolite, Gran-Gran." he assured her, "I'm sure she'll miss you too." he suggested, glancing back the other direction toward Appa, where both Aang and Azula were standing, awkwardly talking amongst themselves.

"Now, you all stay safe. I don't want you doing anything I wouldn't." he suggested, the Water Tribe teens glancing at each other.

"So... you're giving us permission to take down Fire Nation ships?" Katara asked, coming to the most extreme conclusion she could.

"Well, I mean, not-" their father began to argue before Sokka cut him off with a hug.

"You're the best Dad ever!" he assured him, "And don't worry, we'll whack a few helmets on our way. It'd just be impolite not to."

"That's not how being polite works, but... you are right." Hakoda retorted, giving him a reassuring smile, "Now, you two better head off before Azula has a fit; I can already see her clenching her fists from all the way over here."

"Thanks for the heads up." Sokka gave his father a grin before turning his heels, giving the rest of the village a wave, "Good luck everyone!" he told them, earning a few waves from the other villagers; it was a small place, and although he did know everyone by name, he didn't really think they'd take much of another young man leaving to go fight- the fact he was going with the Avatar made it all the more interesting.

Sokka picked up the last bag he hadn't packed onto Appa up, feeling the weight as he heaved it over his shoulder; it consisted of his Fire Nation armour, which was still a highly useful disguise if he ever needed to break into a Fire Nation installation, or imitate an on-duty soldier while they were in a colony or something of the likes. He hadn't worn it since he arrived in the South Pole, seeing that it wasn't as good at insulating the heat as his parka, and even if provided adequate protection, he didn't exactly need it while he was going hunting. Fighting the people that wore the same armour, that was a different story. He began to pace along through the snow laden icefield, making his way toward Azula and Aang, the latter of which became eager as he saw the two Water Tribe teens approaching.

"So, are you two all ready to go?" he asked them, the pair nodding, before Aang dropped the bag down in front of Appa.

"Hey..." he asked with a pant, "Uh... could you, just toss up the bag with your airbending? It's a little hard to carrying a whole bag of armour, let alone get it onto that saddle."

"What do you need the armour for anyway?" the young Air Nomad inquired, making him chuckle.

"Well, it's Fire Nation armour. As likely as it would be good for protecting my body against fireballs, it's far better as a disguise. Plus, it's a lot harder to chi-block and dodge when you've got heavy bits of metal and leather all over your body, weighing you down."

"I totally get that. Air Nomads don't wear armour, because we're always ready to move out of the way of danger."

"Kinda guessed that with the skimpy outfit." he acknowledged, making Aang look at his robes self-consciously.

"It's not skimpy. These are the traditional robes of an Air Nomad." he declared, Azula chuckling at his reaction.

"I mean, Sokka's got a point. It looks quite cold in that outfit."

"I can keep the warm air close to my skin with airbending." he raised a finger, making Katara's eyes widen.

"Wow, that's pretty cool. Does that mean you could make a bubble or something around Appa to keep us warm?" she asked, Aang narrowing his eyes in thought.

"Huh, I've never actually tried that. You never know when that might be useful." Sokka cleared his throat, getting the young Avatar's attention, "Sorry, you didn't answer my question. The bag? Could you..." he then made a motion with his fingers imitating the bending he had seen Aang do in their very short spar, "send it up."

"Oh, yeah, of course." he nodded with a grin, before making a gesture with his hands, "Just step back, I've only tried this with people."

"People?" Azula raised a brow at him skeptically, getting that it was a little absurd he mightn't be able to raise up a relatively sturdy inanimate bag when he could do the exact same to a living, breathing person.

"Oh, sorry, I should have said myself." he clarified, the three others looking at each other with confusion, before they witnessed his technique, were he whisked the air around the bag, before he used his bending to push it up, creating a small ball of air that spun rapidly underneath it, just like how Katara had suggested he do with Appa to keep them warm.

The ball then rose up into the air, throwing the bag up with it, before it dispersed as the snow covered hessian bag careened down onto the saddle, making a loud thunk. Nodding at the quick work the young Air Nomad had done, Sokka proceeded to glance around the side of the sky-bison, unsure how exactly to climb aboard.

"Uh... how do I get on?" he asked, Azula chuckling before she jumped up with the assistance of her firebending, blue flames spurting out of her hands, and feet, making the group all step back, not wanting to get their faces singed; looking up at his girlfriend, he sighed with annoyance, "I can't bend." he gestured, the young Avatar turning to face him with a reassuring grin.

"I could try the air scooter on you." he suggested, making him snort, seriously doubting that would be safe in any way.

"Maybe not." he admitted, before approaching Appa, looking right up at the Princess who was sitting back on the saddle already, "Could you give me a hand?" he asked her, whose face turned into one of annoyance as she pulled the glove off of her right hand, before offering him her hand, which looked so small and dainty compared to the thick parka that covered her body.

He grasped her palm, the two of their hands tightening around each other, before Sokka kicked his foot forward into one of Appa's legs, before he used the force to raise himself up, helped by Azula's tight grasp on his arm. Once he landed on the saddle, he sighed with relief, turning to face his girlfriend, giving her an appreciative smile.

"Thanks, Azula." he gave her a thumbs up, the Princess simply putting her glove back over her hand before leaning back.

"Should I add that to the list of favours?" she offhandedly asked him, making the Water Tribe teen scoff.

"You're still keeping a list?" he asked her with a tone of disbelief, before crossing his arms, "Plus, I absolved any future debts by making sure you didn't end up in prison in Yu Dao."

"Technically, it was Iroh that allowed that to happen." she raised a finger, making him roll his eyes; giving her uncle, who she despised, credit when it suited her was something pretty hypocritical for her to do.

"So you like him now?" he sarcastically asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"No. The fuddy tea-drinking fool can go eat ash for all I care." she grit her teeth, "It's his fault the Agni Kai happened in the first place, so I'm not giving him that much credit." she argued, the two of them turning their heads as they saw Katara climbing up Appa's tail, making Sokka realise that would have been an easier way up.

"Okay, I'm sorry for making you pull me up. That was a bit stupid on my behalf." he admitted, his sister approaching the pair, sitting down across from them on the other side of the saddle.

"So, what's this, your uncle is getting all the credit for saving you from prison?" she asked the Princess, obviously wanting to rile her up; despite her sometimes considerate attitude, his sister obviously wasn't going to give up her ways just yet.

"I'm not giving him all the credit. Firstly, credit goes to Mai, Kori and Sneers, who helped me escape the city undetected... well other than the one Mai knocked out." she recounted, Aang landing down on the saddle with the assistance of his airbending.

"Who are you talking about?" he asked her, the Princess's face turning to a grimace; she probably had wanted to leave Yu Dao on better terms with Mai, who was her childhood friend.

"My best friend- well, one of my best friends."

"The one who... doesn't chi-block?" he asked her, Azula nodding.

"Ah, quite perceptive you are." she acknowledged, "Mai. She is Zuko's girlfriend... huh... she might be the Fire Lady now." she admitted, making Sokka look at her skeptically.

"I doubt he'd get married. He's only what... nineteen?" he asked her, the Princess shaking her head.

"Eighteen." she raised a finger, before she chuckled, "Maybe she didn't stay with him. Power corrupts." she suggested, making Sokka's eyes widen.

Power was the thing that had driven her to do horrible things, and he realised that a lack of it had actually made her a somewhat kinder person, although that kindness obviously had limits; she was still vengeful, and he guessed that if she was given a choice between killing her brother and never attaining the throne, she'd kill her brother in a heartbeat.

"If power corrupts, then why should we let you get your fingers on it?" Katara quipped, the Princess scoffing.

"I have hindsight to give me wisdom... or better phrased, living in your icy hell-hole for six months. Plus being stuck in a forest with your brother. That was enlightening, and not in a kind way, more in the sense that the Earth Kingdom is full of xenophobic morons who are too hateful to accept the peace that my brother might offer them." she told them, making Aang look back at her with slight concern.

"Uh... okay." he mumbled, before he moved up onto Appa's neck, "I'll get us in the air now."

"I think that was a little bit of an overreaction." Sokka admitted, before turning to his sister, "And shut up, Katara. You're starting fires on purpose, and you're the waterbender here!" he growled at her, making Aang snicker.

"That was a good one." he admitted, the Water Tribe boy nodding, appreciating the small amount of respect offered to his wit.

"Thank you." he simply addressed him before turning his head around, looking back toward the village, where a number of people were still waiting there for them to set off; he gave his father and grandmother a wave, which they returned, before he heard the Air Nomad call out the most odd thing.

"Okay, boy, here we go. Yip-yip!" he chanted on the massive beast, which groaned for a moment before he moved his tail up; Sokka tensed up, unsure what was going to happen before he felt his weight moving around in a way that he actually hadn't experienced since a very specific moment; when he was in the pagoda-like bridge of Azula's sinking Royal Barge, back when they enemies.

That wasn't the nicest memory he had etched into his mind, but it was quickly swept away when he saw them rising up from the ground, beginning to speed up, faster and faster as the sky-bison rose up above the village.

"Bye!" Katara called out, waving over the edge of the saddle as she looked down at everyone, whose faces were understandably filled with awe.

Sokka waved with a bittersweet smile, knowing that even if he ought to go with Aang, that leaving his village, tribe and family once more seemed wrong; he was remedied by the fact that he had Katara and Azula with him, who would both be of great emotional and practical assistance, as well as annoy the crap out of him when they felt like it. Aang was new, but Sokka had no problem with that, knowing that making a new friend, especially one that seemed genuinely kind-hearted was nice for a change; though he loved his girlfriend, he wasn't going to deny that it had been a struggle to get to know her, remembering the fact that she had threatened to kill him over boiled water the morning after they first met on her ship.

He turned back to face her, taking note of her distant expression as she looked out over the horizon, "Is something wrong?" he asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders, glancing back toward the village as they flew away from it, across the icy waters that seemed to go on forever, even if he knew from his experiences that there was a wide and crazy world beyond them.

"No. I'm just thinking about... home." she admitted, before turning back to face him, "I'm sorry you had to leave. I know you didn't want to, even if you feel like you have you." she admitted, before sighing, "That's how I felt when we took that fishing boat from Yu Dao. I had no idea when I was going to go back home, and even now I still don't."

"I guess you're right. Do you miss it?"

"Having servants to do my bidding and being able to serve my nation from the comfort of the palace was something that I appreciated." she admitted, earning a snide glare from Katara, who obviously thought she sounded quite selfish and ignorant to say something like that.

"And you want that again? Has the life of the 'servant' made you any wiser, Princess Azula?" she asked her, making her chuckle, crossing her arms.

"Well, I have learned what independence truly feels like. But you need others to help you get things down, even if they aren't doing your bidding." she eyed Sokka, reminding him of the fact that even before she had lost her status and authority, she still treated him as an equal.

"I don't mind working. It makes me feel like I'm not just a kid anymore." Katara admitted, "But I would prefer some more breaks."

"Good for you, we just got the biggest break in a lifetime." Sokka suggested with a grin, making his sister face-palm.

"This isn't a vacation, Sokka. We're going to help Aang master the elements, in any way that we can." she declared with a serious tone.

"Oh yeah, thanks for that again." the young Avatar piped up, Azula raising her hand casually.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be the best firebending master in the world. Trust me."

"Didn't you say yourself that your father is the strongest firebender alive?" Katara quipped, the Princess looking back at her with a snide glare.

"Technically, yes. But he would never help the Avatar. He's not a pragmatist like me."

"'Pragmatist', okay." the Water Tribe girl stared at her before turning her eyes toward the front of the sky-bison.

Sokka wanted to laugh, thinking that she might not even know what the word meant; he did, but that was because he was the kind of kid that asked his father every time a new word was mentioned what it meant.

"So... uh... we're going to aim for one of these 'Southern Raider' ships first, right?" Aang asked them, the group nodding.

"We might need to find some place to camp. Our clothes will need a wash, and I'm sure that we would all sleep better on the ground in tents rather than on this saddle." Katara suggested, making her brother snicker.

She was the one giving the commands, not the Princess, who he assumed would be more willing to take the lead; he guessed that being around a bunch of people her age of varying maturity gave his sister an excuse to be the boss.

"I have a feeling Katara's going to be bossing us around." he admitted, making his girlfriend snicker.

"I demand that you keep your maternal instincts to a minimum. Your brother is a grown man." she raised a finger at his sister in jest, whose eyebrow twitched as she snarled, obviously trying to hold back her anger.

"I'm not trying to act like his mother! If he wants to clean his own socks and underwear, then he can do it himself!" she declared, making Azula look at her boyfriend with a slightly concerned face.

"She washes your underwear?" she asked him with unease, the Water Tribe teen nodding, before he realised the disgusting aspect of such a task; having his sister clean his underwear, given the things he did in them was gross to say the least.

"Okay, yep. Maybe I'll stick to cleaning those myself." he admitted, surprising his sister, who looked at him with an almost suspicious look.

"You're deciding to start cleaning your underwear now? Why the sudden change of heart? Is Azula making you man up?" she quipped, indirectly complimenting the authority of his girlfriend, who took her words kindly, a smug grin forming between her cheeks.

"Ah, as much as I'd like to believe that, it's not because your brother seeks to make cleaning a manly task."

"I'd rather just make sure you don't touch any of that." he admitted, Katara's eyes narrowing at him, before they darted between both him and his girlfriend; when they widened, he raised a hand, pre-empting her question.

"S-Sokka, that's- ew... I've been..." she began to mumble before turning away with disgust, making the Princess snicker; as gross as the idea of her cleaning his underwear was, she still found the time to laugh at her unease.

"Oh, how goodwill can lead to such... tragic things." she grinned at the Water Tribe girl smugly, who raised her clenched fists in disgust.

"Tragic? It's gross!" she declared, before turning to face her brother, "I can't believe you made me clean those."

"He just didn't take time to think it through. A classic Sokka move, I might add." Azula congratulated him, the Water Tribe teen side-eying her with annoyance, seeing that she was clearly insulting him, despite her cheerful tone.

"Thanks, your majesty." he mocked her before turning around to glance off the side of the saddle, not wanting to continue thinking about his idiocy and dirty underwear.

He looked down at the ice-shelf, seeing the Southern Raider shipwreck not too far from the edge; it still towered above everything else for miles around, so it wasn't hard for him to spot, it's jet black steel form sitting amongst a massing of ice-pillars. He guessed that the wreck had been caused by Southern Waterbenders, when there was a lot more than just his sister; the thought of their resistance, and how terribly it had failed, was saddening to Sokka. He held no great love for bending, knowing that if his sister wasn't born a waterbender, their mother would likely be alive; he blamed bending in and of itself, not his sister for merely existing. Firebenders killing waterbenders, or at least who they thought were waterbenders, attempting to exterminate a population that had until their attacks, held no ill will toward them. Sokka honestly thought that even if the Fire Nation was disgustingly evil, if it hadn't been for the Southern Raider's attacks, it was unlikely that any of their warriors would have the guts to face their seemingly insurmountable enemy. Whether the Fire Nation as a whole was their enemy anymore was up for debate as well, given that Azula was clearly an ally and friend of their tribe, even if many saw her as a dangerous ash-maker and wanted her gone, his sister included.

"What's that?" Aang gestured down to the wreck as they flew past it, Katara sighing with a grimace.

"A reminder." she simply responded, the young Avatar looking back her way with slight concern, Azula clearing her throat, deciding to give him an answer even if the two Water Tribe teens weren't feeling in the mood to talk about it.

"A Southern Raider vessel. It has to be a few decades old, from back when there was still more waterbenders here." she admitted, "The Fire Nation was never unbeatable, you know. They still aren't."

"Is that why you think I can... restore balance?" he asked her, the Princess chuckling, before she created a few small flames over her fingertips, letting them dance around in her hand.

"I don't think that. I know that. You're the Avatar. If anyone can stop a bunch of stupid people for killing each other for whatever reason, it's you."

"Not everyone who fights in the war is stupid, Azula." Katara argued, her brother making a cringed expression.

"Well, it depends, actually." he stated his own opinion, "I will admit it was pretty stupid for the warriors to attack Azula's Royal Barge when we did, but that was a set-up of sorts. You should only fight fights you expect to win; that's not saying the Earth Kingdom should just give up, but more so, they should only fight the Fire Nation if they can actually beat them." he backed up his girlfriend's argument, agreeing with her presume; war was stupid, fighting was stupid, and it only made sense when you could clearly see a path to victory.

"That's a good strategy." Aang admitted, "Air Nomads follow a kinda similar idea. Avoiding conflict is how airbending works. You use it to make sure your opponents can't fight you."

"If only you could airbend all of the Fire Nation renegades into the sea. That'd save us a lot of effort." the Princess joked in return, making him look at her with confusion.

"Uh... okay." he mumbled, "That's an idea. Don't know if it'd work." he admitted, "They won't just give up, will they?"

"No, they won't." Sokka added, "They're not going to stop until they reclaim what they think is theirs, the world."

"I just hope there's no singular leader to all those rebels, it would make it a lot harder for us to stop them otherwise, seeing that they could actually try and overthrow my brother and possibly succeed." Azula admitted with an uneasy face, the flames on her fingertips fading away into the wind.

"But don't you want to be Fire Lord yourself?" Katara raised a brow, "Shouldn't you want them to beat him?"

"No. Because I want everyone to win. And when I mean everyone, I mean the Four Nations, not any person in particular." she argued, "My brother losing his throne only makes it harder to get the Fire Nation in line. You think the whole army is just going to stop fighting because Aang starts showing them how he could give them a beatdown with the four elements?"

"I couldn't do that anyway." the young Air Nomad added, "I only know airbending at the moment."

"I know that. But even if you had mastered all the elements, a united Fire Nation set on conquering the Earth Kingdom would be unstoppable, especially if there's no single leader. You could beat a general and he'd be replaced by another one. The war would never end."

"It's already gone on for a hundred years. We don't need another hundred." Katara agreed with her, "That's why we need to figure out how to make everyone... not want to throw rocks and fireballs at each other."

"Simple. Just make sure Aang is friends with both people running each of the nations. We've already got one in the making, so all we need to do is find another." Sokka argued, making his sister look at him with confusion.

"Where is the Earth King, anyway?" she asked, making the Princess raise a brow.

"Our prisoner was rather nonspecific with that matter. Long Feng said he was alive and kicking, but where he and his lackeys went, we have no idea." she admitted, before glancing Sokka's way, "You think we could defeat the Dai Li again and actually put someone competent in charge of Ba Sing Se?"

"Like yourself?" the Water Tribe girl quipped.

Azula rolled her eyes, refusing to look back at her, "The Dai Li is more untrustworthy than a band of street urchins. It would be better if someone more competent and noble ran that city."

"So... like the Earth King?" Aang asked, Sokka narrowing his eyes in thought.

"Why would we even bother?" he asked them, "What's the point of defeating the Dai Li anyway. If they already have control of the city, then if we leave them be, that's one part of the world not to worry about."

"Where did the Sokka go that wanted to help the 'poor little peasants' of Ba Sing Se?" his girlfriend asked him mockingly, although he could see under that jest that she was actually concerned that he had changed his outlook on the city so drastically.

"I don't know if there's a point. Getting rid of the Dai Li would require so much military power and knowledge of the city that I'm unsure it's even possible. The only way you could get rid of them is the same way Jet wanted to get rid of the Fire Nation."

"Oh, so... revolution it is?" she smirked at him, Katara and Aang both looking at each other with concern.

"Letting the people take down the corrupt and cruel rulers, you'd be setting the city into absolute chaos. That wouldn't help them much- it'd just replace one kind of evil with another."

"Ba Sing Se has always been a bad place. There's a reason the monks told us to not go there." Aang suggested, "I don't know what it's like now, but it could have gotten a lot worse."

"It probably is worse. I doubt that my allies would have held onto the city for very long, and their new overlords would be no kinder than the Fire Nation." Azula admitted with a cold and stern voice, indicating that she no longer felt pride for her actions in Ba Sing Se, but rather regret for not having done enough to actually try and stop the Dai Li.

"Let's talk about something different. How about... uh- what cool things I can show you along the way!" Aang piped up, making the other three look at each other with confusion.

"The cool things?" Katara sked with a confused voice, the young Air Nomad jumping around and sitting on the saddle in front of them.

He pointed to the bags at the end of the saddle, "Azula, could you pull out the scroll I have just behind there."

She looked at him with slight confusion for a moment before turning herself around, leaning over to pull out a large scroll, "This one?"

"Yep!" Aang beamed, before he was thrown the scroll rather casually, which to Sokka seemed a little dangerous, considering that they were flying in the air.

Unfurling the scroll he laid it down on the saddle between them, revealing it to be a map of the world, "We should go..." he began before pointing at three points on the map, "Here, here, and here."

Two of the given locations were in the Earth Kingdom, while one was in the former Air Nomad territories, Sokka leaning closer with interest, "What's so cool about those places?"

"Well, right here," he pointed over to the coast of the Earth Kingdom, "we'll ride the hopping llamas. And then over here," he pointed to the location in Air Nomad territory, the closest to their current location, "we'll ride the giant koi fish." he declared, before pointing at another location in the Earth Kingdom, "Then here, that's where we'll ride the hog monkeys!" he declared, making Sokka look over to his sister with concern, "They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!"

"That sounds fun and all, but don't we need to get to the North Pole?" Katara asked him.

"We're not in a rush, are we? Plus, are you ever going to go and ride a hog monkey otherwise?" he grinned at the group, Azula groaning as she facepalmed, expressing the same response as Sokka, who sighed as he leaned back on the saddle; they were going to have a long trip to the North Pole, and not because of the distance, it seemed.

* * *

Looking up at the bright full moon that sat in the sky above them, Azula sighed as she tried to rest her eyes; she was feeling uneasy, knowing that despite Aang's bright and happy intentions to go around having fun, they would soon be facing the Southern Raiders, who they would need to distract, lest they send more ships for the South Pole. She was sure that the young Avatar would oppose being needlessly violent, and she would have to argue when the time came that they were there for a shock factor; whoever they might end up hurting, it was just to make the Southern Raiders want to hunt them down, not because they wanted to go out of their way to make their lives a living hell. Well, at least Azula didn't; she was unsure about Sokka and Katara, the former of which had his arm wrapped around her waist as they lay in their sleeping roll on top of Appa's saddle.

She heard the Water Tribe boy grunt beside her before shuffling himself around; that was followed by the expected question, "Are you finding it hard to get to sleep as well?"

"Not due to any help on your behalf. You could help by moving around a little less." she chided him, the Water Tribe boy shrugging his shoulders, which she could only tell because he whacked her with his left shoulder, "That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"That was on purpose." he told her with a whisper, before pulling himself up out of the sleeping roll, shivering slightly before sighing, "Well, it's not much better outside. Instead of being uncomfortably hot, now I'm uncomfortably cold."

"Oh, stop complaining." she rolled her eyes, pulling herself up, before raising her left hand up, setting it alight with blue flames; he flinched back slightly, but as his eyes adapted to the light, he appreciated the warmth that her bending radiated.

"Ooh... that's a little better, actually." he smiled at her, his expression now clear in the light of her flames; she sighed before looking up toward the moon, unsure what to say, if anything.

"I can tell something's on your mind." he simply stated, making her tilt her head slightly toward him.

"Genius." she sarcastically addressed him, "What's next, you'll tell me that I'm objectively the most attractive woman in the world."

"I mean, I could say that, but I don't actually have the evidence to say that it's objective." he clarified, making her chuckle.

"Oh, you have a way with words." she joked, the Water Tribe teen crossing his arms.

"I can speak well enough." he told her, "I thought you appreciated my arguing."

"Oh, I do, but I wasn't talking about arguing." she clarified, making him pout slightly.

"I'm sorry if I offended you, most attractive woman in the world." he entitled her, making her shake her head.

"Don't say that now. I know you don't believe that." she turned her head away from him; he grasped her wrist, just below where the flames were coming out of her palm, her eyes turning back to face his own.

"You are." he assured her, "But you're also pretty smart. I'd actually say the intelligence is your most attractive feature." he clarified, making her cock a smirk, moving her flame covered palm closer to his face.

"Oh, you only get away with that because I know I'm a genius."

"Well, you are. I mean, relative to life-experienced you have to be the smartest person around. Imagine how wise you'll be when you get old. You'll be like a sage-guru-elder, and you'll be able to tell everyone the best way to deal with their enemies." he suggested to her with a grin.

"I can see that." she pursed her lips upward, knowing that if there was anything she'd have to become very knowledgeable at by the time she was an old woman, it would be dealing with opponents of any kind.

Sokka leaned himself back, looking up at the sky above them, the stars obscured by the light of the full moon, "You know, I'm really proud of you."

She chuckled at his words, "Proud of me? What, about saving the Avatar from his icy imprisonment, despite it being against my best interests?" she questioned, unsure exactly what he was proud of.

"Not that exactly. You've been able to move past your... well, pretty stupid Fire Nation black-and-white world-view." he admitted with an tense voice, obviously not wanting to offend her.

"You've done the same. I doubt you would call a firebender an ash-maker anymore." she quipped, certain that he had moved past his own absolute view of the Fire Nation as evil, Earth Kingdom as good and his people as saviours to them all; it was rather stupid to think of such a small and relatively insignificant nation as being of any importance in turning the tide in a century of war, but then again, she intended to make sure the Southern Water Tribe did just that, as long as it ended up working in both her favour and theirs.

"If they're not my enemy, that is." he raised a finger, "It's not like I trust the Fire Nation as a whole. I don't really know what your brother intends to do, other than the wishy-washy stuff he said in Yu Dao." he admitted, making her snicker; she knew her brother was an idealist, but how much of an act he'd be putting on to appease the masses, she was unsure of.

"The Fire Nation isn't going to be trying to destroy your tribe any longer, once the Southern Raiders are dealt with, that is." she stressed, "And I'll do that whether my brother likes it or not."

"What, do you think he actually wants them on his side?" he asked her with a disbelieving tone.

"No. I think he'd like their ships. We could steal them, but I feel it would be fairer to let your tribe destroy them all. Maybe even scrapping the metal for rebuilding your tribe."

"That's actually a good idea. I'll tell Dad the next time we meet. We'll need all the resources we can find if we want to make our tribe as rich as the Fire Nation." he suggested, making her raise a brow at his use of the words 'we' and 'our'.

"We as in you and me?" he asked her, the Water Tribe teen grinning at him.

"Of course. You're probably the only person I know who actually knows anything about running a country, so I think you'd have a pretty good idea on how to help us rebuild." he declared, the Princess smiling at him momentarily, before straightening her lips; she didn't want to seem too happy, knowing that there was too much to feel unhappy about.

Part of her wanted to smile, and wanted to rejoice, because she could actually do what she had always wanted to, lead, and in an indirect fashion, rule; she could be the great leader that was adored by a nation that might have otherwise despised her, but for another part of her, that was never enough. That nagging voice at the back of her head was always telling her that she wasn't good enough, and that she needed to take down Zuko, lest her nation fall into ruin under his rule; that voice was part of her, and she knew that it was the closest thing to a conscience she had, and unlike what most people would describe as a conscience, it was in no way a positive influence on her life at that current moment. Azula had been caring for her boyfriend, befriending his tribe, helping the Avatar, all with no consideration for what that little voice would say. It told her to frown, because Zuko sat where she should rightfully do so- it told her that Aang would only get in the way of her plans- it told her that Sokka would do the same, whether he loved her or not.

"I want to make sure the Fire Nation is mine, first. Before I can help the Southern Water Tribe, before I can make the world a better place, I need to be Fire Lord." she simply concluded, the Water Tribe boy looking up at her, although his expression was unclear.

"Being Fire Lord doesn't have to be the ultimate end for everything you think about in Fire Lord. You're more than a crown, than a silly throne made of fire." he suggested, making her snort; she didn't want to laugh, but it was funny, and not because anything Sokka said was actually of a humorous nature, but because he was right, "Uh... that wasn't a joke."

"No. I know it wasn't." she admitted, before looking out off the edge Appa's saddle, looking down at the water below them, "The world won't end if I'm not FIre Lord, but the Fire Nation will suffer if I can't make sure it takes the right path. Look at the chaos that has ravaged the world; we've barely seen it, but the Southern Raiders prove a point. My brother lacks the tenacity to control his subjects, to unify our nation."

"I can see where you're coming from... but uh- how do I put this... how do you know some would have revolted against you just like some have against your brother... if you had won the throne, that is?" he asked her a hypothetical question, but an intriguing one nonetheless.

"I would have maintained the image of my father. Of impermeable strength. If I showed the same weakness my brother had by declaring his bold policies without the support of the military, I would be beset with those revolts, or worse, assassination attempts." she told him her own idea of what might have been, "I would have taken apart the command structure. Stopped these wannabe warlords in their tracks. Dismantled clearly hate inciting organisations like the Rough Rhinos and the Southern Raiders. Invest in rebuilding the ravaged part of the Earth Kingdom, and slowly giving self-government, until people forget that the Fire Nation ever even ruled their country, all while no one challenges my rule."

"That would have been sweet, except for the fact that the Earth Kingdom has more rebel fighters waiting to beat the Fire Nation back to their islands than there are fish in the sea." he told her a rather hyperbolic comparison.

"I know that. You can't win everyone over, but if enough people believe in something enough, they call it a society. Those rebels don't have to be part of that society for it to succeed." she suggested, making him chuckle.

"Huh, I guess you have a good point there." he admitted before furrowing a brow, "But obviously, that's not where this is all going."

"Of course not. Earth Kingdom rebels are probably the only people I could say would have a shred of common interest with me at this point. The Fire Nation renegades want power to themselves, Zuko wants me in prison, and the Dai Li, well they probably want me dead after what happened in Ba Sing Se." she admitted, knowing that as unnerving as it was to say it out loud, she was really only left with Earth Kingdom rebels, who if they could muster the will to trust her, would be able to help her get what she wanted, that being, the colonies.

"What about your 'supporters'?" he asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"If they still support me, then perhaps, but I doubt that they'd be able to deal with enemies on all sides, and remain united after all this time." she stated what she believed to be the most likely outcome, as pessimistic as it was.

The was only as powerful and uniting a figure as people believed her to be, and she was certain that what had transpired in Yu Dao had changed some minds, and not just Shinu's, who had probably turned as soon as he saw Liang's battleship.

"Well then... I guess we shouldn't worry about it until we get there. The Northern Earth Kingdom is a while away." he suggested, making the Princess sigh, knowing that he was right, again; she shouldn't worry about something that would be impossible to judge without actually learning what had transpired in that area since she disappeared.

"We just have to worry about Aang not doing anything stupid and getting us caught by those in the Fire Nation that might want him in chains."

"Do you think your brother will send people after Aang?" he asked Azula, whose eyes narrowed in thought; just because he gave up his quest to find the Avatar didn't mean that he wasn't a threat to his reign, especially given that he still continued to control a large portion of the Earth Kingdom via the colonies, which he had obviously taken control of in the wake of his victory against her.

"Maybe." she admitted, "But I don't know for sure. Who knows, maybe he'll try and go all buddy-buddy with him and try and use him to defeat his opposition."

"I doubt Aang will agree to that." he argued, perhaps only for the sake of trying to assure her that hope wasn't lost for her, even if she was genuinely starting to dread the possibility of never being able to take the throne.

"Uncle is a convincing man, may I remind you." she raised a finger, knowing the power that her uncle held with his words; of course, he never fooled her, but she was under no presupposition that someone young and naive like Aang couldn't fall to his proverbs and talk of destiny.

"I doubt he could convince a pacifist to fight in a war for the side that has been trying to conquer the world." he quipped in return, although the implications of his words were far more reassuring than arguments they tended to have; Sokka was reassuring her, and she wanted to curse herself for her own weakness in needing him to do so.

"Thanks." she simply told him, sighing as she lay back down in the sleeping roll, the Water Tribe teen following, "I know you're a lot smarter than you let on. That'a a good tactic to fool your enemies."

"I guess it is. Not intentional, though." he snickered to himself before laying himself down right beside her, looking into her eyes, although his face was barely distinguishable in the moonlight.

"Not everyone is what they seem to be..." she mumbled a proverb she had once heard, knowing that it seemed to both categorise herself and her boyfriend; he seemed like a fool, and an arrogant one at that to her at times, but he proved his true nature to be determined and more intelligent than most the people she'd ever met.

Azula however, found herself to be a kind of walking contradiction; she did not give off a false aura of stupidity or ignorance, but rather of calm determination, or indifference at times, acting confident and cocky when it was required of her. She didn't feel however, that this confidence was a reflection of her true feelings; ever since she had been in that shipwreck with Sokka, she had come to second guess her own identity. She knew that she was Princess Azula, the heir of Fire Lord Ozai, the rightful Fire Lord, no matter if he was rotting in prison or in a grave. What she didn't know, is whether this other version of herself she had crafted, carefully molded, to make herself as righteous, fair and above all else honourable in more than just the skewed sense her father had told her to be, was actually the real Azula, who had stepped out of the shadows to show her face. She was the girl who loved Sokka, who could love him, despite his flaws and his origin, and the girl who could see the good in a culture that others would dismiss as barbaric, unrefined and weak; she wanted to kiss him at that very moment, to assure him that he was right, and that she was wrong for concerning herself with things that were currently out of her control.

She let that urge overcome her, and grasped him by the cheek, startling the Water Tribe teen, who had almost dozed off, "Uh? Is some-" he began to question, before she let the space between their lips close; she held that embrace for as long as she wanted, letting him grasp her tresses and hold her tightly.

She didn't want to lose his love, and even if that voice in her head, that 'conscience', told her she was weak for deriving meaning from something as futile as it, and that she should focus on her dream to become the ruler that she was born to be. She didn't need that dream at that moment, seeing that her other great dream was right in front of her. Azula realised after years upon years of thinking that ruthlessness and victory were the only way she could achieve respect, love and adoration, when in fact, being merciful, considerate and compromising had gained her something she mightn't have otherwise received.

"Uh... well, that was nice." Sokka made an awkward smile, before looking at her face, his hand touching her cheekbones, "Were you crying?"

"Of course not." she denied his suggestion; she mightn't have cried, but she felt a sense of pain that she had tried to ignore.

It was a longing that she had always had, but she didn't want to consider it; that she wanted love, on a personal level, and she feared that she would never have it. Her brother ignored her at best, while her mother thought she was a monster, corrupted by their father. He didn't exactly love her, not in the way she guessed a parent was meant to; like how Hakoda loved Sokka and Katara, like how her uncle loved Zuko. He wanted everything of her; he wanted her to be the greatest Princess in history, and she tried her hardest to fulfil that image. In the end, she only made herself into the kind of person people only feared; the boy beside her was the one who proved to her that there was another way, even if that way seemed foreign, unwieldy and stupendous at times.

"Are you... are you okay? I can feel it. You're colder than usual... and I mean that literally." he touched her wrist, glancing at the flames that she still had in her hand; they had weakened to barely nothing, and it wasn't due to her being tired, but a lack of concentration as focus.

She looked into the flames for a moment, and narrowed her eyes, noticing that the flames weren't a deep blue anymore, but flickering with bits of both blue, gold and orange; the variety of colours concerned her and she let go of the fire, letting it dissipate into the air, leaving her and Sokka in the darkness, once more.

"Oh, we're in the dark again. I thought we were trying to stay warm?" he asked her, suggesting that she turn the flames back on; she shook her head, unsure if she could even see her, before pulling herself back down into the sleeping roll.

Grasping him by the head, she pulled him closer and hugged him, letting their body heat to keep them warm while the sleeping roll remained open, instead of getting too hot. She realised that they could have avoided their conversation and instead got the sleep she needed; Azula knew that her thoughts had gone awry, to a place she didn't want to go.

"I want to sleep. I can keep us both warm." she simply told him, the Water Tribe teen pulling his head closer to her own, kissing her cheek before he rolled around, letting her hold his back and grasp onto his chest lightly.

The Princess of the Fire Nation did not want to become someone who was weak and without purpose; she wanted to achieve her destiny, but it seemed that she was making it hard for herself by second-guessing her own idea of who she was. Weak flames, orange flames, they were a sign that she was like her brother; that she wasn't strong enough for the throne, she couldn't accept that, but even then, she could accept the embrace of the boy beside her, and hope that she would be able to find purpose through him and his momentary spouts of wisdom, however rare she deemed them to be.

"You're warmer." he commented, making her sigh with relief, glad that she was no longer having her odd thoughts, but simply focused on the present; keeping her complaining boyfriend warm and getting as much sleep as she could.

"Thank for the commentary, idiot."

* * *

Holding the reins of his sky-bison tightly, Aang locked his eyes onto what seemed to be exactly what they had been looking for; a Fire Nation vessel, which he only guessed it could be, being made of steel, with a sharp almost sword-like appearance, as well as a tall mast with red windows. His new friends were looking out from the saddle the same way he was, and the looks on their faces suggested that it was indeed a Southern Raiders ship; Azula, however, looked relatively indifferent, but the fact that her eyes were focused on the ship told him enough.

"Yep, that's a Southern Raider ship." Sokka confirmed, before glancing to their left, "And we're pretty far off from the South Pole now. Maybe they're scouting for Water Tribe ships."

"Wouldn't have Bato come this way on an Earth Kingdom boat?" Katara asked her brother, who nodded, his eyes filling with dread.

"He did. That ship must have travelled back north, right this way... I hope they didn't get captured, or worse." he mumbled, before turning to face Azula, "So, are we going to go spook them or what?"

"We will." she confirmed, before she pulled her parka off, revealing her Water Tribe tunic that she had been wearing underneath, "Let's get ready to give some Southern Raiders a beating." before she turned her eyes to Aang for a moment, "But a non-fatal beating." she clarified.

"I won't hurt anyone bad. Airbending isn't for... murder, or anything like that." he assured her, picking up his staff from behind him, "Are we going to land?" he asked them, Katara raising a brow with thought.

"No, I'll land Appa. There's something better you can do." she argued, making him raise a brow.

"Uh... you want me to do something? But all I can do is airbend." he clarified, knowing that there was nothing overly impressive he could do as of yet, seeing that he had only mastered one of the elements.

"You'll only need airbending." she argued, before pointing at the ship, "You can use your glider to fly around, gain their attention, and then, while they're distracted, we'll fly Appa down.

"Are you sure you want to? You haven't tried the reins yet." he asked her, concerned she mightn't actually know how to fly the sky-bison.

"It looks simple enough." she shrugged her shoulders, Aang turning to pat his friend on the neck.

"Now, now buddy, can you let Katara take the reins. She won't do anything bad, I promise." he told his sky-bison, who made a positive groan in response, "Great!" he grinned, before jumping up onto the saddle, gesturing to the reins, "Go ahead and have a try."

"I don't think this was the best time to let any of us try and fly Appa." Sokka admitted with a rather uneasy, paranoid glance around, looking down at the water below.

"Don't worry, he won't go upside down or anything." he assured him, the Water Tribe boy looking at his girlfriend with unease, before Katara took hold of the reins, leading Appa higher up into the sky as they approached the Southern Raiders ship.

"The clouds aren't very good cover." Azula concluded, before she turned to face Aang, "Well, you better jump."

"Like right now?" he asked, the Princess looking at him with an exasperated expression.

"Yes. Right now." she pointed briskly down toward the water.

"A-alright." he nodded, standing up before opening his glider, "Wish me luck."

He stepped up onto the edge of the saddle, before he took a deep breath; he usually wouldn't feel uneasy about flying, but he was about to go and fight some people on his own accord; he felt conflicted about his actions, but he knew that his friends couldn't be lying- the Southern Raiders were horrible people that needed to be taught a lesson. Then he did it, as simple as it was, grasping the two top wooden , as he jumped down, going into freefall; he used his airbending to lift the air underneath the glider, allowing him to fly in the direction he sought to, that being right toward the Southern Raider vessel. As he got closer, he was able to make out a few crew members on the deck, who turned their heads to look at the airbender who was fast approaching them; they moved out of the way as Aang flew down, airbending to slow his descent before dropping onto his two feet, looking at the crewmen with interest. He didn't know exactly how they'd react, but the first words they spoke were indicative of what was to come.

"A-airbender..." one of them gasped, another pointing at him accusingly.

"Th-that's the Avatar! He's a kid, but that has to be him!" he declared, the young Air Nomad grinning at them as he readied his staff in hand.

"Yeah, that's me!" he pointed at himself with a giddy smile, making the men look at him with confusion.

"This makes no sense." one of them mumbled, clearly in disbelief that he was on the deck of their ship.

"You know protocol. The Avatar is an enemy of our nation!" one of them declared, taking a firebending stance.

"Oh, am I? Enemy of Fire Lord Zuko enemy of the Fire Nation... or enemy of you enemy of the Fire Nation?" he asked in clarification, genuinely curious as to whether Azula's brother saw him as an enemy.

"What kind of question is that?" one of them asked him with confusion, before the last one barked at them all.

"Stop fumbling like an idiot! We have to catch him!" he declared, the Avatar using his staff to bend a gust that swirled around them, knocking all of the men off of their feet.

"If you can." he joked, before opening his glider and jumping into the air.

As soon as the men got to their feet, they began to bend streams of fire at him, but they were far too slow, and he was able to fly up above them, circling around the ship as he eyed the bridge; Azula had mentioned something about disabling the ship, and he knew enough about boats that the bridge, which was up the top, was where someone steered it from. He turned his glider around, aiming to land on the balcony that jutted out of the steel superstructure he could see peering up out of the ship, which he swore looked pretty much like a sword; he didn't know if that was something the Fire Nation did on purpose, but he thought it would be pretty funny if they did, seeing that actual swords probably would sink in water, and not be very useful in that case. When he landed on the balcony, he glanced into the ship itself, seeing a man by the wheel, looking utterly shocked by his appearance.

"Hi." he addressed him, before spinning his staff around, sending a gust of air into the man, throwing him back into the wall behind him; Aang cringed at the sound of him whacking into the wall, and the groaning that followed, "Oh... sorry." he apologised, before looking at the steering wheel, unsure what to do with it.

He approached it and considered his options; he could turn the ship in a certain direction, but he realised there wasn't much for him to aim for. If he sent it south, they'd go toward the South Pole, and that wasn't good for the people there; on the contrary, if he sent it in any other direction, it would probably just take them closer to whatever place the ship would have to dock at eventually... seeing that sailors needed food and other basic human requirements, like any other person. The other option was to send the ship in a spiral turn, which would both waste whatever fuel the ship ran on, as well as disorient everyone on board. After some rather unfortunate experiences with his glider, Aang knew that nobody, not even the most disciplined airbender, could handle too much spinning. He grabbed the wheel and spun it to his right, which began to make the ship careen in that direction, looking out onto the balcony as he watched the clouds move around the horizon at an impressive velocity. He shook his head, trying to ignore the motion before he noticed the men on the deck had disappeared; they must have gone searching for Aang, who decided to walk out onto the balcony to see where his friends were. He heard the roaring of Appa from behind him, and then watched as his furry friend flew right above his head, quickly moving down onto the deck. Aang followed after, jumping off the balcony and gliding down to the deck, landing beside the sky-bison, off the top of which came his friends, who looked at him with surprise.

"Why'd you make the ship start spinning?" Sokka asked him with a curious voice.

"Uh, make them all motion sick." he gave the best answer he could think of, making Azula snicker.

"I've been in Fire Nation ships enough times in my life to know you'd have to be turning pretty harshly to make anyone on one of these sick." she admitted, before taking a fighting stance, looking out across the deck, "Now, Katara, did you want to try that trick once more. Aang might be able to help, actually."

"What trick?" the young Avatar raised a brow with interest, "Are you going to get the ship stuck with ice?" he asked them, making both girls raise their eyebrows with surprise.

"You know, that's actually a pretty good idea. I just don't know how to do that properly... yet." she raised a finger, Aang nodding; after all, that was the whole reason she had justified coming with him, so she could learn how to use her waterbending.

"We need to block the steam in the engine. It builds up pressure until it explodes. It means that they'll be stuck dead in the water."

"Seeing that I can't bend, I'll uh... stay here and make sure no one tries to capture your sky-bison." Sokka suggested, the other three nodding with agreement.

"Good idea." he smiled at the Water Tribe boy, appreciative that he had considered the welfare of Appa, "Now, let's go make an engine explode!" Aang raised a hand into the air, before charging down the staircase he could see in the centre of the deck.

Once he reached the hallway below, he spotted three crewmen, who turned around in shock upon seeing him; they both took firebending stances, and in return, he readied his staff, spinning it around with the assistance of his airbending to disperse the fireballs they sent his way. He then smacked the staff down onto the deck sending a concentrated blast of wind right at the firebenders, knocking them off their feet. Azula and Katara both ran past him, both of them unarmed, charging at the three men, one of which quickly got back to his feet and sent a kick of flames toward the Water Tribe girl; the Princess simply stood in front of her, spinning her hands around to disperse the attack, making their opponents eyes widen with fear.

"She's a firebender!" one of them pointed at her, Aang stepping forward, sending a ball of air that he conjured in his hands right at them, knocking two of them into the walls, while the only one remaining standing broke into a mad dash away from them.

"Help!" he called out, before he found himself hit in the calves by two jabs of fire; the downed Southern Raiders looked up at the three of them with concern, ignoring their comrade who fell down face-first on the floor.

"Wh-who are you?" they asked them, Aang stepping forward to take the spotlight.

"Did you miss what I said before?" he pointed at them, "I'm the Avatar!" making the two men look at each other with amusement.

"A kid. He's a kid." one of them mumbled.

"A kid who can kick your butts!" he declared confidently, slashing his staff through the air to send a blast of wind at them, knocking them down to the floor harshly.

Before he had even caught up to the pair, Katara and Azula knocked out the firebenders with jabs to the head, before they all continued down the hallway, making their way toward the door at the end, which from what he saw as he glided around the ship, was where the engine room ought to be. His assumption was proved correct as he pushed the doors open with his airbending, knocking down some oddly dressed crewmen who wore only a shoulder pad and pants, along with a mask that covered their faces. He was able to knock them back with his airbending, before Azula charged in, making quickly executed jabs that sent fireballs into their chests, knocking each of them into a pipe or the walls, knocking them all out cold. He was amazed with the speed at which she could fight, thinking that ought to learn a few things from her, not just the firebending that he knew he would have to master in becoming the Avatar.

"Uh... good work." he gave her a thumbs up, the Princess pulling her bangs out of her face before turning to face him with a slightly annoyed expression.

"I've already done this before." he admitted, before turning to face the Water Tribe girl, "Now, you know what to do. Just concentrate, I'll take care of anyone that comes our way."

Aang turned around, looking at all the pipes that went up toward the ceiling, as well as the large water boilers that burned some kind of fuel, though he couldn't tell; he didn't know the first thing about big ships like the one he was on, only knowing that they were a lot more complicated than the kind that used sails. The Water Tribe girl grasped him by the shoulder, "Aang, I need you to try and hold the air in that big pipe," she pointed to a large pipe in the centre of the room, "if we hold the air, it'll make the pipes explode. We just need a little time." she explained, the young Air Nomad nodding.

"Yeah." he confirmed that he understood what she said before turning to focus on the large pipe raising his hands up, grasping out with his bending to hold the air in place, "Just hold the air." he mumbled, before smiling, feeling pretty confident in what he had to do, "That's easy."

Focusing on the pipe in front of him, he pulled the air he could feel with his bending downward, feeling the pressure build up underneath his hands; he found it harder to push the air down the more he tried, but he didn't relent. He both wanted to impress Katara, but also show that he had what it took to be the Avatar; the monks were right in some ways, but he knew that he could be a strong Avatar without giving up his childhood, as little of one that he had left. A twelve-year-old probably shouldn't be concerning themselves with taking down a ship of a bunch of people he had never met before, but that is exactly what he was doing. It sounded absurd when he thought over it, but he knew that it was right; what Katara and Azula both told him showed him the fact of the matter. Even if the whole Fire Nation wasn't evil, the Southern Raiders surely were, as their whole existence was supposedly to destroy the waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe, a truly despicable goal, in his eyes.

As he felt the pressure ease underneath him, he thought for a moment that he had overcome the power of the engine, "I- I think I've got it." he told Katara, glancing at her and realising that she was helping him by bending the steam at the same time; he felt quite embarrassed to have said what he had, turning his eyes back toward the pipe and focusing on keeping the air back.

He could hear the sound of valves popping around them, his eyes darting about as he noticed that all the pipes in the room had begun to rumble, and suddenly, smoke began to come out of the furnaces, filling the room; he coughed as he accidentally inhaled the disgusting fumes, glancing at Katara with a grimace.

"I- uh- I think it worked. Maybe we should-" he began to try and ask her before coughing once more; she pulled her hand over her mouth, before turning to face him, addressing him in a muffled voice.

"You go. I can keep holding the steam back." she told him, pointing out toward the doorway, where Azula was last standing; he noticed that she had disappeared, and let go of his hold of the air, which caused a sudden vacuum to fill the room as the smoke was funnelled back into the furnaces, making Aang's eyes widen with shock.

"Th-that was a lot of smoke." he admitted, hearing Katara grunt as her hands began to shake, holding the steam in place, "A-are you okay?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl forcing a nod.

"I'm fine." she told him in a terse voice, before she pointed with her left hand behind them, "Go help Azula! I can get it ready to blow."

He followed her command without question, although he hesitated to leave for a moment; he didn't want to annoy her, but he certainly didn't want her putting herself in danger.

He made his way down the hallway, where his eyes widened, seeing Azula fighting off at least a dozen Southern Raiders; she had already knocked out at least half a dozen of them, and was struggling to hold off all of their firebending attacks. Seeing the struggling and pained look on her face, he set himself into action, using his staff to send a gust of air right at one of the nearby men, throwing him into the wall and knocking him out; the Princess turned his way, with her expression changing to one of annoyance.

"What are you doing?!" she questioned him, before throwing her arms backward, sending a cutting arc of flames at the Southern Raiders behind her, "You're meant to be sabotaging the engine!"

"I was, but it made the whole room filled with smoke. Katara's got it." he told her, even if he doubted the Water Tribe girl did have everything under control; he was trying to assure Azula, not accurately portray the situation to her.

"Whatever." she narrowed her eyes at him before taking a stance, "Let's take care of these guys before we have to bolt... the engine is going to explode, after all."

He stepped up beside her and used his staff to bend the air in the hallway, knocking two men who were approaching them into the wall, making them grunt with pain as they found their faces thrust into the cold metal walls; they both were still conscious, however, and moved into form sending kicks of flames at them in synchronisation. While Aang used his staff to knock the flames away, the Princess used her hands, bending the flames into nothingness, before creating her own to fire back at them in return, sending a bright blue bolt at one, hitting him square in the chest, making his comrade gulp with fear as he stepped back; the other Southern Raiders behind them also looked on with fear, all of them moving back slightly, out of fear that they might be next to be taken down by Azula's bending.

"Come on!" she turned to the Southern Raiders, "Come and get me!" she prodded them, three of them sending streams of fire at her at once; she leaned back, falling down to dodge the attack, which Aang was able to stop with his staff, twirling it around as he sent the flames out in all directions around himself.

The air heating up around him made him feel uncomfortable, but he continued to focus on stopping their attack, punching with his right fist to send a concentrated gust of air at the firebenders, successfully striking one off his feet. Azula rose back to her feet, kicking her left foot out at one of their opponents, throwing him to the ground. The Southern Raiders who remained behind those they knocked out moved forward to attack in their place, forming a wall of flames, which they sent down the hallway toward them; looking at the blinding rush of orange fire made Aang tense up, readying his staff to somehow deflect the attack that was coming right toward them.

"Enough!" Azula shouted out with an anger he hadn't expected out of her, given her previously cool demeanour; she put her hand out in front of her, literally stopping the wall of flames with her palm, making it grind to a halt as it began to turn blue, the distinctive colour of her own flames, "I've had enough of this." she grumbled, thrusting her arm out to send the wall of flames back the way it came.

He heard the Southern Raiders scream out with horror as the flames encroached upon them, and when they finally dispersed, he could see a number of them lying on the ground, their armour singed and faces burned by the attack. One of them tried to return his feet, raising a hand up, which he filled with flames, as if he was about to make a final stand against the pair. He didn't get a chance, when the Princess simply sent a fireball right at his head, striking his chin and knocking him down to the ground. The rest of his comrades didn't make much of an effort, and simply groaned in pain; Azula turned to face him, cocking a smirk, before Aang heard the sound of steam ringing out of a pipe behind them.

Both of them looked at each other, before the Princess turned around, "Katara." she mumbled their friend's name, sounding ever so slightly concerned.

After hearing another burst, Aang raced forward, using his airbending to speed up his approach; he bent open the doors of the engine room, seeing Katara standing by the pipe still, her hands shaking as she grit her teeth with frustration.

"Come on! It's nearly there!" she declared, as if there was something more for her to do; he could see clearly by the state of the pipes, that it was only a matter of time before something bad happened.

Aang grasped her by the shoulder, trying to shake her out of her determined trace, "Katara! It's about to blow, you've done enough." he assured her, the Water Tribe girl taking a short but audible breath before she clenched her fists.

The steam that was coming out of the burst pipes lowered in volume, indicating that she had stopped pushing the steam down, before suddenly, she raised her arms up, letting the steam move backward. The pull of the vacuum through the torn pipes was strong, and Aang watched as the pipes began to crack from the pressure; he grasped her by the hand, pulling her along as fast as he could without her tripping over. He wanted to get them out of the room as quickly as possible, and used his airbending to force the doors shut behind them as soon as they were out of there; Azula turned her heels as soon as they caught up to her, the three of them running down the hallway past the incapacitated Southern Raiders, making their way toward the stairs they had taken to enter the ship. He heard an explosion behind them, before the doors burst open, sending smoke and steam into the hallway. He sent a blast of air backwards to keep the smoke and steam at bay, only for a moment as they climbed the stairs and made their way outside. As he let go of the barrier of air he had created, he looked around the deck, seeing that there was at least ten unconscious southern raider, as well Sokka, standing in the middle of the deck, bearing a club with his tunic covered in black spots; he had been beaten up, he was sure of it, but by the look of the Southern Raiders, he had still certainly won the fight. Instead of looking at them, his eyes were focused up at what remained of the chimney of the ship, which had been torn apart by the explosion that followed Katara's build up of steam.

"Okay... that's a little more than I expected." he mumbled, before he turned their way, "You guys did that?" he asked them with a tone of disbelief, Aang gesturing to his sister.

"Uh, it was Katara who did that, actually." he clarified, before turning to face the other two, "So, are we going to get out of here now, or was there something else we needed to blow up?"

"No, there wasn't." Azula confirmed, before she glanced at her boyfriend, "Good job, Sokka." she congratulated him, then gesturing toward Appa, "Can you get yourself up, or will Aang have to use his airbending on you?"

He groaned with frustration, before shaking his head, "No, I'm fine." he assured her, raising his head as he raised a brow.

Aang looked behind him, taking note of a Southern Raider stepping out of the bridge, taking a firebending stance; without even having looked at him, Sokka pulled his boomerang, the odd looking weapon he always had by his side, off of his back, his expression becoming uncannily serious. He spun around as he tossed it outward in an arc, seemingly out into the water, which seemed pretty stupid to him at that very moment; the young Avatar realised his actual intention as the weapon instead careened around, striking the Southern Raider in his head, knocking him out and flinging him to the deck.

"Urgh." he sighed with annoyance, before beginning to walk back toward the bridge, going to retrieve his weapon.

Katara looked at her brother with a bemused smile, crossing her arms as she looked at him limp over to pick up his boomerang, "Show off."

"What, could you do anything like that?" Azula quipped, making the Water Tribe girl hunch her shoulders, looking embarrassed.

"She did blow up the engine... again, according to what you said." the young Air Nomad argued in her favour, making Katara cock a smug grin.

"Exactly. I might not be able to throw weapons with precision, but I can use my bending to... hold stuff down."

"Amazing." the Princess sarcastically remarked, before stepping forward, gesturing toward Sokka, "Hurry up idiot! Do you want to get captured?"

"Of course not!" he shouted at her in return, jogging as fast as he could toward them, before he jumped up onto Appa's leg, rather impressively, given how sore his body looked.

As he climbed up onto the sky-bison's saddle, he stood up, looking down at them triumphantly, "I didn't need anybody's help! See! I'm r-really... uh..." his voice began to drawl before he rubbed his forehead, "Uh, I'm gonna lie down." he mumbled, before falling straight down on his back, making a loud thump as he hit the saddle.

"Ouch." Aang cringed at what he just saw, before turning to face Katara, "Is he going to be alright?"

"I'm pretty sure he's been through worse." she admitted with a similar grimace on his face.

Azula nodded with a rather disinterested face as she pulled herself up onto the saddle, "You're not wrong." she confirmed, making Aang realise that he must have experienced a lot of crazy fights when he had been with the Princess, if her story was just the condensed version of events.

He jumped up onto the saddle with the assistance of his airbending, before he offered Katara a hand, which she accepted gratefully with a smile; he turned to look at Sokka and Azula, the latter of which was kneeling beside the former, placing a hand on his head, which she drew away as soon as she saw Aang's eyes on her.

As soon as they were all on the saddle, he climbed over to the reins and called on his friend, "Come on Appa, let's get out of here. Yip-yip!"

The sky-bison groaned, before he whacked his tail down into the deck, taking a few steps before he jumped up into the air, flying up as Aang directed him to turn him away from the bridge; the young Avatar looked upon the clearly defeated Southern Raiders as smirked, waving a hand at them mockingly.

"Goodbye! Come and see me if you want to fight again!" he called on them jokingly, making Azula snicker behind them.

"Well, that is exactly what we wanted." she noted, before her eyes turned up to him with thought, "Now that's taken care out, where exactly are we going?"

"Oh..." he mumbled, raising a finger to his chin as Appa continued to fly away from the Southern Raiders ship.

He noted that it had stopped turning in circles by that point, due to the fact the engine had been made unusable by his friend's impressive use of waterbending. The feat wasn't impressive in the same way that Sokka beating all the Southern Raiders was, but rather in the sense that it took ingenuity and fortitude to do what she did, like the first person who tried airsurfing; he guessed they fell off their glider, far too many times to count, but they still kept trying, no matter how crazy their idea might have sounded to other airbenders. Katara was lucky, in a way, seeing that she didn't have anyone to tell her how to use her waterbending, and she could be as crazy as she liked with ir; then again, that was a curse in and of itself, as she couldn't hone her skills if there wasn't someone to show her how to.

"I think we need to find some place to rest." he admitted the obviously, looking at all of his friends, each of them exhausted, although Sokka was most obviously so; the Water Tribe boy raised his arm up, making a smile while his eyes remained shut.

"This kid's a genius, I tell you." he declared, making Aang raise a brow with confusion, unsure whether he was making fun of him or not.

"Uh... was that a joke?" he asked the others, Katara shrugging her shoulders with an equally confused face.

"Honestly, it's hard to tell."

"I'm as straight-forward and honest as an otter-penguin." he assured them, "Would they ever lie to you?"

"Sokka, penguins can't speak." his sister corrected him, the boy making an exasperated sigh.

"Urgh! Can I dream... can't I?" he asked her, making Aang scratch at his chin with thought.

"You must have... interesting dreams." Aang suggested, the Fire Nation Princess grimacing at his comment.

"Uh... I can confirm they're interesting, but not in the way you'd like them to be."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he raised a brow at her, the Fire Nation Princess glancing back toward the Southern Raiders ship, her eyes narrowing as she looked to be in deep thought about something, although she turned back to face him with a stoic, seemingly uninterested face.

"You know, it's better for all of us if I leave that story for another time."

* * *

"Finally, somewhere to sleep on solid ground!"

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother's clear overreaction when he climbed off of Appa's saddle; sleeping on top of a sky-bison wasn't that bad, although she could admit that the windchill made it a little worse than sleeping in a tent. She climbed down after him, carrying the tent equipment in a bag on her back, and carried it over to a flat bit of ground nearby. They had landed on a small island that was partially covered in snow and completely treeless; it seemed even more desolate than the South Pole, and that was saying something, although she guessed it probably had something to do with the lack of people and otter-penguins.

"Huh... there's nothing here." Aang mumbled, her brother raising a finger.

"That's a good thing. No people means nobody to rat us out to the Southern Raiders... or whoever's worse than them."

"In this part of the world, there's no one worse than them." Azula admitted, making the two Water Tribe siblings look at each other with the same grimace on their faces, before Katara turned her attention to unpacking the bag she had on her back.

She lifted the bag off of her shoulders and plopped it down on the ground, pulling out the canvas, unfolding it to it's full size. They had only brought two tents with them, and by virtue of their relationship, that resigned her to being in a tent with Aang, which she honestly preferred over having to bunk with her brother, who was annoying and smelly, or Azula, who she'd likely butt heads with, both figuratively and literally. She pulled out the sticks to mount the canvas on, jamming them into the ground before hammering them down with her closed fist; she didn't have anything better to do it with, and she was sure that Sokka would probably break it with his club if he tried to use that. Once she got it deep enough into the ground to keep it from falling over, she took the next stick and did the same with it, hammering it into the ground with her fist. When both sticks were in place, she laid down a mat over the ground, before pulling out the last stick, which lay over the top of the other two, which then allowed her to drape the canvas over the stick, forming the shape of a tent, which quickly flopped down as she hadn't tied the ends of the canvas to the ground. She pulled out the bone pegs she had in her bag, and took to hitting those down into the ground at each of the four corners of the tent, though she did so with her foot instead of her hand, seeing that was more practical and wouldn't leave her with a bruised hand. Slinging the small loops of tightly bound sinew that sat at each corner of the canvas over the pegs, she set the tent properly up in place, before standing up to appreciate her work.

She turned around to face Aang, who was appreciating the work she had done with a wide grin, "Wow, so that's how you set up a tent?"

"Uh, yeah." she nodded, before raising a brow with confusion, "I thought you'd know how to do it yourself, seeing that you're an Air Nomad."

"Oh, well, just because we travel around a lot doesn't mean we need tents. Most just sleep on their sky-bison's saddles, and if you need to take cover, just use a tarp." he explained, Katara nodding with surprise, interested in his idea.

It was a lot more practical to sleep on Appa if he was always on the move, though she was concerned that he might get too cold, especially in places like the island they were on. Even if it wasn't a frozen tundra like the South Pole, it was still cold outside, and as therefore she continued to wear her parka.

"So, are we going to- uh- have some dinner or something?" Aang questioned, making her narrow her eyes at him, before she chuckled, remembering his reaction to Sokka's sea prunes a few days prior; she was unsure if he would like them or not, and he tried to contain his disgust, although as she had obviously noticed it, he seemed to have failed.

"We aren't eating sea-prunes, if that's what you were worried about." she joked, before turning around to see if her brother had something in mind.

She watched as Sokka struggled to set up his own tent, making her raise a brow; he was clearly beaten up pretty badly after their fight on the ship, so Katara confused as to why Azula wasn't setting up the tent, the Princess simply sitting down in between them, pulling out the bag of food to eat from it. It made her twitch with annoyance, and she turned to Aang for a moment, realising that she ought to deal with the unfolding situation of her brother slumping over as he tried to put up a stick of all things.

"I just need to deal with something." she raised a finger, before striding over toward the Princess with a disdainful glare.

When she got close enough to her, Azula raised a brow with interest, looking up at the Water Tribe girl, "Did somebody piss you off?" she asked her bluntly, making Katara simply point over to her brother.

"Sokka got beaten up back on that ship. He shouldn't be standing up, let alone setting up a tent." she argued, before glaring down at her, "You should set it up yourself."

"Oh, so you're ordering me around now? Sokka! Your predictions were correct!" she called out to her boyfriend, who rose up from putting the pegs in the ground to look at them.

"Is Katara already trying to boss you around?" he asked her with a bemused look on his face; for someone who looked close to passing out, he seemed to be rather eager to do something he certainly shouldn't be doing.

"Are you trying to tire yourself out? Just let her set up the tent." she prodded her brother, who shrugged his shoulders before returning to what he was doing.

"See... he's fine." the Princess assured him, before taking another bite from the jerky, "He told me he wanted to do it. I'm not going to stop him."

"Are you really that ignorant?" she asked her, making the Princess snicker.

"What now that I let people do what they want, I'm suddenly bad?" That's a little hypocritical of you. I thought the Southern Water Tribe was all about everyone's personal freedom." she suggested, making the Water Tribe girl snarl.

"How can you just let him do it? You can clearly see he's injured." she argued once more, trying to press the point she had raised already.

"If he wants to set up a tent, then just let him do it." the Princess rolled her eyes, "I don't know why you're getting so set on this." she then shrugged with an indifferent look in her face before taking another bite from the jerky.

"You... you really treat him like he's your servant, don't you?" Katara accused her, already having that idea in mind when she thought about their relationship; it wasn't that Azula never did any work, but rather that she treated Sokka like he was some kind of slave, who would just do whatever he thought she wanted.

"Oh, that's kind of you to say. Do you see him cleaning my shoes, or making me dinner? We're all living like peasants, Katara!" she shouted at her, the anger in her voice growing with each second, "Let me have just a moment of spirit-damned peace."

"Guys! Come on, there's no reason to argue!" Aang piped up, walking up between the pair, "Do you really want to fight over who sets up a tent?"

"It's not about a tent." Katara grit her teeth, before pointing at the other girl accusingly, "It's about my brother, and how she treats him. He's not a manservant."

"You're right. He's my equal, and he can choose what he wants to do." Azula piped up, her own statement not contradicting the Water Tribe girl's own desire, even if it had a different implication.

"So... you both think he should be treated fairly?" he asked the pair, who both looked his way, nodding in agreement, "So, should you try and figure out a way to choose who does what? Like chores?"

"Uh... that's fine." Katara turned to face him, straightening her expression, "But Aang, that's not what I'm annoyed about. I want Azula to actually try and help him. You can see that he needs help, right?"

The young Avatar tilted his head, looking over toward Sokka, who was ignoring their argument, from the looks of it, before he turned back to face the two girls, "I mean, kind of. He's able to do it, so I don't really see the issue."

"Responsibilities." Azula voiced her opinion, "That's what our little steambender over here is getting antsy about. She wants to decide what my responsibilities are, and I... respectfully disagree. And that respectfulness is going to end if she doesn't shut her little mouth." she glared at her, Katara raising her chin, not even wanting to address her insults.

"You're not going to do anything." she simply concluded, before turning her heels, "You should think about what you're doing. Because honestly, you sound like you don't care at all." she made a final comment, the Princess responding with a cold voice.

"You're the ignorant one." she simply told her, before she rose up from the ground.

Aang scratched the back of his head, looking unsure of himself, "Uh... so are you done fighting."

"Yes." the Princess confirmed, before she turned around to face the now set-up tent behind her, "Sokka, did you want some jerky?"

"Want some jerky? You don't even need to ask!" he piped up with a surprisingly giddy tone.

Katara hunched her shoulders, looking down as she felt ever so slightly ashamed for what she had said; she had stuck to her argument, but in the end, she had proven that she was wrong. Even if she could tell Azula to do chores, she couldn't make her change her mind about how she treated Sokka. She truly hoped that she was as caring as she would want someone's partner to be, but after witnessing her cold and snarky personality, she was unsure if she truly was selfless enough to be good enough for her brother.

Aang approached her with an unsure look on his face, "Katara, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah." she lied, turning her head around and looking toward her tent, "I need to go get my stuff from Appa's saddle. Wanna help?" she asked him, deciding that if she was going to do more work, it would be better to do it with someone instead of moping around by herself.

"Uh, I can do that." his expression changed to a hopeful smile, turning around walk over toward his sky-bison, using his airbending to launch himself up onto the saddle, landing so softly that she couldn't even hear his feet hit the saddle.

She walked up toward Appa, and stood by his legs while the young Air Nomad pulled out a bag, "Uh, is this yours?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl looking up at the bag in his hands; she could tell that it was hers, as it had embroidery patterns around its girth, which distinguished it from the more plain ones that Azula and Sokka had brought along.

"Yep." she nodded, before he leaned down to hand it over, dropping it into her hands, before she put the bag down on the ground beside her; she turned her gaze back up to the saddle, where Aang then had another bag in hand.

"Ooh, this one is heavy."

"That's the cooking equipment. Pots and knives. I can make some stew in that... if we can actually find something to make it from." she explained, grimacing as she considered the fact the island they were on seemed more desolate than the South Pole itself, although she guessed that was because at home she knew how to best utilise their limited resources, while on the small islet she knew barely anything about what people might eat.

Aang glanced around from the top of the saddle and made a similar cringed look, "Yeah, I can't even see any bushes. I could go for some berries- or custard- anything that's sweet." he mumbled to himself, making her chuckle; she would keep that in mind if she ever had to make him some food to try and find something sweet to put in it.

He then took the heavy bag in his hands, before jumping down off the saddle, softening his landing with airbending; she was still impressed by his skills, and almost involuntarily smiled at him, turning around to pick up her personal bag before taking it toward the tent. Glancing back toward the young Air Nomad, she considered what they ought to do next.

"I can cook some of the food we've got. You mentioned you were a vegetarian at our dinner. So, no seal-blubber for you?"

"Yeah, no thanks." he made an uneasy smile, before raising a brow, "Do you have anything that I can eat?"

"Well..." she trailed off, actually having to think back to what foods they had brought along,

Her father had given them enough food to eat that would last them to the Earth Kingdom, where they'd be able to buy food with the small bit of money they had; if not, she was sure that she and Sokka would be able to find something in the forests there, like the one he and Azula had been stuck in. She knew that they had jerky and blubber, which would last them a while, but there were other things she had brought along, like dried sea-weed, which was the closest thing she could call to a vegetarian jerky. That sounded good for Aang, and she immediately turned to face him with a smile, "I think I've got something. Dried seaweed. It's a little salty, but it should keep the hunger away. I'm sure once we find some bigger islands, we'll be able to find those berries you want." she suggested, to which he grinned.

"I'm looking forward to that. I'd make a fruit pie, if I had the ingredients. Maybe I can get them when I go back to the Southern Air Temple."

"Go back?" she looked at him with surprise; she knew that he was from there, and that it was on their way, but she didn't actually know whether he wanted to go, especially given what had happened to his people.

"Yeah. I need to go to this place called the sanctuary. Even if the monks aren't there, it's still important. Monk Gyatso told me that I would need to go meet someone there."

"Who's Monk Gyatso?" she asked him, making the boy grin brightly.

"The greatest airbender in the world!" he beamed at her, "He told me everything I know about airbending. He's my mentor."

"Huh, so he was your master." she asked him, thinking about what she knew about training bending, which was very limited; all she knew is that untrained novices like herself needed a master, someone who knew all the ins and outs of their bending art, to teach her.

"Kind of. He's more than that though." he admitted, "He was like... my best friend. Well, maybe second best. Appa's never not going to be my best friend." he explained with a smile, making Katara wince internally; it sounded like Monk Gytaso was the closest thing he might have had to a father, and she couldn't help but think the fate he might have suffered when the Air Nomads were destroyed by the Fire Nation.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, looking at her with a concerned face, "Are you still annoyed about Azula?" she asked, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head.

"No, not anymore." she denied ihs presupposition, which was half a lie; she still didn't like how she had been treating Sokka, but that didn't mean that Katara wasn't more concerned about what had happened to Aang's people, and how he had lost so much, seemingly without really registering the fact of the matter.

She dropped her bag down by her tent, before turning back to face Aang, "So... you need to go to this sanctuary."

"Yeah." he nodded, before his expression became more uneasy, "I don't know who they wanted me to meet. I don't even know if they'd still be there after a hundred years."

"You never know." she raised a finger, "You're the Avatar. Maybe it's a spirit or something."

"Huh." he scratched his chin, "I never thought of it that way." he admitted, "There's supposedly spirits everywhere, but they don't go near people, because they're always harming nature."

"Is that why the Air Nomads are vegetarians, because you don't want to harm nature?" she asked him, seeing that their justification for doing so made a lot of sense, even if she knew little to nothing about the spirits and their nature.

"Yeah, that's it. Supposedly we're more spiritual than the other peoples, but I think that everyone's spiritual in their own way."

"Even people like Sokka and Azula?" she asked him, skeptical that they could possibly be clarified as spiritual; the amount of times her brother had demeaned the concept of spirits was uncountable, and she doubted that Azula believed or respected in anything of the likes, even if she acknowledged the fact Aang was the Avatar without doubt.

"Even them." he assured her, before he glanced at the bag of cooking equipment he had in his hands, "So... were we going to make something?"

"Uh..." she scratched at her chin, "I don't think we have enough ingredients to make a proper meal, honestly." she admitted, his expression becoming disappointed upon hearing that, "But, that doesn't mean we aren't eating. I'll show you the seaweed I was talking about. You might like it." she suggested, the young Avatar's infectious smile returning to his face.

"Good idea." he nodded, before putting the bag down on the ground, glancing around their newly set-up campsite, "So, where is this seaweed?"

"Oh... it's in the bag Azula was eating from." she explained herself, before she glanced over, relieved to see that she was no longer by the bag of food, "Phew..." she pulled her hair loopies away from her cheeks, before she walked over to the bag, sitting down beside it, realising that they probably should set up a campfire to stay warm while they were still awake; the sun hadn't even set yet, but she guessed that they wouldn't be doing much until they went to bed, whenever that ended up happening.

The two of them sat together while she rummaged through the bag, pulling out a few straps of dried seaweed, "Okay here it is. We don't have any seasoning or anything... so sorry in advance if it's a little bland." she admitted, knowing that if he was used to a wider variety of tastes with his meals, that he would be sorely disappointed by Water Tribe cuisine.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." he optimistically gave her a thumbs up, before he took a bite from it; he simply chewed on it for a few seconds, giving her a nod and a small smile.

"It's better than sea-prunes." he noted, making her chuckle; at least there was an improvement, even if it wasn't a large one, "A little too salty... it could use some sauce. Does the Water Tribe make sauces?" he asked her curiously.

Katara furrowed a brow, "Uh, yeah, of course we have sauces. They're mostly made out of oils and fats though, so I don't know if you'd eat them, seeing you're a vegetarian." she admitted, the Air Nomad grimacing.

"Uh... yeah." he admitted, almost sounding ashamed that they couldn't agree on food together.

She knew that her brother would be far more offended than she was by his dietary requirements, so she at least was glad that she wasn't as narrow-minded as him when it came to what she ate, even if she only had ever eaten Water Tribe food; she tried the meal she had made for Azula a few days prior, but she didn't like it, seeing that the texture was too stringy and the flavour far too spicy. As Aang continued to eat the bit of dried seaweed she gave him, Katara turned around to get some food for herself, just taking a small bit of jerky; she was hungry after her fight, but she decided that she would eat over time rather than a lot at once, knowing that she wasn't going to be running trying to waterbend or fight anytime soon.

"I'm tired." Aang admitted, making her chuckle; that was exactly what she felt, and she realised that she had exerted herself to her limit when she had destroyed the engines of two Southern Raider vessels.

"Me too." she agreed, before taking a bite from the jerky, "I- uh- don't really know what we're going to do next. I guess we need to find some place where we can get more food." she put her thoughts to words, the young Air Nomad scrunching his lips up as he mulled over what she had said.

"Huh... the Southern Air Temple isn't that far away from here, and there's a lot of islands surrounding it. There's enough food you can find in the wild that you won't have to worry about being hungry." he suggested, "Plus, then I can go to the Sanctuary and find out what the monks wanted me to know... or who they wanted me to meet." he added, Katara nodding; she knew that whatever journey he had to undergo as the Avatar, whether physical or spiritual, should be his highest priority.

"Yes, that's-" she began before he cut her off.

"But then!" he raised his hands into the air, "Then we can go find the giant koi fish! I think I know where they are. It's on some island in the Southern Sea... uh... I'd have to check the map."

"Can you read a map?" she asked him, unsure if he actually knew where he wanted to go.

"Uh..." he raised a finger to his chin, "Not really."

"Well, Sokka and Azula both know how, but I don't think they'll be able to find an island off you saying 'it has giant fish'." she admitted, knowing that getting directions to a place like that would be hard.

"Maybe if we find a village, we can ask them if they know where they are." he theorised, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Huh, I guess that would work. I have no idea where any villages are, though." she admitted, before glancing back to the tent where her brother and his girlfriend were, "I guess we'll have to ask them."

"Uh... please try not to argue with Azula again. It's not going to help you two bond." he tried to warn her, making Katara's eye twitch with annoyance; he was presuming that she even wanted to bond with the girl that she found to be the most arrogant and self-entitled person she had ever met.

"Who says I want to bond with her? The last time I tried that, we... found you." she admitted, realising that despite the fact their canoe had been destroyed, their fishing trip had been quite productive.

She shook her head, refocusing her mind on what actually concerned her, which was the point that she didn't want to become friends with the Fire Nation Princess who she had been forced to consider a part of her family for the better half of a year.

"I don't want to. You can't make me." she narrowed her eyes at the young Avatar, who raised his hands up.

"I'm not going to make you do that. I just think we'll all be happier if you're not so mean to each other." he suggested, Katara sighing, knowing that he was right.

"Fine... I'll make an effort. But I doubt she'll feel the same way."

"I don't think anyone can read anyone's mind. Unless you're like a really wise guru... but no one here's a really wise guru." he commented, before his face became more serious, "She might say something mean, or act angry, but isn't it what she does that counts?" he asked her, Katara's eyes widening; he had a very good point, as she had been mostly reacting to Azula's snide statements, without just taking them as simply what she wanted to say, rather than actually how she felt.

"I don't think I know her at all." she admitted, Aang snickering as he nodded along.

"She's one of the weirdest people I've met." he admitted, his eyes narrowing at her with a dead serious face.

"I'm not joking. I've met some weird people."

* * *

The sound of shouting outside his tent made Sokka groan with frustration; he was trying to sleep in, at least for a little while before he was forced out by Azula, but instead, it was Aang's voice, calling out from outside. His voice was muffled, so he couldn't tell exactly what he was saying, but he turned to face Azula, who had a slightly annoyed look on her face as she brushed her hair out of her face. When the tent was opened, he was just glad that he was wearing undergarments, so that the twelve-year-old boy they were travelling with didn't see him naked after they had only known each other for three days.

"Sokka, Azula! There's smoke coming right toward us." he told them, the two of them rising up properly from their sleeping roll.

"Are you being serious? Are they already onto us?" he asked the young Avatar, who nodded intently, the fear in his face visible.

"Yeah, and Katara says we won't have long until they get here." he clarified, the Water Tribe teen turning to face his girlfriend, who despite the situation, had an undoubtedly smug look on her face.

"It's all coming together now, Sokka." she assured him, "This is what we wanted. Now the Southern Raiders will try and chase us down instead of going after the villages of your tribe."

His tense expression softened upon hearing that, realising that she was right; every day that the Southern Raiders went after them was one they weren't out trying to enslave people.

"I guess that's good bad news." he noted, turning his head to face Aang, "Are you two already packing?"

"Uh, we're starting right now." he simply told him before closing the canvas, leaving them in peace, even if that peace was obviously unsettled by their urgent need to pack up camp.

He sighed as he leaned back down on the sleeping roll, "Well, there goes sleeping in."

"I wasn't going to let you do that, Sokka." his girlfriend argued, glancing back at him with a suspicious look in her eyes, "We were going to go do some training."

"After I just beat up all those Southern Raiders?" he asked her, concerned that she was trying to push him to the limit he actually thought he had already crossed; although he wasn't as sore as he had been the day prior, he was still hurting from the beating he had received, even if he had been the victor of the fight.

"Yes." she told him without a shred of doubt or mercy in her voice, "You have to keep training, otherwise, you might not win the next fight."

"Next time, I'm staying with you." he argued, crossing his arms, "Appa can fight for himself."

"According to Aang, he probably could, so I can let that slide." she admitted, before rising out of the sleeping roll, grasping her hair and pulling it up as she stretched herself up to nearly her full height; he wasn't going to ignore the good look of her behind that he got, but he quickly turned his eyes away, feeling ashamed that he did so when he ought to be packing up his tent and getting ready to leave.

"Are you getting ready or are you going to ogle me while you have the chance?" she quipped, guessing correctly that he had been leering at her.

"Urgh... finished with the latter, about to start the former." he clarified honestly, making her look at him with an impressed look.

"Quite bold of you to be so honest, Sokka." she admitted, before raising a finger, "You don't get to do that without my permission. If you do it again, I'll kick you where I know it'll hurt."

"But our future children." he grimaced, trying to reason that she shouldn't kick his groin, only for her to begin laughing.

"Children?" she asked him with a disbelieving tone, her eyes narrowing at him with suspicion "Since when were you thinking about having children?"

"Uh... I wasn't. That's not going to happen for a while. But please... don't hit me there." he tried to argue once more, just wanting to stress how much he didn't want her to hit him.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't hit you there. I actually prefer a fair fight, anyway." she admitted, "So I get to enjoy all the glory when I beat the daylight out of you." she grinned at him with ruthless intent.

Pulling himself up out of the sleeping roll, he looked at her with unease, "I won't ogle you again, I promise."

"That's a lie." she narrowed her eyes at him, the Water Tribe teen stomping his foot down.

"It's not a lie. I swear by my honour as a warrior." he tried to stress the point, only for her to snicker.

"You keep telling yourself that." she smugly raised her chin, before she turned her head around, glancing about the tent, "Where did my tunic go?" she asked, Sokka clearing his throat.

"Uh... you tossed it over there." he gestured behind him, Azula leaning back over to grasp the blue tunic that she wore underneath her parka.

It was funny to think that she was always wearing Water Tribe colours, instead of the Fire Nation reds that she was more used to, but she didn't seem to complain, probably because she had good reason not to distinguish herself with the colour of the enemy while she was staying in his village. She pulled the tunic over her head, before she took the robes that she wore over the top of them, pulling it around her shoulders. Azula turned around to face him, showing off her Water Tribe outfit, before she sparked a small ball of flames in her palm, which lit their tent dimly with a deep blue light, which was washed out by the morning sun that was already lighting the tent through the canvas.

"Checking your firebending?" he inquired, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him before she clenched her fist, snuffing out the flames.

"I must always be ready to fight, even if I'd prefer not to waste my energy on scum like the Southern Raiders."

"Ah, so we both agree. Being safe and lazy is better than being dead." he suggested, making her scoff.

"Thank you for so eloquently reminding me how you're going to die. Unlike some, who might die from illness or gross incompetence, you're going to meet your end because of your desire to find shortcuts around even the most menial of tasks." she told him with a completely serious tone, addressing the concept of death with such triviality that he almost wanted to laugh; she was right of course, as he was pretty sure that his desire to cut corners and laze about would bite him in the arse one day, although he surely hoped that biting wasn't literal.

"I wouldn't call fighting the Southern Raiders menial. It's just a fight that is avoidable, and unnecessary, at least when we can't destroy them."

"Which we will. Patience is the best friend of any great strategist." she smirked at him, the Water Tribe teen raising a brow at her.

"And I'm assuming you're counting yourself as one." he suggested, the Princess nodding before she pointed at him, her finger tip sending out a small but seemingly intense blue torch.

"Get out of bed. Patience is not a virtue when it relates to a tactical retreat." she argued, making him snicker; she could seemingly find a way to treat everything like a battle, and he could respect her for it, as crazy and obscene as it sounded.

He then stepped out of their sleeping roll, retying his loincloth as he glanced around for his other clothes, "Don't worry. I'm more afraid of you setting me on fire than I am of them doing the same." he joked, Azula puckering her lips as she glared him down.

"This is no time for jokes, Sokka. We need to leave." she warned him, the Water Tribe teen nodding, picking up his pants from beside him and stepping inside them; he pulled them up before glancing around, realising that he had the same issue as Azula.

"Uh... where are my robes?" he asked her, making her cock a smirk before she reached behind her back, throwing him a ball of fabric, which he caught with both his hands as it was aimed for his head.

"Thanks." he told her with a terse voice, before he put his robes over his torso, tying it up the waist-band he spotted by the side of their sleeping roll, "Now, all I need are my boots, and arm bands."

The Princess snapped a finger in her right hand before pointing down beside her, gesturing to the two pairs of boots that sat by the front of the tent.

"Ah, so we weren't messy with the footwear." he recalled with a chuckle, realising that they had been rather messy in dispensing their clothing the night prior.

"We're civilised around here. We don't throw our dirty shoes around the tent." she assured him, before he stepped closer to her, moving to put his shoes on, "We need to dissemble the tent quickly, but seeing that you set it up, it's only fair I pack it up."

"Ah... so Katara did get in your head." he smirked at her, the Princess frowning at him before pushing her open palm onto his sternum.

"No she didn't. Doing the same amount of work is fair, is it not?" she quipped in response, the Water Tribe teen nodding with agreement; it would be unfair if one of them did more work than the other.

"Who thought that being cold and logical could make you such a team-player?" he joking asked her, the Princess crossing her arms.

"I'm not a team-player. I'm a good leader." she clarified, making him snort.

"You're the leader? Leader of what exactly?"

"This group. I'm the most mature one, obviously." she argued, Sokka nodding.

"Fair enough. Don't let my sister hear you say that, or she'll start screaming at you again."

"I'm well aware of your sister's domineering tendencies. She isn't going to mother me, that's for sure." she narrowed her eyes at him, before she slid her boots onto her feet, Sokka doing the same.

"So... I'll do the sleeping roll and pack up our things?" he asked to clarify that was what she had wanted him to do.

"That would work." she agreed, before stepping out of their tent, pushing the canvas out of the way; when he looked outside, he gulped with fear, looking at the clearly close by smokestack from a Southern Raiders vessel.

"They must have a really fast way to communicate." he theorised, the Princess looking back his way with a straight face.

"Messenger hawks. That's how I was able to gather my army in Ba Sing Se, remember?" she questioned him, as if she was making him out to be forgetful and dimwitted, which in this case, he seemed to be the former.

"Oh." he mumbled, realising that she had forgotten about that specific part of their journey, "That makes sense. How are we going to outrun these goons if they can communicate as fast as we can fly?"

"By always moving." she told him, before she knelt over, pulling one of the bone pegs out of the ground, "And you better get moving, Sokka." she warned him.

He turned around, moving back into their tent, immediately kneeling down to begin rolling up their sleeping roll; that only took him a few seconds to do, and wrapping the leather bands around its ends only took a few seconds more. With that done, he began taking the personal belongings he and Azula had brought into the tent, which only consisted of two small bags, and pulled them over his shoulders, one on each side of his body, taking them out of the tent so he could put them on Appa's saddle. When he walked outside, he took note of Katara and Aang, who had already assembled their tent and were in the process of putting their bags onto the saddle, which Aang was able to do with ease with the power of his airbending, being able to jump up onto the saddle carrying bags like it was nothing.

When he reached the side of the sky-bison, his sister turned to face him, "See you actually got out of bed." she commented, the Water Tribe warrior sarcastically laughing off her words.

"Ah hah, yeah, I'm totally going to just sleep in while the people who have been trying to slaughter our tribe for three generations come after us." he told her with an exaggeratedly giddy tone, making her grimace at his rather blunt way of stating their situation.

He then dropped one of his bags before tossing the other up underarm onto the saddle, picking the second one up and doing the same, which actually impressed his sister.

"Huh, have you been working out or are those bags really light?" she questioned him, Sokka turning around to narrow his eyes at her; whether she was trying to be witty wasn't really in the forefront of his mind at that moment, so he just gave her a blunt answer.

"Yes and yes." he told her, before glancing back toward Aang, who was carrying the last of Katara's bags over to them.

"Oh hey, Sokka. Are you and Azula ready to go?" he asked, the Water Tribe teen shaking his head.

"Nope. Getting to that right now." he clarified, turning his heels and darting back toward the tent, hoping to help Azula dissemble the last of it.

When he got over to the tent, he took note that she had already taken out all the pegs and was in the process of pulling the canvas off. As she did it so, she glanced his way momentarily before she tilted her head in the direction of one of the sticks that held it up. He got the message without a doubt and stepped over to the stick that was held up by the other two, taking it off of its mount, before dropping it to the ground; he pulled the other two sticks out of the ground, putting them with the other one and then picking them up in a bundle. Azula handed him the sinew binds that were meant to hold them together, and quickly wrapped them around each end before he rested the bundle on his shoulder. His eyes moved down to their feet, taking note of the fur mat that they had laid below their bedding, and dropped the sticks down beside him, falling to his knees as he prepared to roll it up. His girlfriend got the hint immediately, stepping off of the mat and folding up the canvas away from him. Taking the ends of the mat into his hands, he raised it up and proceeded to shake it, trying to remove any dust he could from it; the mat was usually used to keep out the moisture from the snow, not to keep them clean. He then rolled the mat up, before raising both it and the bundle of sticks onto each of his shoulders, carrying them back toward Appa; seeing that they were heavier and harder to balance than their small bags, he was slowed down slightly, enough so that Aang approached him with a concerned look on his face.

"Did you need help with that?" he asked him, the Water Tribe boy shrugging, giving him the rolled up mat.

"Throw at up on Appa, will you?" he requested, the young Avatar complying with his request, doing just that by using his airbending to propel the mat up onto the saddle, where it scared Katara by flying in out of nowhere.

"What was that for?!" she raised a fist toward them, before her expression softened, seeing that it had been Aang, and not her brother, who had tossed it her way.

"Oh, sorry, Katara, I didn't see you there." he apologised, before Sokka approached the saddle with sticks he had bundled up, throwing it up to the saddle; Katara grasped the bundle with her hands, glancing down to her brother, before her eyes moved up to his girlfriend.

"I see you're working together now." she observed, the Water Tribe boy raising a finger toward his sister.

"I recommend you don't stir that with her. Honestly, you're going to get your hair burnt off if you keep at it." he warned her, Katara's expression shifting as she looked to be recalling a memory.

"Uh... yeah, I can see that happening, actually."

"And seeing that you can't fight with your waterbending yet, you're not going to be able to stop her if she tries." he added, before turning around, looking back at Azula, who had rolled up the the canvas and was taking that and the small bag of pegs over to Appa.

"So, we're all ready to go?" she asked the group, Aang turning to give her a thumbs up.

"Yep. Now we can get away from these guys and then I can take you somewhere they won't be able to catch us." he declared, making Sokka raise a brow with interest.

"Uh, and where would that be, exactly?"

"My home, the Southern Air Temple."

"I wouldn't recommend that." the Princess acknowledged, making Aang look at her with confusion.

"Why shouldn't I go there? I know my way around, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of wild fruits and stuff growing there, so we don't need to worry about food." he assured them, the Water Tribe boy pursing his lips upward.

'More food sounds like a good reason to go, in my opinion." he placed a hand on his chest, his girlfriend shooting him an annoyed glare.

"I don't know if you're going to like what you find there." she admitted, the young Avatar's eyes widening, before he turned up to look at Katara; he remained silent for a few moments, glancing back at the Princess.

"There's someone I need to meet." he explained, making Sokka raise a brow.

"Who?" he asked him bluntly, unsure if he was trying to go see someone that obviously wouldn't be around, seeing what happened to his people.

"I don't know for sure. But I know I have to meet this person on my journey to become the Avatar."

"But you're already the Avatar." he raised a hand toward him, narrowing his eyes at him with confusion.

"No, I think he means in mastering the elements, or connecting with the previous Avatars, his past lives." Azula clarified, before she looked at him, "I guess you're right. I don't think what happened a hundred years ago will change the fact you need to realise your potential."

"Yeah, that's kinda what the monks said." he admitted with an uneasy voice, "But I'm pretty sure they wanted me to meet this person so I could stop Sozin."

"Even if you can't change what happened, you can still try to end the conflict, make a new era of peace. That's what you're meant to do, right?" Katara asked him, Aang tensing up for a moment before nodding, before he jumped up onto Appa's neck, grasping the reins of the saddle.

"Let's go. These guys want to chase us? Let's let them chase us." he smirked, Sokka hoping that his confidence in Appa wasn't misplaced.

The Water Tribe warrior jumped up to climb onto the saddle, grasping the edge and using as much strength as he could muster to pull himself up; his sister grasped his right hand, helping him up, before he sighed with relief, glancing back at his girlfriend momentarily.

"Are you going to climb up or what?" he asked her, the Princess cocking a smirk.

"No." she refused, before sending two jets of blue fire out of her hands, propelling her back onto the saddle; he rolled out of the way to avoid getting kicked in the head, before he glanced back at her with slight frustration.

"You didn't need to aim for me." he growled at Azula, who shrugged indifferently before she fell over, forced down onto the saddle by Appa beginning to speed up; within a few seconds they were already in the air, and Sokka grasped onto the edge of the saddle, fearing that he might fall off.

Once they were high enough, he was able to spot the Southern Raiders vessel in the distance, and sighed as he saw it speed away, or more accurately, as they sped away from it; Appa truly was a mighty beast, and his flying was more impressive than any ship, no matter how much coal they shoved into their engines.

"So what now?" he turned around to face the young Avatar, who held the reins of his sky-bison tightly; he looked back at Sokka with a giddy grin on his face.

"Well, if we're going to go to the Southern Air Temple, that should take... uh... well I got to the South Pole last time in about two days, so if we head in the right direction, we'll get there... tonight." he explained, the Water Tribe teen nodding.

"Okay, that's great, but where are we?" he asked, Aang giving him an uneasy grin.

"You see, I don't really know." he admitted, before he raised a finger, "But Katara said you know how to read maps. Could you give me the directions I need?" he asked, the Water Tribe teen sighing.

"Yeah, I guess I could do that." he agreed, before turning around to take note of the sun's position in the sky.

He knew it was early morning, and the sun was to their right, although it was still obviously facing to their north, seeing that the sun was always low in the sky in their part of the world; from all that, he concluded they were heading in a north-north easterly direction.

"Where's your map?" he asked, Katara's eyes widening, before she turned around to rummage through the bags at the end of the saddle.

"It should be..." she trailed off, before she pulled a scroll out, which moved with the wind after she unfurled it; his sister placed the map down in front of them, showing them a relatively detailed map of the world.

He pointed down to where he knew their village to be located, at least approximately, "So in the afternoon of the day before yesterday, we left from here, right?" he asked the group, almost rhetorically, getting a nod from both Aang and Azula, "And then we travelled overnight across the sea, to the north." he explained, before gesturing down to the large tracts of water that lay between the former Air Nomad territories and his village, "We're somewhere in here, but I'd guess that because of the direction that we were moving in, we'd be just south of all these islands." he admitted, before raising a brow, looking toward the young Avatar, "How well do you know your homeland?"

"Uh, pretty well. Why are you asking?" he questioned in return, Sokka gesturing his finger across the islands that lay directly to the north of their assumed position.

"You should be able to figure out exactly which island we're at once we reach one, and then give me directions from there to your home, right?"

"Uh..." he scratched at his chin, before nodding, "Yeah, I could do that."

"Good. If Appa keeps heading north, we're bound to bump into one of these islands."

"So, what do we do until then?" his sister asked him, making the Water Tribe teen chuckle as he leaned himself back on the saddle.

"Enjoy the fact that we're making the Southern Raiders fruitlessly chase us when they have no chance of catching up." he declared, Katara pursing her lips upward before she looked back toward the smokestack in the distance.

"I can do that." she admitted, glancing back toward the young Avatar, "So, is there somewhere we'll be able to camp out at the Southern Air Temple?"

"There's probably some rooms to spare." he conceded, making Sokka gulp with fear; his eyes moved meet those of Azula, who shared a similar, slightly unnerved expression.

He didn't know what Aang was exactly expecting when he arrived at the Southern Air Temple, but both of them knew that he wouldn't enjoy what he'd find. Azula, probably more than anyone, knew what had happened all those years ago, and he could tell that even if she didn't feel regret for what her ancestor did, she certainly understood how that might make Aang feel. Losing all his people, that was something incomparable to any of their losses, but after she had lost her title, her supporters and any sense of royalty, she probably had an inkling of what he might feel to see his home to be completely abandoned and desolate after a hundred years of silence.

He wondered for a moment whether her brother had gone there during his journey to hunt down the Avatar, and then thought back to how Azula had felt about finding him, after all the time Zuko had spent, fruitlessly searching for Aang. It seemed that fate was playing with the two siblings, but Sokka certainly didn't want the end result to be anything like what happened in Yu Dao; he knew that peace would come eventually, both to the world, and to the Fire Nation Royal Family, but he knew, that before any of that could happen, the Avatar would have to make his mark on the world. And Sokka was pretty sure that the mark he would create with his return was incomparable to anything else that had happened in the past hundred years. Knowing that he was part of what would become history made him feel ill, and that sick feeling only became worse when he remembered the last time he had been of any importance to world affairs. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice; Sokka of the Southern Water tribe was going to make sure he was on the side of victory, by any means necessary.


	5. Chapter 5

She expected a decaying ruin, but instead, when Azula bore witness to the Southern Air Temple, she was unnerved by what looked to her to be a place of tranquility; that peace was obviously wrought from the destruction of the Air Nomads, which made it all the more chilling. She guessed that the Air Temples had always been secluded and peaceful, away from the concerns of the world, but now they were isolated in a far more disturbing way; she was unsure if any people had lived in the Southern Air Temple ever since the destruction of the Air Nomads all those years ago, though she guessed some hardy adventurers had taken the treacherous journey up the mountain to reach the towers of the temple, her brother included in the ranks of those few who were either crazy or desperate enough to try it.

Of course, it was a lot easier for them to get there, taking the traditional method of transportation, that being sky-bison, to reach the grounds of the temple; she turned her eyes toward Sokka, who was both in awe of the majesty of the place they had arrived at, as well as unnerved by the dark story that would forever haunt it. The young Avatar, however, was far less concerned than they were, seeming giddy to have returned home; he had been gone for a century, and probably wanted to see how it had changed, but she knew that he would not like the changes, not one bit.

"There it is, Southern Air Temple." he simply gestured to it, "I'm glad we're back home, buddy." the Air Nomad patted the neck of his sky-bison, who groaned in response, "Yeah, yeah, I know you were born at the Eastern Air Temple. I wasn't born here either. It's the memories that count." he argued; whether he was just joking around or actually thinking that Appa could communicate with him was beside the point, as it seemed to be rather childish in her point of view.

Katara, however, seemed to hold a different perspective on his childishness, and actually laughed along with him; Sokka was indifferent, his eyes more so focused on the massive structure they were approaching rather than the young Avatar's comments.

"It's amazing, Aang." the Water Tribe girl acknowledged, before she turned around to face the other two, with a similar look on her face to that which her brother had; she didn't need to utter a word, because they could all see it in each other's eyes.

As they got closer to the temple proper, Aang directed Appa down to land by the base of the temple, which truly showed the enormity of the structure as the towers of the temple soared above them, making Azula's eyes widen; it was far bigger than her old home, the Fire Nation Royal Palace, which she thought was one of the largest structures in the world.

Being reminded of what the Air Nomads built only made her feel more uneasy by what she was seeing; she didn't know what had happened after Sozin won, but she would have expected her great-grandfather to tear down the temples, but she realised that she might have been projecting her image of her father onto him. Perhaps he just left the temple to rot, as a reminder of what once was; a reminder of the world that existed before he decided that the home islands weren't enough for the Fire Nation. She agreed with his ideas in principle, knowing that the colonies, one way or another, were the only way to deal with the overpopulation that had begun to occur in their homeland, and that the development of the Earth Kingdom, would in the end, benefit the people who remained, But she wasn't under the idiotic presuppostion that wiping out the Air Nomads, who were pacifists and would have left him alone to complete his conquests, was a sound idea that was completely justified by the ends. Ironically, if the boy who was leading them into his home had been there when it was attacked, perhaps his people might have survived, instead of all of them being killed under the pretense of getting rid of him, all while he was frozen at the South Pole, out of Sozin's reach.

As Appa settled down by the base of the temple, Aang jumped off of the saddle, gesturing to the rest of them to follow, "Come on, I'll show you around. This place is a lot bigger than your village." he told them, the Water Tribe teens looking at each other with slight unease.

She knew why, knowing that their tribe had nearly befallen the same fate as the Air Nomads; losing all their benders was, in the end, a mercy they had received, instead of the complete destruction of their tribe. She climbed off of the saddle and landed on the ground beside Aang, glancing up the pathway with interest.

"And what exactly are you going to show us?" she gave some interest, knowing that she ought to distract him from the fact that his people no longer existed.

"Oh, well, there's so much stuff here." he beamed at her, before pointing up the path, "Most of it is up the path... including the sanctuary, so we'll go this way." he explained, the Princess nodding before turning her eyes up to the two Water Tribe siblings; she didn't need to say anything, as they immediately climbed down off of Appa's saddle, and followed after her and Aang as he led them along the winding path that would take them to the top of the temple.

As they followed, Katara cleared his throat, beginning what she guessed would be a long tirade of questions for the young Avatar, "So, did other people come to the Southern Air Temple when you were around here... or was it just all monks?"

"Well... I heard that past Avatars came here to train in airbending, but usually, the mountains are too treacherous for others to climb. Without a flying bison, it'd be... well, almost impossible." he admitted, Azula considering for a moment the kind of power the firebenders who attacked the temples might have wielded; she guessed that Sozin's Comet made all of them powerful enough that they could fly up with their own bending.

When the comet had passed about two years prior, she hadn't taken much notice of it, the situation of her father leading the conquest of Ba Sing Se being a far more pressing issue at the time, but she didn't relent to test out her bending at the time; she wasn't surprised to see that her already potent firebending was immensely powerful. She had sent a fire stream above the courtyard that probably lit up the entire city below a bright blue; it was both amazing and terrifying at the same time. The most exhilarating bending experience she had ever had, but all the same, it showed her the pure power of firebending, in all its destructive force. She had always been controlled in her forms and techniques, but on the day of the comet, her bending had been uncontrollable. To think what might have happened to the Air Nomads, when far less competent firebenders came up to fight them; she was sure that it would have been a very one sided fight.

"And what did you guys eat?" Sokka raised a brow, making Azula snort; his mind always seemed to go to food.

"Oh, lots of things. Fruitcakes, nuts, berries and anything else we can grow. The mountains are cold... but there's still a lot of life here." he told him with an eager smile, although it faltered, probably thinking over his statement about 'life'.

"They're not that cold." Azula retorted, gesturing to her body, and the fact that she was no longer wearing her furs, "This is the warmest place I've been to in six whole months outside of a tent and those Southern Raider ships."

"Huh... I guess you have a point." he mumbled, "Not as cold as the South Pole, but it's pretty cold." he conceded, before he began to increase his pace, "Come on, we can go faster."

"And why didn't we just land Appa up here?" Sokka retorted as he struggled to follow behind uphill.

"Because you're not meant to land your sky-bison anywhere. That's just being rude." he argued, making the three outsiders look at each other, all with the same thought in mind; it didn't exactly matter about being rude if there was no one there.

"But... uh- back to what I was saying, where can I get something to eat?" the Water Tribe boy reoriented their conversation, making both sister and girlfriend look at him with the same faces.

"You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsider ever to visit an airbender temple, and all you can think about is food?" she asked him, the Water Tribe teen gesturing up to the sky, which was almost a blood orange as the sun set behind the mountains.

"It's dinner-time, Katara. I got off of Appa thinking we were about to get some food."

"There will be food!" Aang assured him with a grin, "We just need to get up to where the fruit-trees are. Then you'll have nothing to complain about." he told him, his tone nearly passive-aggressive; the thought of a twelve-year-old telling off her boyfriend made Azula want to laugh at him, but she refrained, knowing that she was concerned about greater things than her own amusement at that moment.

As they climbed up to the top of the long path, Azula took note of the expansive grounds of the temple before them, where she could see a stadium filled with numerous tall poles, as well as a number of courtyards filled with trees. The whole place seemed rather peaceful, and the autumn leaves painted the ground orange, but she found it to be eerie, with no people present whatsoever. She would have expected some native wildlife to be crawling about, but she didn't see any of them either.

"So, that's where my friends and I would play airball," he gestured to the stadium, "and over there is where the bison would sleep," he then pointed to a number of cavities in a rock face that seemed rather Appa-sized, "and..." he cut himself off with a sigh, looking around at the grounds with a saddened expression.

She stepped up beside him, unsure what to say; to her luck, Katara spoke up before she made a fool of herself, "What's wrong?"

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds." he admitted, his voice dropping as he continued to lament, "I can't believe how much things have changed."

"That's what a hundred years does." Azula simply commented on the fact of the matter, "I'd be happy if I were you. At least no one has ransacked the temple."

"At least?" he raised a brow with confusion, "What do you mean at least?" he asked her accusingly, the Princess clearing her throat; she didn't want to reveal what she knew, but she wasn't feeling in the mood to flat out lie to a boy who had lost everything- he at least deserved to know what had become of the other Air Temples.

"According to some documents I read during my short time as Princess Regent of the Fire Nation, the Northern Air Temple is inhabited by a number of Earth Kingdom refugees who are being coerced by War Minister Qin to make weapons for the Fire Nation. They've supposedly rebuilt the place to make it more suitable for their needs... so, they're tearing down the temple."

"Wh-what?" he gasped with shock, his surprise shared by both Sokka and Katara, who never learned about the Northern Air Temple, although that was because she never thought it had been relevant until that very moment, "That's horrible. Why would they do that? Do they know how many generations of monks they're disrespecting?"

"Probably not. Most people are a lot more ignorant than me." she admitted, "If it's any consolation, they've probably been evicted ever since this whole civil war began, seeing that my brother would probably want to seize said weapons for himself." she explained, making Aang sigh with frustration.

"Huh..." he mumbled, "I guess this is better than that. At least I can see the place I remember, even if no one's here."

"That's both good and bad news." Katara voiced her opinion, "Why didn't you mention that at all? Did you not think he ought to know what had happened?"

"I didn't think it was relevant until now. But seeing that you'll probably want to go there on your journey north, I made an effort to tell you." she explained herself, the Water Tribe girl narrowing her eyes at him.

"Wow, yeah, an effort." she mocked her words, before she turned to Aang with a more sympathetic face, "Sorry about her."

"No, you don't have to be sorry. At least she gave me the honest truth. It would have been a bigger let down to arrive, see that there's people and then realise that it's a bunch of people who have just ruined the place I remember." he sighed before looking down at the cliff-face, before Sokka cleared his throat.

"Maybe we should go get Appa. If we're camping out here, we're going to need our things." he suggested, the young Avatar's eyes widening.

"Oh, yeah, of course." he nodded, glancing back toward the empty temple grounds for a moment, "There's probably a lot of free space now." he admitted, before he turned around, "We'll need to walk all the way back down." 

"Really?" the Water Tribe warrior asked him in an exasperated tone.

He raised a brow in thought, his eyes widening with realisation, "Wait!" he exclaimed before he face-palmed, "I completely forgot." he pulled out his staff, "I can just glide down. Give me a minute."

"Oh... I forgot as well." Sokka admitted, before they got out of the young Avatar's way as he ran back down the path, using his airbending to launch himself off of it and into the air; he flew around with a giddy look on his face, showing off his airbending skills before he made his way back down toward his sky-bison.

Azula looked toward the two Water Tribe siblings, who both sighed with uneased looks on their faces, "I'm trying to ease him into it here. You don't want to throw him into the depths here." she warned, Katara raising a brow at her.

"Sorry, I'm bad because I want to try and make sure he's feeling happy."

"If that happiness is bound to fall eventually, then you should at least let him know beforehand. Who knows what might happen if he gets all angsty?"

"What are you so afraid of?" she narrowed her eyes at the Princess, who sighed, returning around to look out over the empty temple grounds.

"To be blamed for something that I'm not responsible for."

"No one's saying you destroyed the Air Nomads, Azula." she retorted, making her clench her fists.

"My ancestor did all this. He's responsible, and because I'm his descendant, I bear the weight of his actions. I get the chance to be Fire Lord, but I also get to hold the burden of every past Fire Lord. Do you think he'll trust me when he sees what Sozin did?" she questioned her, with a growing tone of unease and anger; Katara shrunk back, realising that she had struck a nerve, but Azula didn't prod her for a response, she simply began to walk away, up along the path toward another part of the temple.

She heard Sokka's footsteps behind her, and although she considered demanding that he leave her alone, she decided to relent, knowing that she needed his advice more than ever, "Azula, wait."

She stopped in her tracks, turning her heels to look at her boyfriend, who approached her with a concerned look on his face; if he had been thinking about finding food before then, he no longer was, as his focus was directed right to her. That level of focus was something that made her know that he truly cared; if he loved food so much, and was willing to ignore it for her, that meant that he cared for her even more. It made her feel a twitch of anger, knowing that the first person to truly care for her above all others was someone not even from her nation, let alone someone who had such a different worldview to her. He was a Water Tribe peasant, but even then, he still cared for someone like her.

"Just spit it out already." she demanded, the Water Tribe boy stepping toward her slowly, offering out a hand.

"Aang won't blame you. He's a nice kid. Even if your great-grandfather was the one who caused all this, that doesn't mean you're the same person just because you want his job." he assured her, "And I don't blame you. This isn't your fault. It's a horrible thing, sure, but you don't have to be angry about something you had no choice in the matter of."

"It's not my fault, but that doesn't matter. Even if Aang forgives me, there's a whole world out there who knows my name. Princess Azula, the crazy heir of Fire Lord Ozai, thank the spirits she's not on the throne."

"I'm sure there isn't anyone saying that." he tried to reassure her, making her snicker.

"Oh, you've only met a few higher-ups in the Fire Nation. There's a thin line between fear and respect, and I know that I was far more skilled at scaring people than getting them to like me." she admitted bluntly, "It's the same idea, but in the end, which person are they going to prefer as their Fire Lord, huh?"

"The one who can run the country the best?" he questioned her, ignoring her words and giving her the answer that she would have preferred; she was clearly more competent than her brother, and thus should be by virtue running the Fire Nation.

"Oh, how I wish that was the case. You think, Mayor Morishita only joined us back in Yu Dao because he was more afraid of me than he trusted Zuko." she recalled, making the Water Tribe teen grimace.

"I mean, you can't be-" he began to suggest, the Princess raising a hand.

"Cut the bullshit, Sokka." she growled, "I know where I fucked up. Could you at least acknowledge it as well?"

"You want me to tell you your faults?" he questioned her skeptically, "I don't need to tell you your faults. You're a smart woman, you already know them. I need to tell you what's good about you, because you need to know that. Everyone's their harshest critic, and... you're pretty harsh on others." he tried to reassure her, before closing the gap between them, as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't need your pity." she narrowed her eyes at him, "I need a way to fix this." she gestured to her own face, "I've fucked my own life into nothingness. I became no one, and now, if I ever return to my homeland, I'll be hunted down and thrown into prison. I need to become the Fire Lord that people will respect. The Avatar, the commoners, the Earth Kingdom, and even the Water Tribes. That's the only way that I'll ever be... as good as him."

"You're better." he retorted, "You're so much better. Yeah, he beat you in a duel, but a duel that you went into without the knowledge that he could even redirect your most powerful technique." he added, before narrowing his eyes at her, "You were going to do right by your nation, and the world. You want to be a better Fire Lord, to be better than you might have been otherwise. You already are better by admitting your flaws. How much introspection do you think your brother's doing now?"

"Probably a lot. He's stuck with Uncle, remember?" she reminded him, the Water Tribe boy's eyes widening.

"Okay, fair point. But has your brother experienced what you have?" he asked her a better question, to which she nodded, more impressed by his ability to find a positive angle rather than actually with the fact of the matter; she didn't like the fact she had been shipwrecked, or forced to prevent a Dai Li coup, or exiled herself to the Southern Water Tribe, even if all of those things gave her insight into being a better Fire Lord.

"No, he hasn't." she declared, the confidence returning to her voice, "You're not completely stupid, you know?"

"Oh, I'm aware." he smugly declared, before kissing her on the cheek.

The peck was only light, but it made her chest flutter, knowing that he was being honest and caring at the same time; it was only with him that those two things only ever seemed to come hand in hand. She rose to look into his eyes with a small smile on her face, before she turned around to look back to where Katara was standing by her lonesome.

"Perhaps I should apologise to Katara. This time, I was getting angry at her for no reason... actually... scratch that, she didn't apologise to me for before." she admitted, making Sokka snort, clearing amused by their little spat.

"Oh, what comes next ought to be a show." he declared, the Princess raising a brow.

"Are you suggesting that I fight your sister? That's quite bold, even for you, Sokka." she admitted with a surprised voice, the Water Tribe teen raising a hand.

"I didn't say that." he admitted, before smirking at her, "But that doesn't mean it won't happen. Katara's... well, you saw her yesterday." he reminded her, making Azula sigh.

"And I thought that I was demanding." she narrowed her eyes, "Your sister really needs to learn that just because we're around the same age doesn't mean she can demand I follow her principles. It's not like I'm nine years old or something."

"If you were nine I doubt you'd listen then either." he joked, making her smirk.

"Oh, from experience, I can confirm that." she declared, remembering fondly her times with Mai, Ty Lee and even her brother, which more than often led to her being told off by her mother; she didn't seem to understand her own definition of fun, which others might call bullying, but if she could see Mai and her brother now, Azula would declare that she was responsible for their little romance.

Comparing Katara to her mother was rather unnerving, although she didn't feel anywhere near as conflicted about ignoring her will, seeing that unlike her mother, the Princess had no desire to make her love her, seeing that she was not her mother. At the very most, in a far off future, she might be her sister-in-law, but that was about it. When she began to walk toward the Water Tribe girl, she found her attention drawn by Appa, who suddenly rose up, flying past them to continue climbing up the height of the temple; her eyes widened, realising from an alternate perspective how agile the sky-bison actually was. She heard him groan as he approached a nearby courtyard, forcing her to turn around and head back the way she had just gone; she and Sokka quickly made their way around to the courtyard where the sky-bison had landed, Aang already standing waiting for them.

"So, did you want to go find some berries to eat?" he asked them, Sokka salivating at the mention of food.

"I'm not a berry man, but I'm willing to give it a shot." he admitted, before he followed after Aang, who led him along in another direction, away from Appa.

The Princess rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's reaction, amused by the fact he could divert his attention so quickly when food was involved; she approached the sky-bison and patted him on the neck.

"Please don't sneeze on me again." she asked him, before she sat down, leaning up against one of his legs, which was covered in thick fur.

She sighed as she rested her legs, which were slightly sore from having to walk up the hill; lying around all day and then doing intense physical activity was not the most enjoyable experience, she had learned, closing her eyes for a moment while she leaned back on Appa's leg, letting herself be covered by the orange light of the setting sun.

She found her momentary peace broken by the sound of Katara's voice, "Where'd Sokka and Aang go?" she questioned, the Princess opening one eye, which she turned to gaze at the Water Tribe girl, who was standing in front of Azula with her hands resting on her hips.

"To find berries. I'm just resting for a bit while they do that." she explained herself, before closing both her eyes once more.

"Huh... so you're not going to unpack."

"Ever heard of apathy? You should try and use it some time. Might make you less of a tightarse." she suggested, making the Water Tribe girl stomp a foot on the ground; although she wasn't looking at her face, she guessed that her expression would have become very sour after hearing that.

"I'm not a... tightarse." she responded with a less eager voice than she expected, before she heard her back sliding up against one of Appa's other legs, sitting herself down nearby.

"Not in an argumentative mood, I see." she simply observed, Katara making a barely audible, but negative sounding groan.

"I don't want to argue. I just want to make sure Aang doesn't... you know... get all upset about his people."

"I don't think you can stop that from happening." she argued, giving her opinion bluntly without any insults on the side; though she wasn't going to apologise to the girl beside her, that didn't mean that she wanted to endlessly antagonise her.

"I'm guessing you're really experienced in lying." she guessed, making the Princess simply nod, glancing back toward the WWater Tribe girl as she opened her eyes.

"I am. I don't lie unless I have reason to do so, however." she admitted, making the Water Tribe girl raise a brow at her.

"That's what a serial liar would say." she narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously.

"You're not wrong... I guess you just have to trust my word." she raised a hand toward her, offering a rather simple choice; she could trust Azula, or she could not, and there was nothing that the Princess could do about her decision.

"So then, how do I not lie to Aang?" she simply inquired, the Princess sighing; the principled one wanted advice on how to avoid something that was rather hard to.

"You can avoid the truth, but it will come around eventually. It always does." she told her with an indifferent voice, "If you're going to tell the truth, you can be ambiguous. Ambiguity is a good way to make people believe the best; people love to believe the best possible outcome."

"Like how Aang wants to believe some Air Nomads must have survived?" she asked her, the Princess nodding.

"Exactly like that. Even if I told him to the contrary the day I met him, he will take any shred of doubt he can and hold onto it as hope. He wants to believe the Air Nomads lived on, that he is not the last of his kind." she told her, with a rather stern tone, trying to mask the unease she had begun to feel about that turn of events, "Sure, it's possible that there are some people today descended from Air Nomads, but it's impossible to say whether there's anyone around like him." she clarified, before turning away from Katara.

"So... he'll see... eventually. That's what you're saying?" she asked, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"Once he sees undeniable proof, then he'll understand. I wouldn't want to be around when that happens."

"Why is that?" she asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"I read about the Avatar having a certain power, where they channel their past lives to become even stronger; bending all the elements at once, overpowering everyone, like some kind of god." she explained, before she turned to Katara,

"The pain he might feel from learning the truth, that might lead to his past lives taking over... and then there mightn't be a temple standing afterwards." she suggested, making Katara's eyes widen with shock.

"Really?" she mumbled, looking terrified as she darted her eyes back the way Sokka and Aang ran off to.

"Yes, really." she confirmed, before sighing, turning her eyes back toward the setting sun, "I don't want to be around to see that, and you shouldn't either."

"We need to do something."

"I've already done something. I've told him everything truthfully. I've lessened the blow, and hopefully, he is able to accept what happened, and maybe even channel that pain into something useful." she suggested, filling her palm with a few small embers.

"Channel his pain..." she mumbled, before her eyes turned to her, now less afraid and more concerned, "What do you mean?"

"He needs to do his duty as the Avatar." she simply told her, before the flames in her palm grew bright, "The same as me. I need to do my duty as a Princess of the Fire Nation."

Katara looked at her silently for a few moments as her flames slowly petered out, "You're not going to let that go." she commented with a stoic glare.

"What do you take me for, a quitter?"

* * *

"You know, the berries you gave me were pretty good."

Aang's expression brightened, glad that Sokka was appreciating the food that they had gathered the night prior; he was thinking perhaps, being almost a carnivore, that he would find the berries gross, but instead, he found their sweetness to be great. He had gotten all giddy and made the others try it; he smiled at that memory, thinking it was the closest thing to a fun dinner that he'd had in while. Dinners weren't always fun, but when they were, Aang would savour them, more than the food they were eating.

"Oh, thanks Sokka. I'm sure that the-" he began to respond, only to find himself cut off by the Water Tribe boy.

"But nothing beats good ol' Water Tribe seal jerky!" he grinned before having a bite of the jerky.

"It's not that good, Sokka." Azula retorted, perhaps for the sake of it, and not because she didn't like jerky.

"Yeah, there's more in the world than just salted meat." Katara added, making her brother cross his arms.

"Well, I, for one, like cured meats. Though fried meat's good too." he admitted, before licking his lips, "Oh, as much as I don't want to get arrested, I'm really looking forward to going back to the colonies." he admitted, Aang raising a brow at him.

"Because you like Fire Nation food?" he asked in clarification, the Water Tribe warrior grinning at him.

"I sure do! They've got fried meat, spicy meat, fried and spicy meat, as well as a lot of things that aren't meat that are spicy!" he declared, making Azula face-palm, looking to be embarrassed by association.

"Urgh... yes, it's spicy." she sighed, before her eyes darted up to Katara, "I should have asked to take more of those Fire Nation rations." she lamented, before raising a brow, "Or stole some off of that Southern Raider ship." she conceded, before turning to face Sokka, "Remind me to do that if we run into them again."

"If I get to eat some too, I promise I won't forget to." he assured her, before he took another bite from his jerky.

"So then, other than talking about food, what were we going to do this morning?" Katara asked the group, Aang raising his head, remembering exactly what he had intended to do in returning to the Southern Air Temple.

"I need to go to the sanctuary." he explained, before standing up, "We can go there right now. It's not far." he assured them, the three others looking at each other, Sokka's lips pursing into a pout.

"But what about jerky?" he mumbled, his girlfriend wahacking him on the back of the head.

"You can take the damn jerky with you, idiot." she chided him, before she turned her eyes toward Aang, "Show us the way."

Aang gestured for them to follow, beginning to walk toward the staircase behind them that led into the temple proper; they had been camping around a courtyard, sleeping in nearby rooms. The young Avatar had already been to his old room, but he didn't want to sleep in there, knowing that the memories he had only made him feel regret for his cowardly actions. He had fled the temple, and for all he knew, the Air Nomads had been destroyed because he couldn't save them. He hadn't seen much evidence of a struggle, of the massacre which Azula suggested to have occurred, which was heartening at the very least, suggesting that perhaps his people had been forced to flee, and now were in hiding. That was what he hoped, but he was unsure if his thoughts were too optimistic. He did, however, know that entering the sanctuary was a step he needed to take, just as Monk Gyatso had told him to do; he was ready at that point, more than ever, knowing that his guilt outweighed his fear. He wasn't afraid of facing the world as the Avatar any more, as much as he feared the danger that might come along with it; that was his burden to bear, in the end of it all. As they made their way around the desolate grounds, he spotted the stairs, and thus, the corridor that would lead to the sanctuary. He guessed that no one had been inside there since the last Avatar died, which must have been around a hundred and fourteen years ago, if Azula's guess was accurate. When he reached the corridor, he saw the massive ornate doorway, as the lock that covered it, which could only be opened by an airbender, meaning that the Fire Nation couldn't have gone inside, even after a hundred years.

"That's an- uh- impressive door." Sokka commented, the Fire Nation Princess beside him nodding in agreement.

"Indeed it is. The Air Nomads might have lived simply, but I'm sure they knew how to make some complex things." she commented, the young Avatar turning to face her, nodding appreciatively of her compliment toward his people.

"We do." he confirmed, "Though, I don't know who made this." he glanced back toward the door as he continued to approach it.

"So... how do you get in there? I don't see a handle." Katara observed, the Avatar raising a finger.

"Airbending." he clarified, "That's why I'm sure that whatever or whoever is in here, it's probably still waiting. The Fire Nation didn't burn the door down." he gestured to it, making Azula look his way with a surprised expression.

"Huh, good point." she commented, before Aang turned his attention toward opening the door; he took a stance in front of them, holding his hands close to his body as he took a deep breath.

As he exhaled, he moved his hands out, pushing air into the tubes at the base of the door; the current of air pushed through the pipes, pushing each lock tube open by twisting it around, each of them sending out a high pitched stream of air. Once the last tube was turned around, the doors began to slowly open up, and the light from the corridor filled the sanctuary, which was still dim enough that he could barely see much further than a few strides ahead of himself. His eyes widened as what was inside was revealed to him; statues, all lined up before him. When he looked at them more closely, he narrowed his eyes, feeling an odd sense of a familiarity with them; he didn't know how or why he felt like that, but as he looked at them, he took note that they were all lined in a spiral. On a few of the statues he could take note of airbending tattoos, but others seemed less familiar, and he turned back to his friends.

"There's a lot of statues in here." he admitted, Sokka looking around with confusion.

"Yeah, thanks for the update, Captain Obvious." he sarcastically commented, before he narrowed his eyes at them, "Why does the spiral end with this guy?" he pointed to a statue of a man with a long beard, who Aang recognised out of the blue- Avatar Roku.

"That's... that's Avatar Roku." he simply responded, somehow recognising him, even though he'd never met him.

"The last Avatar. He's your predecessor." Azula noted, "Then... these are the other Avatars." she concluded, glancing at the statues that followed after him in the pattern, which he realised was the Avatar Cycle; going backward, he could see fire, earth, water, and then air.

"All of them." Katara added, her eyes widening, "There's... hundreds of them," she gasped, before turning to face him, "your past lives."

"There's so many." he looked up, taking note of all the statues as they spiraled around him.

"Past lives?" Sokka skeptically questioned, stepping forward, "Do you guys really believe that stuff?"

"How else do you explain that there's only one person alive at a given time who can bend all four elements?" the Princess retorted, making him slouch over, realising that it was pretty hard to argue against her point.

"Okay, fair enough." he conceded, before his girlfriend walked up to stand beside Aang, who was still focusing on the statue of Avatar Roku; he didn't know how to communicate with him, but he was pretty sure that he was the person Gyatso wanted him to see- he couldn't speak with a statue, that was for sure.

"Is he who you need to speak with?" she asked him, the young Avatar breaking out of his trance-like stare.

"Uh, I think so." he nodded, before the Princess stared down the statue.

"I think I... I think I know how you might be able to do that."

"Wait, really?" he turned to her with surprise, "Do you really know that much about the Avatar?"

"No... I remember learning through my duties as Crown Princess that the Fire Sages had statues, even a whole temple dedicated to Avatar Roku. Why weren't they taken down by Sozin after his whole... well... you know, I'm unsure, but they definitely still exist. Perhaps one of them might help you communicate with him."

"But there's a statue right here." he narrowed his eyes at her, the Princess gesturing to it.

"Well, can you communicate with him here, right now?" she simply asked him, Aang glancing back toward the statue.

"I don't think so. I think I'd feel something... but I only feel... well, my connection."

"That makes sense. You were him... a hundred and fourteen years ago." she conceded, before raising a finger to her chin, tapping it in thought, "When I think of it, I actually never learned how he died."

Aang looked at the statue for a moment before he felt an odd feeling in his chest; anguish or disappointment, he couldn't tell exactly, but then as he looked to Azula, he felt a sense of hope. Whether in himself or the Princess, the feeling was there, nonetheless; that was as close as he could get to talking with Avatar Roku, it seemed, feeling what he did.

"I don't think it was a peaceful one." he conceded, taking that observation from the feelings that he had just experienced.

"Are you guys done being weird with the statue?" Sokka questioned them, making the Princess turn her head around and snarl at him.

"I'm not being weird. What are you talking about?"

"You were staring at it, or like a good minute there." he stated his observations, the young Avatar turning around.

"Well, I think she had a good idea. We need to go find this statue of Avatar Roku... wherever it is. Maybe then he can help guide me."

"The closest one would be at the temple on Crescent Island." she clarified, making Aang raise a brow.

"Which direction is that?"

"Still in the way we want to go." she assured him, before turning to face Sokka and Katara, the latter of which was still glancing around at the numerous statues of his past lives, "Are we going to go now? At least out of here... unless you wanted to- uh- meditate or whatever." she glanced back to the young avatar, who shook his head.

"Uh... not really." he conceded, "Meditation is boring... and I want to do something fun."

"Like what?" the Water Tribe girl stepped closer.

"Airball!" he exclaimed, "It's really fun... though, all of you aren't airbenders, so it might be a little hard."

"I'm up for the challenge." Azula declared, pursing her lips into a confident smirk, "Always."

"So that's your excuse for playing games?" Sokka prodded her with an amused tone.

"What? It's not like I have anything better to do today. It's better than sitting on a sky-bison all day." she declared, Aang grinning at her.

"That's the spirit!" he cheered her on, before he gestured for his friends to follow, "C'mon, let's go!"

Aang began to increase his pace, making his way down the corridor once more, heading back toward the courtyard that sat outside of it; he glanced around, recalling the exact route he would have to take to get to the airball stadium. He conceded that he could pretty easily glide down to it, but he would rather lead his friends on foot. As he made his way along through the grounds of the temple, he walked on past Appa, when he noticed that the bag of food that had been sitting by the small campfire they had set up was splayed over the ground, and some of the foot was on the ground.

"Huh..." he mumbled, "Sokka's going to get annoyed by that." he concluded, before he approached the bag, filling it back up; he guessed it might have been knocked over by the wind, but a few moments later, he turned his head around to see the cause.

By a tree, a flying lemur was sitting down, with a few of the fruits that ought to have been in their bag in its hands, gnawing away at it, "Lemur!" he exclaimed, catching its attention as its ears darted upward, "Oooh! You're gonna be my friend!" he declared, walking up toward the creature with an eager grin, "Just don't eat all of the fruit. Sokka might not like you if you do... but I'm sure you'll be friends." he told the lemur, which darted away as soon as he got close enough.

"Come back!" he pleaded, the animal ignoring his words as it began to run off; he sighed, before giving chase, "Please! I'm not going to hurt you!"

He had already gotten the attention of his friends, who looked at him with confusion as he went after the lemur, "What are you doing?!" Katara called after him, Aang simply responding with the first thing that came to mind.

"I need to get my new friend!" he told her, before he dashed after the lemur, following it down the pathway, before it took flight, gliding straight off the sheer cliff face; Aang grit his teeth, before he jumped up into the air to follow after him, using airbending to cushion his fall down to the next portion of the air temple grounds, which was a wide open area, nearby, incidentally, where he had originally wanted to go to, the airball stadium. He spotted the lemur still running, now to his left, where he raced off to, using his airbending to speed himself up.

"Come back!" he called on the lemur, shouting in a friendly tone as he could.

"Aang! Where'd you go?!" he heard Sokka's voice call out from above, the young Avatar, waving up toward his friends.

"Down here!" he shouted, gaining his friends attention, Katara's head peering over the edge.

He returned his gaze to the lemur, and continued his pursuit, following him around the winding path that curled around the girth of the temple; the lemur once again jumped, and Aang followed once again, breaking his fall with a few ledges that sat between him and the ground that the little creature was gliding down toward.

"Hey, come on! I can get you more fruit if you like!" he tried to reason with it, though it seemed that the lemur didn't understand him as it darted into an old decaying structure, through an old and brittle set of drapes, "Come on buddy." he softened his voice as he approached the drapes, pushing them open, only to see that the lemur had gone deeper inside, past another set of drapes.

He approached the next set of drapes, pushing them aside to try and find the lemur, only to find something else, something far, far worse than he could have ever imagined. Corpses, scattered across the room, the bodies of what he could tell were Fire Nation soldiers; and in the middle of them all, pushed up against the rear wall was that of an airbender. He gasped with shock, trembling as he stepped closer.

"Firebenders? They were here?" he questioned, knowing that no one would answer; the answer was right in front of him.

Azula was right, and he regretted not truly believing her; he wanted to doubt her words, but he now realised she was right. Why would the descendant of someone responsible for such a heinous thing admit it? He realised why as he saw it. The countless dead, and in the centre of them, an Air Nomad, who had warded them off, but clearly perished in the fighting. As he looked closer, he noticed the necklace around the body of the Air Nomad, which he immediately recognised- it was Gyatso; Aang trembled, realising what had happened, unable to say anything but the name of his mentor, the closest thing he had to a father.

"Gyatso." he gasped his name, dropping to his knees and he realised what he had done; not what the Fire Nation had done, because he knew that they would have done what they did, no matter if he had been there or not.

He had left his people, left his duties, left his mentor, and they all died; Gyatso died fighting firebenders, unknowing of Aang's own fate, only of his cowardice. He hated himself for it, knowing that he could have done something; even if he didn't win against those firebenders, he could have done anything other than run away. He felt something inside him, just like he had when he was in the sanctuary, only this time, it was so much stronger; Aang was angry, at himself and at the world, and for perhaps the first time in his life, he was ready to let it all out. Then he felt all of them; his past lives calling out to him, all at once, almost like they were screaming at him. The power he felt surge through his body reminded him of the truth; he was the Avatar, and he was not just himself, but the hundreds, maybe thousands that lived before him. And they were all angry, all at once, in a symphony of rage; that anger lit up his chi, his very being, like he guessed the comet Azula spoke of powered those firebenders. Aang was more powerful than any mere comet, or any nation in and of itself; he was power, light and order incarnate, the instrument of balance and peace.

* * *

The sound of a powerful gust of wind was enough to tell Katara that something had gone terribly wrong; when she reached the edge of the courtyard she was walking through, she could see a ball of air down below them, and inside of it was Aang, and his tattoos were glowing brightly, as were his eyes. She trembled with fear and awe of the power she was witnessing, but she could only guess that it had come about because of some immense pain or trauma, which she knew would have come from finding the inevitable, as Azula had most accurately described it. She glanced back at the Princess and her brother, who raced up behind her, looking down at the same thing as she was.

"What in... that's what you meant by glowing?" her brother shouted over the sound of the wind that was being pushed out in all directions away from the young Avatar.

"I told you so." Azula simply commented, her words directed to both of them; she truly had a knack for efficient quips.

Katara pointed down toward their friend, "We need to calm him down."

"Yeah, that's obvious enough." Sokka noted with an unamused glare, before he gestured toward the path to their left, "We need to head down there first."

"And not get knocked off the mountain." she added, before leading the way, running as fast as she could down the winding path.

The three of them made their way down the length of the path, taking the first corner, at which point she got a good look at Aang, who was now rising into the air, still glowing as his body moved into an almost meditative pose; seeing him like that was disturbing to say the least, seeing that the probably anger and grief driven power was the polar opposite of the tranquility such a pose would ordinarily portray. She sprinted down the path, moving as close to the rock face as she could to avoid getting blown off of the mountain, as she had warned the others; not that she was feeling awfully morbid, she just wanted to avoid such a tragic outcome to what was simply a moment of grief and tragedy for the young Avatar. The power of all the Avatars was immense, and she knew that none of them could reasonably face up to it, though she still hoped that it was possible to calm him down with words; she'd rather than over fists or something even worse. When they reached the base of the path, with Aang not that far ahead of them, floating up in the air, she took a deep breath, unsure what to do or say; she didn't know how to calm someone from their feelings of anguish. She knew how he felt, in a way, but the idea of losing everyone he knew was something far greater than her loss of her mother, even if that was a very personal loss to both her and her brother.

"I have an idea." Azula admitted, making both her and Sokka turn back to face her.

"What?!" her boyfriend shouted out, trying to speak over the wind gusts that Aang's bending was creating in all directions around him.

"Remember the first time we ever met?" she questioned him, his eyes narrowing for a moment before his eyes widened.

"N-no! No! No!" he demanded with grit teeth, "You're not shooting a twelve-year-old kid with lightning!"

"You want to what?!" Katara turned to her with a furious expression.

"It'd only knock him out!" she assured them, before pointing to the floating Avatar, "Do have any better ideas?!" she questioned them, the Water Tribe girl glaring at the young Air Nomad with determination.

"Yes, yes I do." she told them, before she began to approach Aang, putting her arm in front of her to push through the powerful gusts that were between her and her friend.

"Aang!" she called out to him as she approached, "I know you're upset and I know how hard it is to lose the people you love." she told him, unsure what to say next, "Your people, even if they're gone, that doesn't mean there isn't people that care for you!"

The young Avatar still floated above her, and Katara looked back to her brother and his girlfriend, the two of them looking on with awe and fear at the boy who floated above them; she had to say something else, something to calm him and assure him that there was still hope.

"We're your family now!" she shouted out, "Sokka, Azula and I. We're here for you. We're going to make sure you're never alone! I promise!" she called out, the young Avatar slowly descending, his tattoos and eyes still glowing as his face remained emotionless.

As he lowered down to the ground in front of her, the winds began to die down, and the sphere of air that surrounded him disappeared; she approached him, looking at him with a sad expression as his body continued to glow, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We won't let anything... anything happen to you." she assured him, her brother stepping up beside her, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"And if anyone tries anything, we'll beat the crap out of them. Promise."

"Sokka!" she glanced at her brother, thinking his words to be rather absurd.

"We will. We're going to keep you safe." he added, the young Avatar's face turning sad, as he closed his eyes, his tattoos returning to their usual blue colour.

He collapsed with exhaustion, falling into her arms, "I'm sorry." he mumbled, the Water Tribe girl smiling at him reassuringly.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault." she told him, the young Avatar looking up at her.

"But... it was." he admitted, looking over toward Azula, "The firebenders attacked this temple. That means they attacked the others... all while I was locked in that iceberg." he admitted, sighing as he fell down to the ground, "I'm the last airbender."

"You couldn't have done anything. You might have crazy magical powers, but you aren't a fortune teller or something like that." Sokka assured him, the young Avatar looking up at them.

"But, I did. Monk Gyatso said it. They all said it. I was just... too much of a kid. I just wanted to have fun, and keep my life like it always was. Instead... this happened." he admitted, before Azula knelt down to his level.

"Everybody makes mistakes." she told him, narrowing her eyes at him, "And trust me, I know about making mistakes." she raised a finger, the Avatar nodding; he had heard her story, just like Katara had, and perhaps he could see that she, unlike her and Sokka, could understand the feeling of making a decision without seeing the implications of it, "You can't change what happened, but you can do something else."

"Wh-what?" he mumbled, the Princess tilting her chin up.

"You need to do what you couldn't. Learning from your mistake so you don't make it again." she simply told him, "That way, you can become the best version of yourself."

"Become a better Avatar?" he asked her, the Princess shaking her head.

"You aren't defined by what people call you. You're Aang. You're the last Air Nomad, and you're going to fix the world, because that's what you want to do, know because you have to do it." she told him, smiling at him with the smallest of grins, "Because you're better than most."

"Th-thanks." Aang mumbled, Katara turning her head with shame.

She always antagonised Azula, calling her out for her hypocrisy and mean personality, but she realised that she was still just like any of them; someone who had been hurt, by her own actions or by those of others, and wanted to become better. And more than that, she actually wanted Aang to be the best version of himself; she wanted them all to be the best versions of themselves.

"Are we going to get out of here?" Sokka asked them, before glancing around, "This place just doesn't... feel right."

"You're right, Sokka." Aang agreed, before he rose to his feet, "Let's... let's go do something else. I- uh- still didn't find that lemur."

"That's what you were chasing after." Katara noted, remembering that was actually what he was doing before he had his experience.

"Yeah, it was." he nodded, before his eyes darted around, "I wonder where he went off to." before he began to walk back toward the path they had taken down, "Do you guys want to help me find him?"

"Sure!" Sokka made a rather boisterous response, almost a little too positive,

"Let's go find us your lemur buddy-friend." he gestured to the young Air Nomad, the two of them making their way toward the path, while Katara turned to face Azula; once the other two were out of earshot, she decided to tell her how she felt.

"Uh... that was nice of you." she admitted, the Princess's eyes narrowing at her.

"Nice?" she almost scoffed, "I was telling him not to give up on himself because of pain. Pain is a weapon that can be utilised very effectively if aimed correctly." she noted, making the Water Tribe girl grimace; perhaps she shouldn't have acknowledged her, and then remained under the presupposition that she had an inch of kindness in her heart.

"You know... you don't have to act all cynical and cold all the time." she suggested, Azula crossing her arms.

"I am just that. Take my words seriously, Katara. Aang did." she simply gestured in the direction the young Avatar had gone; she sighed, knowing that despite her attitude, she was actually trying to help, even if she was trying to frame it in a way to retain her absurd sense of pride.

The Princess stretched her arms out, before turning to face her with a disinterested face, "I'm not chasing after a lemur. I think I'm going to do some training. Do you want to join me?"

"Do you want to beat me up?" she raised a brow, curious as to her exact intentions."

"I would have said spar in that case. Training is something every bender should do, even one who doesn't know any forms or techniques." she explained, making Katara sigh, reminded of the fact that she knew next to nothing about waterbending.

The only things she did know were from her grandmother, who had taught her a few things about waterbending from what she had witnessed, having lived before and during the raids.

She looked back up at the Princess and gave her an affirmative nod, "Y-yeah, I guess I can do that."

Azula tilted her chin up, a haughty smirk forming between her cheeks, before she gestured to the path that Aang and Sokka had taken, "Let's head up to a courtyard instead of standing around the... corpses." she admitted, gesturing to their left, where Katara could see some skeletons, or what remained of them after Aang's wind ripped through the ruined building they were standing inside.

She nodded, following her up the path, making their way up along the winding route toward the courtyards; the Water Tribe girl kept her eyes away from the ruins they had just seen, feeling unnerved by the thought of bodies just laying there, in place, for a hundred years. The Fire Nation may or may not have disposed of the bodies of their dead, or that of the Air Nomads, but she ultimately had no idea, and honestly, would prefer to not find the truth. The same could be said for the other Southern Waterbenders, who had been taken away by the Southern Raiders, assumingly to some horrific prison where they would never see the light of day again. She glanced forward, noticing Azula's pace and stance, which suggested to her that she was feeling more emotions than she was letting on.

Whether it was guilt, for what the Fire Nation did to the Air Nomads, or residual anger towards her, she couldn't tell, and she knew that she wouldn't get a straight answer; that seemed to just be how it was with the Princess. She knew what she wanted, because she was rather vocal in declaring her intentions, but she had no concept of what was really going through her head. Katara didn't know if her brother even did, even if she was more honest to him than she was to her. When they reached the top of the winding path, they found themselves at an open area of the temple, where stone tiles covered the ground, and there was a number of trees giving shade. Azula approached the trees and glanced around them, before nodding.

"This is a good place to meditate." she admitted, before narrowing her eyes, "I guess that's why they made all these places." she theorised, sitting herself down with crossed legs; she glanced up toward Katara, who looked at her with surprise, seeing that she was just going to sit there and meditate instead of setting something on fire, "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to join me?"

"U-uh, join you." she confirmed her intentions, stepping closer before sitting beside her under the shade of the trees while the morning sun shone through, making an array of complex shadows, "So, are we meditating."

"Yes." she told her, before raising a finger, "You are expected to not talk during meditation, but this time, I'll make an exception. You ought to at least learn how to breathe correctly."

"Breathe correctly?" she looked at her skeptically, "I breathe just fine."

"You breathe, but not with the vigour that is required to master your bending." she clarified, as she turned away, closing her eyes, "Close your eyes."

Katara did as she was told, and found herself sitting in darkness, although her other senses remained just as able to comprehend her surroundings.

"Now, what do you hear?" she questioned her, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow.

"Uh... the wind?" she told her with slight uncertainty, unsure exactly what she wanted her to say.

"Yes, the wind." she agreed, "Now, neither of us are airbenders, but you can hear how the wind flows." she furthered, making her focus on the sound of the wind; it was flowing, almost like a song, though far more erratic than any melody she had ever heard.

"Kind of like music." she mumbled, Azula clearing her throat.

"You could say that. Airbenders are like wind. They flow and move around things; they dodge obstacles, specifically." she explained the concept of airbending quite succinctly.

"So, what does that have to do with my waterbending?" she questioned, unsure exactly where she was going with her exposition.

"Airbenders need to harness their breath to bend correctly. You saw Aang open the door, didn't you?"

"Yeah, he had to take a deep breath and concentrate to bend the locks open." she recalled.

"You need to do the same with your waterbending. Water flows, just like fire and air do, though in a different manner. They are all unique."

"What about earthbending?" she raised a brow, unsure how that bending art fit into the scheme of her idea of breath and flow.

"Ignore that." she tersely responded, Katara almost wanting to laugh, but restraining herself as the Princess continued, "You need to remember how water flows. Explain it to me." she simply requested, the Water Tribe girl closing her eyes once more.

"It ebbs and flows. The tides, they come in and go out." she tried to explain what she knew of water, or more specifically, the ocean, "And it rains, and snows, and there is blizzards. Water's everywhere."

"Indeed it is, especially in the South Pole." she acknowledged her words, although her own voice showed a slight disdain to her home; she came from a far warmer place with less ice and snow, so she could empathise a little with her feelings toward it, "So, then how does it flow? How does it change?" she asked Katara, who took a deep breath.

"It always changes, and is constantly moving." she murmured, Azula making a positive sounding mumble.

"Yes. It does. Just like fire and air. What sets it apart?"

"How it moves. It goes around, in a circle. Back and forth. Like waves and whirlpools." she explained, before taking another breath.

She needed to breathe like how water flowed- in and out, up and down; with that in her mind, she began to breathe slowly, imagining the water lapping up against the shore of her village. It was always light, but noticeable, the water moving up and down, like her chest did when she breathed.

"You've got the hang of it." Azula commented, before pulling out something from her belt, Katara noticing the sound of her untying something from her belt, "Now, take this." she placed something hard in her lap, though as she felt it, she realised that there was water inside it; a water skin, her water skin.

She opened her eyes, glancing toward the Princess, "You want me to bend this water?"

"Yes." she told her, "But I don't want you to just throw it around. I want you to focus on it, and bend it to your will."

"How can I-" she began to question her, Azula placing a finger over her lips to shut her up.

"Just breathe." she told her with a stern tone, reiterating what she had already said, "Focus on the water in this skin and breathe. The rest will come naturally." she told her, before snapping her fingers, a small, blue flame appearing on her finger tips, "Look at this flame." she simply told her, before she took a deep breath; the flame did not falter, but instead, grew larger as she inhaled, and then shrunk for a moment before growing as she exhaled.

"It follows." she observed, before narrowing her eyes at the flame, "It almost looks alive."

"That's because a firebenders flame is in sync with their body." she explained, pulling her arm out slightly, "Feel my pulse."

"Y-your..." she mumbled, confused for a moment, before she just followed through with her request; as she felt her wrist, she could faintly feel her heartbeat, and her eyes moved up to the flame, noticing that although it expanded and contracted with Azula's breath, it also moved with her heartbeat, flickering brighter with each beat.

"So it's like a little heart." she tilted her head, thinking the idea to be kind of cute.

"Uh..." Azula mumbled, before she extinguished the flame, "Yes." she acknowledged her observation, before gesturing to the water skin, "Now try and see if you can bend."

She nodded, feeling more confident by what the firebender had taught her, before she closed her eyes, focusing on her breath first; she made sure it was slow, air flowing in and out of her lungs in a rhythm that was calm, just like the waves that touched the shore of her village. She then felt the water skin in her lap, not with her hands, but with her mind; she could see it, not literally, but in the sense that she could feel the water, and thus, she could reach out to it. She felt her slow breathing connecting with the water, which began to slowly but surely, move with her breaths, she water inside the skin flowing around as she inhaled and exhaled. The sound of sloshing was proof enough that it was working, and she felt her connection grow stronger; she then felt the weight of the skin off of her lap as she continued to feel it moving, before she felt the weight suddening appear once more, shocking her and making her open her eyes. Looking down, she noted that the water skin was still closer, and that Azula was looking at her with an approving smirk.

"Moving something with your breath is easy. It's natural. Making something move how you want it to requires more precision and focus, but from what I just saw, I am sure that you'll be able to achieve that." she admitted, before she stood up, "Now, I'm going to do my sets. Whether you want to watch or follow along, that's your choice. Just don't get in my way, unless you're in the mood for getting your eyebrows singed off." she warned her as she took a fighting stance.

Katara watched on as the Fire Nation Princess began to move forward, making a number of sweeping kicks and punches, sending flames out all over the courtyard, although they quickly petered away; she then finished her moves with a powerful kick that sent a stream of flames out away from them, striking into the rock face in the distance.

"Wow..." she mumbled, unsure how to respond to the show of raw power that Azula had just made.

"I do desire to inspire awe." she cocked a smirk at her, before returning to her sets, turning around and making a similar set of attacks, although this time it was more focused on quick jabs that sent flames out in multiple directions, as if she were intending to fight off half a dozen people at once.

She then jumped up into the air, back-flipping before she sent a stream of flames out of her right heel, landing on her feet in a low stance; she winced slightly, before turning her eyes toward Katara.

"I really shouldn't have tried that with these boots. They're too soft." she conceded, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow.

"Maybe you should put some metal on the heels?" she suggested, Azula looking back at her skeptically.

"And where am I going to get that?" she quipped in response, making her furrow a brow.

"Huh, I don't really know." she conceded; one could obviously buy metal, although she didn't actually know where from.

"I'm better off buying some new boots when we get to some market. Knowing Sokka he's going to demand we buy some random trinkets along the way."

"Or rare meats." she added, making the Princess snort, before laughing.

"He will." she sighed after laughing, "He always will."

She then, almost out of nowhere, turned around, kicking out a stream of flames right above Katara's head, making the Water Tribe girl cringe downward with fear; the warmth of the flames was surprisingly intense, despite the fact she was lying on the ground. Once the flames dissipated, she raised her head back up, narrowing her eyes at the other girl, shaking her head slightly to move her hair loopies back into place.

"Are you sure you aren't trying to spar with me?" she questioned, the Princess shaking her head with an indifferent look on her face.

"You were in the way." she simply told her.

"You could have just told me to move." she retorted with a slightly agitated voice, making Azula chuckle.

"Oh, what's the fun in that." she allowed herself to smile, making the Water Tribe teen sigh as she stood up, wanting to get out of the way of her next set; perhaps it had been intentional, and she had just feigned ignorance.

"I'm moving." she stressed, stepping over to stand beside one of the trees in the courtyard while the Princess moved into a different stance.

She took a deep breath, reminding Katara once again of the importance of breath in bending, he then stepped forward, sending a number of kicks of fire, as if she were fighting off multiple opponents from the front; this was all while she conjured a fireball in her hands, which began to glow in intensity as it formed a ball in her hands. She then directed the charged fireball out, up in a diagonal direction with her right hand, which then formed an impressive stream of flames which moved up into the air, colouring the entire courtyard a blue hue as her flames momentarily became relatively brighter than the morning sun, which was shocking enough that Katara almost fell back from her spot leaning on the tree behind her. She then augmented the remains of the flames around her arms, coiling them back out as she turned around, sending what looked almost like a whip outward; it dissipated a few moments later, but had already reached out nearly to the other side of the courtyard. 

"That was pretty cool." she conceded, the Princess smirking at her, before pointing at her chest.

"Trust me, with the right teacher and proper attitude, you will be able to become a great bender, like me."

Although she was flattered by her suggestion that she would one day be a great bender, Katara was unsure why she would assume something like that, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I believe that skill can run through blood. Your brother has been shaped into a great fighter in little over six months, at least compared to what he once was. I think you could do the same." she admitted, the Water Tribe girl girl's lips pursing upward as she considered a day in the near future where she could say she could waterbend like her ancestors did.

"That's all I could ever hope for."

* * *

Sokka knelt down beside the flying lemur, who was currently munching into their quickly dwindling supply of fruits; Aang had been so eager to find him, so he couldn't refuse to help, and did just that. They tracked him back to the place he had first found him, Appa's saddle, where he was still rummaging about to steal some of their food. As much as he wanted that food for himself, he would admit that their new little friend was quite cute. He chirped at Sokka, who was taking a bite from a piece of jerky, which he had decided to eat, seeing that he thought it was one thing that the lemur, who seemed to be a vegetarian like Aang, wouldn't eat. He shook his head, raising a finger to try and refuse him.

"You won't like it." he assured him, "You can keep going at the fruit." he gestured to the stash which Aang was eating from, seeing that it was about lunch time. He hadn't seen Azula or Katara, and was slightly worried that they might have started fighting each other; they seemed to do that more often than not, but he wasn't that worried. They had all been so concerned about Aang that their petty disputes had probably been pushed to the side, at least for that morning. He still felt a little concerned for the young Air Nomad himself, knowing that the kind of anguish he must have felt was extremely saddening; he revealed to him after they found the lemur once more that he had actually seen Monk Gyatso's body, and that was what had triggered his Avatar powers, which Sokka neither understood, nor wanted to. They scared him, more so than any Princesses who could shoot lightning bolts from their fingers or Fire Lords who could redirect said lightning bolts; he knew that the Avatar had powers unlike any bender, making him a force to be reckoned with, even if he was only twelve years old.

"Oh, so you found the little lemur." he heard his sister's voice, making Sokka raise his head up, glancing over to see her and Azula, who were returning from whatever they had been up to, "Does he have a name?"

"Sokka Junior." he joked, making his sister shoot him a glare.

"No, no, his name is Momo," Aang clarified, raising a peach into his hand, "because he likes peaches." before said lemur raced over to him, grabbing the peach out of his hand; Aang began to laugh giddily at the lemur's actions, Katara smiling at him, obviously approving of his clearly better mood.

As she and his girlfriend approached their little campsite, he raised a brow, still curious as to what they had been doing, "So what did you two get up to?"

"Uh... Azula taught me how to breathe." Katara clarified, making him snort with amusement; he was sure she meant it in the sense of regulating her breathing, but the idea of her having to learn how to breathe was utterly hilarious to him.

"It's pretty easy, Katara. Just in..." he raised a finger, inhaling deeply, holding his breath with a smug grin before breathing out, "and out." his sister's expression remaining unamused throughout.

"Shut up, Sokka." she growled at him, making Azula snicker, the first sign of emotion she had shown since she entered their campsite; she moved to sit down nearby him, picking up one of the last remaining fruits and taking a bite.

"Hmph- these are sweet." she acknowledged, "Did your people use these kinds of fruits in their food?" she queried Aang on the spot, the young Air Nomad's head darting up when he realised he was the one being questioned.

"Oh, yeah. Of course. We'd make pies and cakes with these. Anything you think you could make with fruit, we probably made it." he assured her, before she glanced his way, taking note of the jerky in his fingers.

"Even with all this fruit, you still go for the jerky." she chided him, "You're going to eat it all pretty quickly." she warned him, the Water Tribe teen shrugging his shoulders.

"Soon enough we'll be in the Earth Kingdom and then I'll be able to buy what I need to eat." he acknowledged, before raising a finger, "Let me savour it."

She narrowed her eyes at him, before shrugging her shoulders, "Fine then. Don't start complaining when you run out."

"He will start complaining." Katara assured them, making him tilt his head so he could look at her directly, frowning at his sister's comment.

"Hey..." he growled, unsure how to argue; they were probably right, as he would complain if they had no jerky, but he'd complain even more if they had no food, "Actually, that gives me an idea." his eyes brightened, standing up, "So we don't run out of fruit before we get to our next stop... seeing that a certain someone has started eating it all." he eyed the flying-lemur, who had a visibly full belly from eating a large quantity of fruit, "maybe we should go out and collect some more."

"I guess we could do that, but were we planning to leave today?" his sister questioned, Aang's attention being garnered by that question.

"Well, that was my idea." he acknowledged, his expression becoming sadder, "I don't feel like staying around here. Not after... well, what happened."

"What about talking to Avatar Roku?" Katara raised a brow, reminding them all of what he had been doing in the sanctuary- staring at a statue of Avatar Roku, that was.

"Azula had a pretty good idea. We should go to the temple dedicated to him." he suggested, "It's in the Fire Nation, and on the way to the North Pole. That's what you said." he turned toward Azula, who gave an affirmative nod.

"Yep, it is." she explained, Sokka raising a brow with unease.

"You want to go into the Fire Nation? I don't mean to burst anyone's bubble, but one of us here is definitely a fugitive, and two of us are probably not very welcome." he suggested, the former being the Princess, who was the main contender to throne beside her brother, and the latter being Aang and himself, seeing that one of them was the Avatar and the other a key supporter of Azula, who had knocked out the Fire Lord himself to prevent him taking his sister into custody.

"It's not like we're going to the palace. It's on an isolated island in the east of the Fire Nation." she explained, before raising a brow, "Though there is a chance that Zhao and Liang are still fighting over the Mo Ce Sea. That might be a problem."

"Well, ignoring any naval battles we might encounter, we've still got the problem that there's probably going to be some people loyal to your brother in that temple."

"I can disguise my identity." she suggested, before she gestured to her hair, "A haircut would do it. It's not like every Fire Sage in the country knows my face."

"Okay..." he mumbled, deciding to halt his argument there, before chuckling, "So, are you really ready to cut your hair again? I remember a certain someone complaining about her 'bad' haircut for a few months." he smirked, Azula narrowing her eyes at him.

"Well, it's a fact of the matter. My haircut was shit." she told him with a serious, slightly annoyed expression, before turning to face Aang, "There won't be an issue going to this temple, trust me."

"Uh, okay." the young Avatar gave a reassuring smile.

"Now, before you decided to divert our conversation to an argument, I was asking if anyone wanted to come with me to get some more fruit for us to eat while we travel to the Earth Kingdom." he asked the group once more, Azula rolling her eyes before standing up.

"I guess I'll go. I'd rather do that than sit around."

"You really like exercising." Katara observed, the Princess nodding after a moment of considering her comment.

"If that was an insult, you failed." she simply pointed her finger toward her with a smug look on her face, turning her heels to follow after Sokka, who had already picked up a bag nearby, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's go." he prodded her, the Princess following after him as he made his way across the courtyard toward a path that led down to a lower portion of the temple; he was unsure exactly where to find more fruit, so he decided he would just walk around until he found some.

"Do you actually know where you're going?" she questioned him, the Water Tribe teen forcing a grin.

"No idea." he told her, making her groan as she rolled her eyes.

"Brilliant. Now, I'm going to spend the afternoon walking around a place whose former inhabitants were all slaughtered, looking to steal the fruit from their trees."

"Hey, it's not stealing if no one's going to stop you." he raised a finger, before furrowing a brow, "And plus, it's not like they own the trees or anything like that."

"I concur." she admitted, "I just... well this whole place doesn't sit right with me."

"Same here." he agreed, before he darted his eyes forward, trying to make sight of some trees to pick fruit from, "But, I guess we can talk to distract ourselves from that fact."

"Ah yes, talking, your greatest skill." she told him with a tone that he couldn't discern whether to be sarcastic or not.

"Well it is. I'm not too good at public speaking, though." he conceded, making the Princess raise a brow.

"Is that why you made me or your dad tell the tribe about your ideas?" she questioned him, before raising a hand, "Of course that's why." she answered her own question, "Maybe you should practice."

"Practice?" he asked her with interest, before raising a brow, "So... just start blabbering off in front of you about my plans to return the Southern Water Tribe to its former glory."

"Glory would be a slight overstatement." she commented, making him narrow his eyes at her, "But then again, glory is relative." she corrected her statement.

"Me defeating you on my Royal Barge meant little to me at the time, but I'm sure that if you had returned home with me in chains, that would have been a great glory for your tribe." she conceded, making his eyes brighten; she was giving him arguments without him even having to think of them.

Sokka was unsure whether she was just in a good mood, or if she was just feeling talkative, knowing that talking was better than mulling over whatever else was in her head. His eyes narrowed, unsure how to feel about such a reaction to the understandable emotional response she got to the fact of her ancestor's actions. Even if she was the most ruthless, determined and matter of fact person he knew, she still had feelings, and even with all her pride, she could still feel guilt, and regret, the latter of which he had seen her almost drown in after her defeat by Zuko; she lacked any motivation to fight, for some time, and even if she did so at Pohuai Fortress, it had been to protect him rather than to actually achieve her own goals.

"I guess we're all looking for glory." he admitted with a sigh, "A way to feel good about ourselves."

She looked at him with a stoic face, and then he realised that he might have said the wrong thing; Azula didn't want to talk about things like why she acted like she did, or why she even wanted to be Fire Lord in the first place. He did know that behind her mask, behind her insane plans and desires, there was a genuinely kind person, even if she wasn't kind in the same way that Katara, or Aang were nice. She was nice because she could believe in possibilities; of people and of causes. She wanted to see things achieve their greatest potential, because that is what she wanted for herself. She had trained him for months, and he was a better fighter than he had ever been, all because she had demanded the best of him; he was more than willing to oblige and when he considered it, she was tempered enough in her training that he felt no ill will because of it.

"I desire great things for myself because I know I am worthy." she told him, breaking the silence, before turning her eyes into a slight glare, although it was not necessarily one of anger, "You are worthy as well. You might think you're just a nobody from the South Pole, but I am certain that you will achieve great things."

"You're just saying that because you're the one guiding me." he prodded her; he didn't exactly believe in his own quip, but he said it nonetheless, hoping that he could get a response from her.

"I'm not the only one. Your father, Katara, even Aang. We're all looking out for you. Not because you're some child, but because you will be great. All you need is a goal."

"I do have a goal." he assured her, raising a finger in gesture, "To make sure that all my friends stay safe why we travel the world, and above that, to make sure you get what you need."

"I'm glad that you're so concerned for me, but I am in no need of anyone's sympathies. I can get what I want myself."

"Not alone you I can't." he retorted, the Princess shaking her head.

"I didn't mean it that way." she told him chidingly, although given the context, it was more of a reassurance that she didn't intend to just up and leave them when an opportunity for power arose, "I need to find a way. Once I have that way, then we can all get what we want."

"Isn't the Avatar good enough a way to find peace?" he asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"He can make peace, that's for sure, with all those powers he has locked up inside him... but I don't think he can just overthrow my brother, nor would he want to. That's something I have to do by myself."

"No you don't." he assured her, "I can help. I helped before."

"You helped me when I didn't need the help. I would be more surprised if you didn't want to help." she admitted honestly with a small smile, before she glanced up and around, "Now, where are these fruits you keep yammering on about?" she asked him, Sokka turning his attention toward a small grove of trees that were situated by a nearby cliff face, "Maybe over in those trees." he suggested, the Princess nodding before the pair made their way toward it, scanning the branches of the trees, only for Sokka to be disappointed by the fact there was no fruit.

"Aw, man." he sighed, "I wonder if this lemur has already gone through them all. That'd just be annoying."

"Another glutton to add to the group." she joked, making him frown.

"Hey, I'm not a glutton. I'm fit." he declared confidently, making a flexing motion with his arms which were mostly obscured by the thick parka he was wearing.

"Sure looks like it." she told him with sarcastic enthusiasm, before she walked over closer to the cliff-face, "Wait a minute." she raised a hand, "What about down there?" she gestured below them, down to a lower portion of the temple, which was most desolate with a few bushes and trees about.

He knew there might be fruit down there, but getting there was part of the problem; he for one, didn't want to walk all the way around the other side of the temple to get down.

"I can't see a path." he simply stated the obvious, "We'll have to keep going."

"Great." she sarcastically acknowledged; he was starting to feel a little upstaged by her sarcastic comments, when he was the one who was meant to be the sarcasm guy- that was his whole thing, along with loving meat and his boomerang.

He continued along through the grounds of the temple, looking for any signs of fruit, berries or just about anything that they could use to stock up on food; he sighed as she realised he couldn't see anything, and would have to walk even further into the temple. He took note that the path they were taking ended with a small courtyard, beyond which was a sheer drop. He took note that there was an entrance into the main complex of the temple to their right, which he gestured to.

"I mean, this might take us down to that other area." he suggested, the Princess tilting her chin up.

"We don't have much of a choice. I'm certainly not listening to you complain about no food for a day or two."

"If only you could selectively listen to me." he joked, making the Princess narrow her eyes at him.

"It's pretty hard to. You're obnoxiously loud." she commented, the Water Tribe teen raising a hand to his chest, "I'm what?" he asked her in an exaggeratedly loud voice.

She narrowed her eyes at him before chuckling, "Oh, your wit is unsurpassable." she conceded, although whether it was a genuine compliment or another sarcastic mocking of his character, he was unsure; he knew that she loved him, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't deal down hard truths if he was acting up.

They entered the dark corridor that led them into the temple, making Sokka shiver, and not because he was cold, seeing that he was wearing his parka, but because it seemed eerie. On the outside, the temple seemed like it was simply abandoned, but he could almost feel what had happened a hundred years prior inside the walls of the temple; sure there were no burn marks crossing the walls like he would have expected, or masses of skeletons. Of course, there were skeletons, and Aang had found them, but Sokka had a feeling that the Fire Nation had cleared out most of the bodies after their attack, seeing that they would have wanted to confirm they had gotten them all. It was so disturbing to think of someone even trying such a thing that he felt sick in the stomach. As he and Azula turned a corner, they found themselves at a staircase, at the base of which he could see what he guessed was the burned remains of an Air Nomad's staff; it was blacked and split in two. He didn't see a body, and that unnerved him more than accidentally running into a skeleton.

"This place is seriously creeping me out." he admitted, the Princess continuing to walk forward.

"It is what it is, Sokka. You should know what to expect." she warned him, the Water Tribe teen gulping with fear.

"Should I?" he mumbled, her eyes momentarily darting back toward his.

"You saw what happened to your tribe. This is no different, although the timescale was condensed dramatically." she admitted, before gesturing down the hallway, where he could see some sunlight peeking through over the floor, "I think there's an exit back outside down this way."

He shook his head, trying to dispel both the thoughts of what happened to the Air Nomads and the memories of what his tribe had experienced; he didn't find himself having much luck, but continued along the hallway nonetheless, following after his girlfriend as she moved nearer to the exit.

She turned another corner and glanced back his way, "Here it is."

Sokka approached her, and glanced around the corner, taking note of a clear opening out toward the exterior of the temple, giving him a good view of the mountains that surrounded it. He then approached the exit, glancing out around outside, looking for some sign of food; he took note of a few bushes that were situated just by the exterior wall of the temple, making a grin as he realised they had finally found something.

"There we go!" he exclaimed, pointing toward the bushes, "That's what I'm talking about!"

"That's the most excited I've seen anyone get about a bush in my entire life." Azula observed, before he raised a finger in defiance of her mockery.

"I have a pretty good reason." he argued, "There's no reason to not be happy about more food."

"Fair point." she conceded, "As long as we can store it somewhere, it's helpful." she acknowledged, the Water Tribe teen nodding, before he gestured for her to follow.

"Come on, let's go pick them and then we can relax for a bit." he suggested, making her raise a brow at him.

"We've only been walking around for what... ten minutes? And you want to take a break."

"When I say a break, I more meant like sparring or something like that." he suggested in turn, knowing that if there was anything that would improve his girlfriend's mood, it was giving her an opportunity to beat him up.

"Oh..." she pursed her lips upward, "Now, that's the kind of break I'd be interested in. I already warmed up with Katara."

"You fought her?" he asked her with a concerned voice, obviously unsure if his sister would be safe facing off against her.

The Princess shook her head, "I'm not cruel enough to try and spar a girl who can barely bend as it is. I showed her some techniques to better harness her bending, that's all. Then I did a few sets." she simply explained herself, before she walked over to the bushes, picking off a few berries, before she had a bite of one; she raised a brow before tossing one into his hands.

"Take a bite. They're not that bad."

He complied, eating the small berry whole, chewing it down and having a taste of it; it was sweet, but not too sweet, with a slight sour tinge to it. He thought that it would be better complimenting some proper food, that being meat, but he knew he couldn't get everything he wanted in life. He'd have to work to get himself some meat; the thought of the two of them hunting in some random Earth Kingdom forest again wasn't very heartening, but he knew that they had the skills amongst them as a group to get themselves some food, even in Aang was a vegetarian.

He then moved over to the bush, pulling out a few berries, before placing them in the bag he had slung over his shoulder; Azula placed a few in the bag as he lay it down between them as they picked berries from the bushes. Once they were finished with the first one, they moved over to the next, picking more berries off and putting them into the bag; he began to realise that due to their small size it would be more challenging than not to fill the bag up all the way like he had hoped to. He sighed, but knew that there wasn't much else he could do other than search for more places to find food; quickly enough, they had taken each of the three bushes that sat by the wall and cleared them of berries, filling the bag about a quarter way full of them.

"Hmph... that isn't as much as I'd like." he voiced his frustration, the Princess grabbing the bag from him and walking away with it, much to his surprise.

"What are you doing with that?" He questioned her, his voice rising with confusion; she simply turned to face him with a smug look on her face as she dropped it by the doorway through which they had entered the relatively desolate courtyard.

"Putting it to the side so we can do that spar you suggested." she explained herself, making him chuckle.

"Oh, this is going to end with my parka getting set on fire." he mumbled, realising that Azula was more than likely going to win their fight; no matter how much he improved, he couldn't match her speed and quick tactics.

Chi-blocking was a powerful tool, but it was only as powerful as his opponent was ignorant, and Azula, unlike most people, had become well adapted to dodging his chi-blocking attacks. Sokka lamented that he didn't have a weapon that could go toe-to-toe with her; his boomerang, no matter how awesome a weapon it was, wasn't very effective in close-quarter sparring that they tended to do. Sure, it could be used to knock out a deck full of Southern Raiders, but he'd be lucky if it hit Azula just once when thrown in their sparring sessions. He pulled his parka off, knowing that it would just slow him down, throwing it off to the ground beside him; the Princess scratched at her chin as she eyed him getting into a stance.

"You are quite fit." she conceded, recalling her comments she had made earlier, before she took her own stance, "But that won't stop me."

"I didn't think it would." he retorted, already well aware that he was the underdog in their fights.

She immediately began by spinning her fingers around, charging up two bolts of fire on each of her hands, before spinning out, firing them at him in quick succession; seeing that he had ample time to prepare, he had already drawn out his boomerang and used it to cut through one of the attacks while he ducked under one of them. He then threw his weapon in a wide arc, which at the very least distracted her for a few moments while he raced toward her, ready to use his chi-blocking skills as intended. She was ready to stop him, sending an arc of flames toward him by swinging her arm down as if it were a blade; to dodge the attack, he lunged to the right, falling right into Azula's next attack, which was a kick. He grunted as he rolled back, glad that her attacks were only light, meaning that he wouldn't get burnt, even if it still felt like he had been kicked in the chest by an actual foot; her purposefully avoiding to actually harm him was something that warmed his heart, but it also made him more afraid, knowing that she could win all the same. Then his boomerang arrived, returning from its arc, Azula literally turning around and grabbing it as if it were a snowball being tossed at her; she smirked confidently, making Sokka realise that his plan had failed. Luckily, he always had a back-up plan, and that currently involved taking advantage of her triumph; with her eyes focused on his weapon, he sent his left leg into her own, tripping her over, making her face immediately shift to one of fear as she tried to muffle a squeal, falling flat on her face.

"Made you look." he mocked her, the Princess gritting her teeth.

As soon as she had gotten her hands underneath herself, she raised upper body up from the ground, sending a fireball toward him at point blank range; he expected that, and already had lifted himself up, before he grabbed her left arm as she tried to use it to send another fire blast at him. She still fired it, but he was able to angle her hand so it fired away from him; she then opened her mouth, aiming to breathe fire at him, which he only realised when he saw the flames heading toward him; he felt the heat coursing above his head as he lunged forward, jabbing her in the gut and then in the left shoulder to chi-block her. Even though he had momentarily paralysed her left arm and bending, she still took the chance to send a fist into his abdomen, making him cough as he fell onto his back.

"Ow." he grumbled, before reaching for his boomerang, which she had dropped on the ground nearby them.

He found himself jumped on by his girlfriend, who tackled him back onto the ground, although he took advantage of her attack by rolling around, and forcing her to the ground. As Azula looked up at him with a mixture of pride and frustration, he tried to think of something witty to say while he was holding her down in such a compromised manner.

"This was all part of my plan." he declared, although his words didn't have the desired effect, as his girlfriend began to cackle, laughing at him mockingly.

"Really? This was your plan?" she smugly questioned him, the Water Tribe teen raising a brow.

"Well yeah, I tackled you. You can't bend. What else could you do but surrender?" he asked her, curious as to why she hadn't conceded the spar yet.

"Because I can bend again, dummy." she grinned at him, before she punched him in the side with a flame-covered fist, Sokka shouting out with pain as he felt his muscles contract in an unnatural way from the hit.

"Argh!" he screamed out, before he fell to the side of Azula, who was already getting back up.

"So, maybe you're in the mood for surrendering?" she quipped with a smug tone; he wanted to continue fighting her just to spite her mockery, but he knew that he was in enough pain that she'd force him to yield eventually anyway.

"Fine. You win this round." he mumbled, the Princess standing up above him triumphantly for a moment, before she offered him a hand.

"Come on, let's get some more fruit." she suggested, making him groan with frustration, remembering they still needed to fill the bag all the way up.

"Ah... shit." he mumbled under his breath, before accepting her hand, and allowing himself to be pulled up back to his feet.

"You said it yourself, if you don't want to be complaining in a day or two about no food, now is the time to get it." she reminded him, Sokka narrowing his eyes in thought as he glanced toward the bag full of berries.

"If Momo eats all this fruit I'm going to have a fit."

* * *

Lifting one of the last remaining bags onto Appa's saddle, Azula wiped the sweat from her forehead, relieved that they were finally about to leave the Southern Air Temple. The place unnerved her more than any place she had visited before that, and she was glad to be leaving it once and for all; she knew that the young Avatar had held the place dearly, but even if he was unwilling to continue staying. It was the not the same place he knew, after a hundred quiet years, and she felt the smallest shred of empathy for his misfortune of being the last of his kind; everything he had known, he had lost, and she felt a certain kinship to such a feeling, even if her loss had not been in the same starkly permanent fashion.

She had lost her throne, her title, her pride and her purpose; that was all that mattered to her, and as such, she felt that even if she could regain those things, she still felt the shattering realisation, the same Aang had when he saw Gyatso's body, that everything he had held dear was gone. She wished that perhaps he could have the same possibility to find his people once again, but she was further disturbed by the fact that death would be the only thing to reunite them in the Spirit World, something she doubted the existence of to begin with.

"Alright, are we all ready to go?" she heard Katara ask the group, Aang standing up beside her, holding a tent bag in his hands.

"Just this." he told her with a slightly exasperated tone as he raised the bag up, before using his airbending to levitate it over onto the saddle, the young Air Nomad sighing once he did so, stretching his arms out, "Well, now... I guess we leave." he mumbled, his voice clearly showing the sadness he felt over what had happened.

Momo chittered, climbing up onto the Avatar's arm, making him giggle, before he glanced around the desolate temple, "You, me and Appa, we're all that's left of this place." he told the lemur with a bittersweet smile, "We have to stick together." Azula clenched her fists upon hearing his words, knowing what had happened was her family's responsibility.

"Do we need to leash the lemur to you?" Sokka questioned, obviously jokingly, though that went over Aang's head.

"What?! No, of course not. Momo can do as he pleases."

"As long as he doesn't eat all the fruit we collected." he raised a finger, "We'll have no issue. Isn't that right, Azula?" he asked her for back-up, the Princess shaking her head.

"I don't care. It would have been a waste of my time to get the fruit, but... I'm not going to be the one complaining." she retorted, making her boyfriend look at her with an aghast expression, as if what she said was paramount to betrayal.

As the Princess climbed up onto the saddle, she was offered a hand by Katara, who helped pull her up before she sat down beside her boyfriend, who had his arms crossed, trying to show his offence as visibly as possible.

"Oh stop it. You know I'm right."

"This is one of the times where being right is a relative thing." he retorted with a snarl, "That fruit's important to me."

"As important as meat?" she smugly questioned, the Water Tribe teen raising his eyes up, looking to the sky above them.

"No, it isn't." he conceded, "But we all want to eat."

"I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this, Sokka." his sister intervened in their conversation, making him groan with frustration.

"Urgh!" he leaned himself back onto Appa's saddle, "I can never win! All I want is a little certainty I'll have something to eat tomorrow."

"How about you cuddle up with a peach instead of your girlfriend?" Katara suggested, making Azula glare at her; she was crossing into territory that would easily agitate her, so she would stop her right in her tracks.

"There's no peaches in the sleeping roll." she declared, "Though it'd probably smell better than him."

"Hey!" Sokka gasped, his jaw dropping wide open, "I clean as often as I can."

"Clearly not enough." she added, making him face-palm.

"Am I the butt of everyone's jokes or something?" he asked with an exasperated voice.

"Only the harmless kind." she raised a finger, making him glare at her with contempt.

"My pride can be harmed." he clarified, making Katara snicker, obviously amused by his reaction; whether she thought he had little to be proud of or she just little making fun of him, the Princess felt a small moment of camaraderie with her.

She made a sarcastic face of surprise "Oh, sorry, I forgot about that."

He crossed his arms, turning his head away from her, "You can't help yourself." he mumbled, making her grin, knowing that he guessed right; she enjoyed mocking him, although she preferred when it was a proper argument rather than her just throwing insults.

"You're right about that, Sokka." she smirked at him, before Aang caught their attention, now sitting at the front of the sky-bison.

"Are we all ready to go?" he asked them, Sokka raising his hand into the air.

"Just fly already." he grumbled, still annoyed by being ganged up on by his girlfriend and sister.

"Don't mind him." Katara assured the young Air Nomad, "He's just being sour."

"You won't be sour when we're riding giant koi fish!" he declared with a grin, before turning to face ahead of them, "Appa, yip-yip!" he called on his sky-bison, who groaned, making Momo chitter uncomfortably, the flying-lemur jumping over to hide between Sokka and Azula, making both of them lean back in surprise.

"Ah!" her boyfriend yelped, "Go find your own place to hide!" he told the lemur, who then proceeded to jump into the tent bag, hiding in there as they began to fly up into the air with increasing speed, racing away from the grounds of the Air Temple.

Azula glanced back toward the temple, watching as she was able to appreciate its enormousness one last time before it began to recede away; she glanced back ahead of her, seeing that Aang was looking the same way with a sad look in his eyes. As much as he wanted to be giddy, he probably couldn't help but feel sad, or even guilty, about what had happened. She knew Sozin's actions couldn't be undone, but maybe she could do something to make sure that the Avatar wasn't the last of his people. She didn't know how he would repopulate the Air Nomads just by himself, but the thought of a twelve-year-old doing such things made her feel as disgusted as she did by Sokka's odours. The Princess was certain, however, that something needed to be done, and she felt a certain sense of obligation to at the very least help the young Avatar achieve both peace, but return the Four Nations to being four, not three, as they had been for a whole century.

"Don't worry." Azula assured the young Avatar, drawing his attention to her.

"Huh? About what?" he mumbled, confused by her sudden words; he hadn't realised that she was watching him, which made his confusion understandably.

"It's not like you have to defeat anyone that powerful." she admitted, making Katara raise a brow with confusion.

"Wait... who is Aang defeating?" she mumbled, the Princess raising a finger.

"All the Fire Nation renegades that continue to rule over the Earth Kingdom. Then if need be, my brother. That won't be that hard, trust me."

"But didn't he defeat you?" the young Avatar looked at her with slight concern, making her raise a finger.

"Oh, you see, I learn from my mistakes. I'm not teaching you lightning-bending." she explained herself, Aang looking at his friends with a perplexed face.

"It's not like I want to shoot lightning out of my fingers or anything." he admitted, making her chuckle.

"That's good to hear. Without lightning-redirection, my brother doesn't stand a chance against you once you've learned all the elements." she explained, making Katara raise a brow.

"But isn't it going to take ages for him to learn the elements? Does that mean the world is still going to be at war until he does?"

"Just because he hasn't mastered the elements doesn't mean he can't try and help reassert balance." she clarified, "You're the Avatar, Aang, not some random person who thinks they know better than everyone. People ought to listen to you, because you've got... or should have, the wisdom of all your past lives.

"And then something something Fire Nation colonies." Sokka mumbled, making her shoot him a glare, "What? I'm not wrong." he added, making her sigh, knowing that was still technically correct, as was the power of derisively vague wording.

"You're not, but you're grossly over-simplifying the situation." she admitted, "The Four Nations mightn't be four by the end of all this... but at the very least, there might be some peace and stability."

"That's what I want. I think that's... what everyone wants." Aang admitted, before he raised a finger to his chin, "I'm guessing everyone in the Fire Nation thinks 'peace' is a little different to what I'm thinking of."

"Correct." she conceded, "I'm accepting of the fact that the four nations need to exist apart, but there's a bit of an overlap problem at the moment. The Fire Nation colonies are the most obvious case, but Earth Kingdom refugees moving all over the place probably hasn't made the locals of the peaceful areas very happy." she explained, before furrowing a brow, "I don't think it's possible to relocate everyone, but it might be possible to at least help everyone move on from the war and become more... prosperous... um...." she began to mumble, realising that she was paraphrasing Fire Lord Sozin himself.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked her, "Did prosperity suddenly become a bad thing or something?" the Princess shaking her head, before she looked out back toward the Southern Air Temple as it receded from view.

"The last time someone from the Fire Nation had the same idea I had... it caused that." she pointed back to the temple, "Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but I believe that if the world is set right, then maybe people won't need to kill each other to try and find prosperity. Because that's what the Fire Nation has been doing for the past hundred years."

"That worked out brilliantly." Katara sarcastically remarked, making her sigh.

"For many in the Fire Nation, it did. The nobles and industrialists have become so much more wealthy from the war effort and new resources in the Earth Kingdom that I'm surprised the Fire lord hasn't started handing back tax money to the people."

"Could he do that?" Aang raised a brow with surprise.

"If he's not spending that money on ships, tundra tanks and whatever stupid things War Minister Qin is coming up with, then yes, there's enough money in the treasury to just hand it out to the commoners."

"What if they gave that money back to the people the Fire nation has harmed?" Aang asked her, making her scoff.

"Did you miss my whole 'rebuild the Southern Water Tribe' argument?" she questioned, before she realised that he hadn't actually heard that specific idea she had, "Oh... uh, when I become Fire Lord, or even just gain control of the colonies, I will be able to do just what you suggested. I want to make sure the Southern Water Tribe is a great nation once again, on par with their Northern neighbours, and even my own nation. The Earth Kingdom will get their fair share too, of course, as soon as their country is... fixed."

"The Dai Li and all that?" he asked her, referring back to the story she had told him about her and Sokka's adventure.

"Pretty much. They have to be dealt with. So do the Fire Nation rebels who want to rule the Earth Kingdom like tribal warlords." she added, making all of them look at her with confusion; they obviously hadn't read the history of the Fire Nation, which was full of much war and bloodshed, much of it perpetrated by just that, tribal warlords, "That's a Fire Nation history reference."

"Okay." Katara mumbled, slightly confused by what she was trying to say, "So, what you're saying is that we're going to make sure the Fire Nation's wealth is spread fairly back to the rest of the nations."

"To the benefit of them all, through the power of investment." she clarified, glad that she had scrubbed up well on her economics tutoring back when she was still in the palace, learning how to become Fire Lord.

"Anyway, we don't need to worry about that." Aang assured them, "That's a long way away. I haven't even learned airbending, or met these people Chief Hakoda told me about." he conceded, "But there is something we do need to worry about."

"What is that?" Katara asked him with bright-eyed curiosity, the young Avatar pointing toward the rear of the saddle where all their bags were lined up.

"Uh... we might need the map." he admitted, making Sokka chuckle.

"Ah, yes, giant koi fish." he recalled, leaning over to pull the map out of Aang's bag.

He unfurled it out in front of them, pointing down to their current location, which was the Southern Air Temple, "So we're here, at the Southern Air Temple, and we've got to go to... where?"

"Uh... it's in the Southern Sea. By an island." Aang gave him a rather unhelpful answer, the Water Tribe teen placing his fingers on his nose bridge as he sighed.

"There's a lot of islands. Could you narrow that down? How long did it take you to get there from the Southern Air Temple last time you went there?" he asked, the Avatar raising a brow.

"Uh... I think five... six days." he admitted, making the Princess sigh.

"Okay, we're going to have to land at some point and get more food. This fruit will not last us six days." she conceded, making Sokka groan.

"At least we know that now." he admitted with a sour tone, before he scratched at his chin, "So, if we travelled from here," he pointed to approximately where they thought his village was located, before pointing, "to here, in about three days, a six day journey would be in this area." he circled around the map, pointing out a large area, before he gestured to a few islands by the Earth Kingdom coast, "I'm guessing this is where you wanted to go?"

"Uh... yeah, I think that's about right." Aang glanced down at the map with a smile.

"At the very least it's in the direction we were aiming to go. Bato said the rebels were near a city... uh- Obashu?" he mumbled, unsure about what he was trying to say.

"You mean Omashu." she clarified, making him nod, Aang's brows raising with interest.

"Omashu? I have a friend in Omashu." he explained, before his tone quietened, remembering that a hundred years had passed since he had probably been there.

"Yep, that's the one." Sokka corrected himself, "In the mountains he said. Because earthbenders can defend it well or something like that." he recalled with a tone of uncertainty, making the Princess chuckle.

"Oh, it's not called Omashu anymore, by the way." she admitted, the young Avatar raising a brow.

"Huh... who renamed it?"

"Uh... I'm unsure exactly who decided on the new name, but it was named after my father. New Ozai." she explained, making Sokka snicker.

"Oh, that's funny. I wonder if your brother still rules it. That'd stick out like a sore thumb on his maps."

"Well, then he'd have two Ozai's under his thumb." she retorted, the Water Tribe teen cackling.

"I know I shouldn't be laughing, but I'm pretty sure you Dad's not a nice guy, so I feel a little less bad about it." he admitted, before raising a brow.

"Calling my father nice would both be offensive to him, and completely false." she conceded, making Katara and Aang look at each other uncomfortably.

"Who exactly is your Dad, other than being the last Fire Lord?" Aang questioned, making her chuckle.

"Somebody you would never want to meet, I can assure you." she conceded; even if she didn't personally hate her father, no matter how stupendous some of his worldviews were, she knew that her father would be disgusted by the very existence of Aang- airbenders were vegetarian pacifists, the antithesis of his very being.

"An evil guy?" he asked her, assuming most correctly her father's nature.

"I mean, he's not the most sadistic person I've met. There's people in the Fire Nation government far worse than him, but he has the most... extreme way of viewing the world. He mightn't enjoy bringing suffering to others, but he certainly believes that my nation ought to rule over all others, and sees all those inferior to him." she admitted, trying to give the most positive spin on her father she could.

She was sure that people like General Bujing, the man who had inadvertently gotten her brother banished, were far more uncaring for the lives of his countrymen, than her father, who genuinely prided himself on protecting and bettering his nation and its citizens.

"It sounds like we're lucky then... your brother's the Fire Lord and not him."

"Well, you're lucky. I'm less advantaged by this situation than you are." she admitted, before sighing, glancing out toward the mountains that surrounded them on all sides, "But I don't think he would have approved of my actions, anyway." she conceded, "I'm not the most dutiful daughter."

"Isn't everything you're doing trying to fulfil the very role your father wanted you to have?" katara questioned, "You want to be Fire Lord. That's what he wanted."

"Yes, it is. Our interests align, but I do not intend to rule like my father."

"How do you, then?" the Water Tirbe girl prodded her, the Princess pursing her lips into a smirk.

"I won't be taking advice from idiots, for one. I intend to make my nation as efficient as possible in achieving more wealth for its citizens, and then, for the world. War is not the best way to do that, by a long shot." she admitted, before glancing toward Sokka, who was rather in awe by her proclamation.

"So... development?" he suggested, recalling what he had told her would be the best policy to deal with potential rebellions in Ba Sing Se.

"Yes, Sokka. I didn't forget your advice. If we're lucky, those soldiers didn't forget it either and the Dai Li didn't take over Ba Sing Se again." she admitted, making him scoff.

"Yeah, I don't think my advice would have helped that much." he conceded, "But maybe we can change that."

"Change what? Have you got some new-crazy-overthrowing-somebody plan again?" his sister asked him, the Water Tribe teen looking back at her smugly.

"Of course not, I just need to get my good friend the Freedom Fighters to do it."

"Sokka. A bunch of angry teenagers won't overthrow the Dai Li. They can't." she argued, the Water Tribe warrior raising a finger.

"No. They can't, but I'm pretty sure they can persuade a lot of angry refugees in the Lower Ring to do it."

"That sounds like a... what do you call that?" Aang raised a brow, unable to find the word to describe what Sokka had just suggested.

"A revolution. Or, as my father would call it, 'a mob destroying the institutions of society'." she explained, before tensing up, realising that wasn't the best description.

"How about, uh... mass liberation?" the Water Tribe boy gave her a better description.

"Brilliant. If only the Fire Nation could liberate themselves en masse from my brother and save me a whole world of trouble."


	6. Chapter 6

Holding one hand on her cheek, Katara rested her elbow down on Appa's saddle, glancing out toward the seemingly endless body of water before them. She hadn't realised how massive the ocean was until she travelled across it on a sky-bison, though according to Sokka, the parts of sea they had gone across were pretty small stretches interspersed with islands, and that the biggest areas of open water were still to come. They had spent an entire night sleeping on Appa's saddle, flying over sea when they went to bed and still flying over it when they woke up. She knew that it would still be a while until they got to the Earth Kingdom, but in the meantime, Aang was searching for the place where he had once rode the giant koi fish. Her brother said they were probably going in the right direction, but even if they did miss it, they had been heading in the right direction to reach the city of Omashu, or as Azula had called it, New Ozai. She yawned, realising that without doing much physical activity outside of picking wild berries, fruits and nuts when they camped out, she was always feeling tired. She turned around, seeing Sokka dozing off beside Azula, who was idling lying down, glancing up at the sky above them. The Princess felt a little self-conscious when she realised that the Water Tribe girl had looked at her, and turned her eyes downward, taking note of her boyfriend, who was snoring lightly as he slept.

"Always taking every opportunity to sleep." she simply commented on his behaviour, before glancing toward Katara, "I'm guessing you are as bored as I am."

"Hmph, yeah, you could say that. I've already mended Sokka's pants after he tore them. I really don't have much to do right now." she admitted, making the Princess cringe slightly.

"I should have been the one to mend them... or I should have forced him to do it. You shouldn't have to mend your brother's pants when he's the one going out tearing them." she admitted, making the Water Tribe girl smile ever so slightly as the kindness that Azula was offering, despite her annoyed tone.

"Thanks." she simply nodded toward Azula, who turned her eyes away, almost as if she didn't want her appreciation; it made sense that she didn't think it was necessary, seeing that she probably thought she was doing her job as a girlfriend, which was something that didn't need to be praised, "I still need something to do, though."

"How about meditation?" the other girl suggested nonchalantly, "Calmness and determination come hand in hand." she told her, making Katara chuckle; the idea that peace of mind was what allowed Azula to be as tough as she was seemed a little absurd, if not misguided, in her eyes.

"There's no need for meditation!" Aang piped up, earning both of their attention as they looked toward him, "We're nearly there!"

"That's what you said an hour ago." the Princess snidely remarked, the young Air Nomad shaking his head.

"No, no, look!" he pointed ahead of them, the two girl's tilting their heads over the edge of the saddle to see that they were approaching an island.

"Is this the island?" the Water Tribe girl asked, wanting to be sure that they hadn't just landed on another of the numerous islands dotting the Southern Sea.

"This is it. I'm sure." he smiled at her confidently, "Just wait and see. I'll be riding the elephant koi soon enough!"

"I'm sure you will be." Azula remarked in a dry voice, "Just remember that Katara can't waterbend properly, so if you end up falling off, you're going to have to get yourself out." she warned, making the aforementioned Water Tribe teen raise a brow with offence.

"I can waterbend." she snarled at her, before her expression softened, knowing that Azula, no matter how snarky, was accurate in her judgement, "Just... not as well as I'd like."

"Don't worry. My airbending makes swimming easier." he assured them, "I'm actually pretty good at it."

"That's a bold claim to make, young Avatar." Azula mockingly deferred to him, Aang raising his head up high.

"You'll all see it." he argued, before narrowing his eyes, "Maybe not Sokka, though, he might sleep through that too."

At that moment, as if it were because he was referenced, her brother's eyelids fluttered open, "Huh... what did you say? Something about me?"

"Well, you're awake now." Aang grinned at him, before gesturing toward the island which was quickly approaching, "I'm about to ride the giant koi fish!"

Sokka yawned before shrugging his shoulders, "Okay, you do that." he simply acknowledged his decision before raising a finger, "But, uh, as long as we can find some food afterwards, I'll be happy." he admitted, before glancing toward Momo, who was resting on the saddle nearby, "And a certain someone doesn't get to eating it all."

"Momo isn't eating it all. It's a group effort between you two." Katara joked, making Azula snicker, appreciative of her humour.

"Too true." she agreed, before she rose up from her seated position on the saddle, "Now, are we going to camp out on this island, Aang?" she asked of him, the young Avatar, scratching at his chin.

"Huh, I don't think I ever stayed here... but we should be fine." he acknowledged, before he turned his attention to guiding Appa as they drew nearer to the island.

"I just hope that there's something nice for me to eat here. We can't eat the giant koi fish, can we?" Sokka asked of the Avatar, who looked both confused and concerned by such a question.

"Uh... I don't think that's a good idea, and what did the elephant koi ever do to you?"

"Nothing. I just bet they'd be tasty. So big you could feed a village with the meat." he suggested, Katara raising a brow with interest.

"Hmph, we could use some fish like that at our village. Then we wouldn't have to catch all the little fish, only one big one." she acknowledged, before she glanced back toward the island, "But Aang's right, we best leave them alone. I doubt any of..." she began to speak, before glancing at Azula for a moment, "us want to hunt them."

"Enough about hunting! Let's ride some elephant koi!" Aang raised his voice as he made Appa dip down on a harsh again, sending them down toward the island, which they were now flying above; it wasn't the biggest island she had seen on their journey so far, but it was expansive, and she could spot out some smokestacks in the distance, telling her that there were people living on it.

As they neared the ground, the young Air Nomad pulled the reins up, settling his sky-bison down by the beach, which he looked at with an intent grin, "This is definitely it." he assured them, before jumping off of the saddle with the assistance of his airbending.

Katara turned around, glancing towards the water, which seemed rather calm; if it weren't for the slight chill in the air, she'd say it might be nice to swim in it. That calmness was shattered a few moments later as the aforementioned giant fish jumped out of the water, landing back in with a massive splash. Her jaw dropped with utter amazement; even though it was some distance away, she could already tell that the fish was massive.

"Wow! That really is giant!" she acknowledged, Aang turning back up to face her and the others.

"Now, I get to ride it! Katara, you've got to watch me!" he told her, the Water Tribe teen nodding before he began to disrobe, taking his layered tunic off before taking off his pants and boots, leaving himself bare in only his underwear.

She thought that he might have been at the very least a little self-conscious, but the Avatar proudly strutted off toward the water, jumping into it without a care in the world. He then began to swim toward the koi fish, Katara dismounting from the saddle to stand by the shoreline, watching Aang intently as he approached the giant fish; she widened her eyes as she watched him dive down, suddenly disappearing before he rose out of the water again, now on the back of an elephant koi. It dove back into the water, before appearing once again a few moments later; Katara beamed with excitement, seeing how he was able to do it in the first place. She watched as he rode along on the koi fish's back, waving out toward them, laughing giddily, although she could only see the wide-mouthed expression on his voice, and couldn't hear his voice.

"Whooh!" she waved back, giving him a little encouragement; she momentarily glanced back toward Azula and Sokka, who both were rather disinterested, though the Princess was at least watching as Aang continued ride the koi fish, jumping into and out of the water again and again.

She glanced beside her to see Momo jumping up and down, chuckling slightly before turning back to face her brother and his girlfriend, "You've got to admit, it's pretty cool."

"It's not like he's doing anything. The fish is doing all the work." her brother simply gestured toward Aang, who continued to ride the elephant koi; in the corner of her eye, she noticed Appa trying to munch on a fallen branch.

"Appa! What are you doing!" she called to the sky-bison whose eyes darted to her momentarily before he continued trying to chew on the branch.

Azula glanced over her shoulder to take note of the sky-bison, "Hmph, I don't think he should be eating that."

"Even if Aang says you have five stomaches, you can't just eat sticks!" she declared, racing over to the sky-bison, grabbing the end of the branch he was trying to eat, "There's probably some grass nearby for you to eat. How about that instead of this?" she suggested to Appa, who grunted gruffly before exhaling, turning his head around as he let go of the tree branch.

Once she got the stick free, she watched as the flying bison heeded her suggestion, moving around to gnaw at some grass nearby, cropping up around the base of a tree. The forest that lined the shoreline was quite desolate, with little grass, but there was enough for their giant companion to eat before they took flight once again. She guessed, from what her brother had already deduced, that they were only a day away from the Earth Kingdom, which was a relief to consider, knowing that the sooner they got there, the sooner they would be able to find the rebels Bato had spoken of.

"There's something in the water!" she heard her brother call out, Katara raising a brow with interest.

"What?" she mumbled, before pacing back towards the shore, where both Azula and Sokka were standing with grimaces, "What's wrong?"

"He's going to get himself eaten by whatever just ate that koi fish." the Princess gestured out toward a dark shadow in the water, before her boyfriend shouted out, with a far more panicked look on his face.

"Aang! Get out!" he called on the young Avatar, Katara stepping forward, fearing the worst; she hadn't seen the creature that they were speaking of, but if the shadow in the water was anything to indicate its dimensions, she knew that their friend would be in danger, even if were a great bender.

"Get back!" she screamed out, waving out to him to try and get his attention; when he glanced their way, he waved back at them, not realising what danger he was in.

A moment later the koi fish was pulled from underneath him, throwing the young Air Nomad into the water, much to Katara's fear, "Aang!" she called out his name, before stepping forward, thinking that maybe she could try her best to waterbend; if she could help him in any way, she would do so.

Azula grasped her shoulder, looking at her with a serious face, "Don't put yourself in danger." she chided her, before gesturing over toward Aang, "He's an airbender, a master of evasion. He'll get away from whatever's in the water."

She tensed up before nodding, glancing back out toward Aang, taking note of a massive fin that was emerging out of the water; the young Avatar screamed out as soon as he saw it, racing along the surface of the water with the assistance of his bending, which was both amazing, as well as terrifying to watch, seeing the massive creature that loomed behind him.

"Waaaaaaah!" Aang screamed out at the top of his, racing right toward them.

Azula suddenly grabbed Sokka by the shoulder, throwing him down to the ground, inadvertently allowing her brother to narrowly dodge the agile airbender as he reached the shore, nearly flying straight into a tree behind them, when he came to a halt, he skid backward, pulling a lot of dust into the air, before whacking his back into the tree behind him.

Katara ran back toward Aang, who was looking rather bewildered after his experience, standing up to go and grab his tunic and pants, which were lying nearby, "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah... I- I have no idea what that was." he mumbled, before he pulled his pants up, taking his tunic and pulling it over his head.

Sokka stepped closer with a shaken expression, "I don't think we want to stay around here and find out. Time to get back into the sky." he gestured toward Appa, before suddenly, Katara took note of shadows above them, her eyes darting up to see a number of warriors clad in green jumping down to land around them, wielding golden fans. She stepped back, moving back to back with her brother and Aang, who was now completely dressed.

"Oh, come on!" her brother growled with frustration, immediately pulling out his fan as he took a defensive stance.

Aang tried to airbend at the attackers, but found his hands grappled, before he was thrown back out of the circle by one of the women; Katara tried to put her hands up to defend herself, but was grabbed by the shoulders, before her hood was pulled over her head. She then found herself thrown to the ground, grunting before she tried to pull her hood back off, only to find her arms grabbed, and from the feel of her wrists tightening together, bound.

"Let go of me!" she growled, before she suddenly heard a grunting noise above her, and then the sound of a girl crying out.

"Get your hands off my boyfriend!" she heard Azula shout out, and the following sounds were a mixture of grunts and what she guessed were jabs; she didn't hear anything that suggested that she was bending, and before long, she heard her brother's signature move, chi-blocking, doing its work.

"I can't move- I can't more my arms!" she heard one of their attackers cry out.

"That's what you get for sneak attacking us. Sneak attacks never count!" she heard her brother quip confidently; Katara struggled to get her arms free from the binds they were put in, but was able to get her hood off of her head, allowing her to see the fight that was unfolding around her.

Sokka was holding off three of the enemy warriors at a time, while his girlfriend wasn't in her field of view, she could hear footsteps behind her; the Water Tribe girl instinctively dropped down, watching with awe as Azula front-flipped over her, before kicking one of the enemies in the chest; she then teamed up with her brother grabbing the fans of one of their enemies, using it to deflect their attacks as they tried to subdue the two of them.

"Stop fighting!" she heard Aang's voice cry out, the young Avatar landing up in one of the trees above them, having already gotten himself free, "I'm the Avatar. We're not here to attack your island." he assured them, the attackers looking up at him with awe.

"Th-that's airbending." one of them mumbled, another pointing up at him.

"He can't be lying. No one should be able to airbend except the Avatar!" she piped up, before Sokka and Azula both loosened their stances, glancing back down at Katara, who was still on the ground with her hands bound behind her back.

"Are you alright, Katara?" her brother asked her, the Water tribe girl shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm fine." she told them, "Except for the fact I can't get up." she conceded, making the Princess snicker, before she approached her, ready to untie her binds.

One of the enemies stepping in between her and Katara, "Just wait a minute. What are you doing on Kyoshi Island? Where has the Avatar been for a hundred years?"

"He wanted to ride the giant koi fish, and he was frozen." the Princess answered her question with a terse, slightly agitated voice, "Now, please get out of my way. I'd like to make sure my friend is out of those binds you put on her." she told her, before tilting her head to look down at the Water Tribe girl, "I'm sure you'd agree."

"Yes please." she nodded with an uneasy smile, the girl who was standing in front of her turning around and glancing down at her; her eyes were suspicious, although not necessarily of Katara- perhaps she had realised that Azula was a Fire Nation, even if she hadn't used her firebending.

Once she reached her, the Princess leaned over and untied the bindings on her wrists, allowing her to climb back up to her feet, slightly pained from the fact she had been forced into to the ground almost face-first, "Are you in a helpful mood today?" she quipped, making the Fire Nation girl snicker.

"I protect my allies." she assured her, as if to try and devalue any sentiment of friendship the two of them might have had.

When she glanced around, now realising that the fighting had come to a sudden halt, all of them, their group and the green-wearing female warriors all looked at each other, "Well, this is awkward." Sokka simply broke the silence, "Did you guys have a village or something we could go to?"

One of the warriors, the same one that had stood between Azula and her, glared her brother down, "And why would you like to know that?"

"Uh... I want to buy some food. We have money, and... I'm hungry." he simply admitted, the warriors looking amongst each other before the same girl nodded.

"We would have to check with our village headman. He doesn't like outsiders coming into our village, or our island. We don't want spies." she explained, the Water Tribe girl glancing at her Fire Nation 'ally' with some unease; if they were on to Azula, she was unsure if she could stop them from trying to arrest her or worse.

"We're not spies." Aang assured her as he dropped down to the ground, "We're just here... well, I'm here to ride the elephant koi. Now that I've done that, we can be on our way." he assured them, "Unless, Sokka really wants food that bad."

"Something that isn't nuts or wildberries would be nice for a change." he stressed, making Katara roll her eyes; of all the things her brother could be concerned about after they nearly got captured was if he could get food out of their new not-enemies.

"Come with us." the warrior told them, before she narrowed her eyes at them for a moment, "Our village is just up this slope." she explained, before turning her heels, her fellow warriors moving along, a few of them limping, probably because of Sokka's chi-blocking.

The Water Tribe girl glanced to her friends for a moment, Aang giving an uneasy smile in return to the girl's offer, following after them cautiously; Katara didn't relent to follow after the young Avatar, knowing that it would be better for them all to stay together. Sokka didn't relent to follow their former opponents, obviously under the pretenses of getting some breakfast, but Azula was far more uneasy about going with. She stood by the treeline for a few moments, Katara glancing back her way and gesturing for her to follow; it took Momo climbing up onto her shoulder to force her to begin following, making a sigh to voice her frustration with their situation. She obviously didn't want to walk into a situation where her identity as the former Crown Princess of the Fire Nation might be exposed, especially they were now in the Earth Kingdom, where people were far more likely to despise her for actions she had played no part in.

She turned her eyes ahead, glancing at the warriors, who led them in along a track toward a village, which she could see was demarcated by a large wooden statue; upon closer inspection she realised that the statue had the same appearance as that of the warriors. Perhaps they were imitating the likeness of a person in their attire, though she couldn't be certain. When they approached what looked like the village the warrior had spoken of, one that consisted of a few wooden houses all lined up along a single street, she saw a number of villagers walking out to greet them; they were wearing blue, like Water Tribesmen did, although she could tell from their complexion that they were Earth Kingdom people, not from the Water Tribe, with paler skin and darker hair than them.

"Suki, who are these people?" she heard one of the villagers call out to a warrior, distinguished by his older age and unusual hairstyle, with a mass of hair on top of his head tied up, making it sprout out of his head like some kind of plant.

"Oyaji." the same girl who had spoken to them earlier, who she had realised was 'Suki', spoke to the elder, "We have found someone." she explained rather simply, before gesturing toward Aang, "The Avatar."

"Th-the Avatar? That's preposterous. The Avatar disappeared a hundred years ago." he narrowed his eyes with a disbelieving tone.

"That's me." the aforementioned Avatar stepped forward, pointing his thumb toward his chest, "Nice to meet you, I'm Aang."

"If you're really the Avatar, then show me that your can airbend." the older man demanded, crossing his arms with a stern look in his eyes.

Aang grinned giddily, "Wait, you want to see a trick?" he asked him rhetorically, pulling some marbles out of his pocket, "Check this out!" he exclaimed, before spinning the marbles around in between his two open palms, making them move so fast they looked like a solid circle; she realised that the precision to achieve such a bending technique must have been proof that he wasn't just any airbender, but a master of the art, even if he was using it for something rather unproductive.

"By the spirits... you really are the Avatar!" Oyaji exclaimed with utter amazement, "The Avatar... has returned!" he raised his hands up into the air, the villagers behind him cheering with glee; Katara wondered for a moment if everyone would be so happy to see Aang, who was actually surprised by how happy the people were to see him.

"Wow..." he mumbled to himself, before turning to face her with a grin, "Was my trick really that good?"

"It was a pretty cool trick." she assured him, patting him on the shoulder.

"You know what's a cooler trick?" Azula raised her voice, her boyfriend raising a finger.

"Now is not the time to get cocky... now is the time to ask for food." he argued, the Princess looking at her boyfriend with a disbelieving face.

"Urgh... you're never going to change, are you?"

"Not where it counts." he grinned, before raising a hand, "Mister Oyaji!"

The village leader glanced back toward her brother with a surprised face, "Uh, yes?"

"Yes, I'd like to ask if you have a market or something like that. I want to buy some food for myself... uh, and my friends." he explained himself, the elder chuckling at him.

"Oh, you don't need to do that. We will throw a feast in celebration of your return. I would only assume you would want to be well fed if you are travelling to master the elements, young Avatar." he turned to Aang, who bowed respectfully to Oyaji.

"Thank you, your generosity is really appreciated." he smiled at him with humility, before he glanced up toward the statue that stood before me, "So that's Avatar Kyoshi?"

"Avatar Kyoshi? You know another name... wait wasn't that the name of the island." Sokka scratched at his chin, the young Avatar nodding.

"Yep! They must have named this island after her. She was the Avatar before the last one. An Earth Kingdom Avatar." he explained, before glancing toward the warriors who had attacked them, "And those girls, they dress like her."

"Yes, we do." Suki stepped forward, catching their attention, "It is our greatest honour to her name for her service to our island. She trained the first of our warriors, hundreds of years ago, and now we wear our make-up and armour in her image."

"So you're like the Kyoshi... warriors." Sokka concluded, the girl snickering at his comment.

"Yes, the Kyoshi Warriors. That's our name." she clarified, making him raise a brow with surprise.

"Huh, that was easier to guess than I thought. Sorry for beating you all up back there."

"I had the situation under control." the warrior narrowed her eyes at him, making Azula snort.

"Under control? He was about to chi-block all of your girls and then you would have been our prisoners." she retorted, making the other girl glare back at her.

"You're acting awfully rude for someone who was just offered the hospitality of our village." she concluded with a slight snarl, to which she simply shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm just stating the facts as I see them." she argued, Katara pointing toward her with an accusing finger, not wanting the Princess to take her argument any further.

"Just shut up. You know where this will go. It's not happening." she demanded, making her chuckle.

"Ahaha, you think I want to fight this girl?" she gestured to Suki, before pursing her lips upward, "No, your brother is a far more worthy sparring partner for me." she simply dismissed her unstated argument, making Katara's jaw drop; if Azula was trying to get Suki to fight her, she was doing a good job.

Oyaji stepped over toward the warrior, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Now, Suki, don't do anything brash. They are our guests... even if that one is as rancid-tongued as a snake."

Azula raised a brow at his rather insulting description of her, but she didn't try to argue as the leader of the Kyoshi warriors walked away, up the street. The villagers were already crowding around Aang, and Katara forced herself to step back, not wanting to get swarmed by them.

"Wow, wow! I can do more tricks if you like!" the young Air Nomad assured them, Katara glancing back toward her brother.

"A little too eager?" she asked him, to which he simply nodded.

"I have a feeling we'll be here a little longer than a feast."

* * *

Sokka licked his lips, realising that the feast they had been given was more than he had been hoping for; he expected to get maybe some roast meat, some fish, and maybe even a little rice. Instead they were given something that he could only compare to a dessert, but for breakfast, instead of after dinner. He'd only had desert when he was staying at the Governor's Palace in Ba Sing Se, and the food he was enjoying at that moment was far better, though perhaps it was the pure quantity of dessert for him to enjoy that had him salivating.

He turned to his girlfriend with a giddy grin, "This is delicious... you've got to try it."

Azula glanced back at him with a rather snide glare, "Fine. But I'm not getting used to this."

"What do you mean... you're a Pr-" Aang began before Sokka raised a finger hush him; even if he was enamoured by the meal he was eating, he did not forget the fact that it was his responsibility as a boyfriend to keep his girlfriend safe, and in this case, it was from their own hosts.

"Don't mention the p-word here." he placed his finger over the young Avatar's lips, "Do you know what they'd do to her?"

"Uh... not really." he admitted, Katara grimacing slightly as she turned from the dessert she was eating.

"It's not actually what they'd do to her, but what she'd do to them." she clarified, making Sokka chuckle; Azula had nothing to fear from a bunch of nonbending fighters, rather they should be the ones to fear her.

"That's right." he agreed, "But we shouldn't worry about that." he told them, his expression brightening as he gestured down to the table below them, "We should worry about how we're going to eat all of this."

"You mean, how you're going to eat all of it." the Princess corrected him, the Water Tribe warrior grinning giddily before he took another bite; he simply shrugged his shoulders, conceding that she was right- he was going to eat as much as he liked, and if that ended up being all the food on the table, so be it.

"Maybe we should give you a fake name or something like that." Aang piped up with an idea, Sokka's lips widening into a smug grin as he glanced back toward his girlfriend.

"A yes, Zaira Junior." he joked, earning a glare from the Princess, who didn't appreciate his reference to the first time they had used pseudonyms, "No, but seriously, how about Saila. That sounds less F- you know what." he clarified, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, that's fine." she conceded, "As long as you call me by my proper name in private, then we'll have no problem."

"What would the issue be?" he raised a brow, confused why she'd be annoyed about him trying to ensure her safety.

"I prefer the dignity of being called by my actual name, thank you very much." she glared at him, before taking a bite from one of the deserts, her glare faltering as she tasted the meal.

"It is good, right?" he beamed at her, the Princess crossing her arms and turning away from him, obviously annoyed by the fact that he was right.

"What's the whole Zaira thing about anyway?" Aang raised a brow, Sokka realising that she hadn't detailed that specific part of their story.

"The last time we were in the Earth Kingdom, that's the name she used to try and disguise her identity. I don't know if you've realised, but she's kind of a big deal." Sokka explained the backstory rather succinctly, before taking another dessert into his hands.

He found it to be more interesting than talking about things that happened six months prior; said memories were so far away that the memories were a grayish haze that only seemed to feature a few quips from Azula and an uncomfortable bed in a barn.

"That explains why everyone keeps recognising her." Katara acknowledged, "Blue fire is really rare, isn't it?"

"For all I know, I'm the only one who can make it." Azula conceded, "Which I realise is more of a curse than a blessing at this point."

"Can't you make it... uh... not blue?" the young Avatar questioned, making her narrow her eyes at him with tightly held back anger.

"My f- my abilities are powered by my emotions... primarily my drive, and my anger. Without those I can't bend, so I don't have much of a choice in the matter."

"Wait- did you say can't bend?" Katara questioned her with surprise, Aang nodding.

"I've heard that's a thing... once the monks told us a story, that if an airbender became too attached to material things, that their bending abilities would weaken."

"Is that true?" she questioned once more, her tone somewhere between skeptical and surprised; at that moment, Sokka took another bite from one of the desserts, not overly interested in the conversation he was stuck hearing.

"I- uh- don't know, really. I thought it was just a story. I don't want to try and test that story... not having my bending, that'd be like not having Appa!" his voice rose, obviously sounding fearful of such a potential scenario.

The Water Tribe warrior then licked the sweet icing off of his fingers, before glancing around at the others, "Maybe you three can have your bending conversation and I can just eat all the desserts." he suggested, Azula grabbing him by the back, glaring at him with a serious face.

"You need to stop eating, Sokka. You're going to be sick. How about you go for a walk, and then come back? If you're still hungry, you can eat then."

"Why would I go for a walk? That just sounds like too much effort." he sighed with frustration, his girlfriend gesturing towards the door they had entered the building through.

"Because you want to remain at peak fitness. You said it yourself, you want to be able to protect your friends... you've got to stay in shape." she argued, making him tilt his head back as he sighed; as much as he wanted to continue eating, he knew she had a pretty good point.

"Okay, you have a point." he conceded, before cocking a smirk, "Have fun talking about your jerkbending. I'm sure you'll gain the greatest wisdom ever!" he told them with sarcastic enthusiasm, earning annoyed glares from all of them, including Aang, who was the most forgiving and kind person he knew.

He turned his heels, smugly appreciating the disdainful looks on their faces, before he made his way out of the building, still chewing on one of the desserts; he took another bite from it, enjoying the sweet taste of the chewy, sugary dessert, which seemed to be some kind of fruit pastry. He turned around at a corner, taking the staircase that led him down to the bottom floor of the building, before he walked straight out of the main doors of the building, walking past a few villagers who were cleaning up the floor. They took little notice of him, seeing that he wasn't the Avatar, simply one of his companions, and a nonbender at that.

Once he walked outside, he squinted for a few moments as his eyes readjusted to the midday sun, before he glanced around for a few moments, wondering where he ought to walk. He decided that he didn't really care where he went, and just began walking down the main street of the village, taking note of a massing group of young girls who were standing below a window into the room where they had been eating. He concluded that they were Aang's fangirls, which made him snicker at the thought of people like that; obsessed with someone who had little care for them, not more than they did for any other ordinary person. Sokka knew the young Avatar probably wasn't that interesting, but he didn't mind that; all the attention that Aang was getting would make him nervous, so being a nobody honestly worked in his favour.

The Water Tribe teen made his way down through the village, glancing at the houses and the villagers that were standing by them; the people seemed rather idle, although he guessed that most people were taking their lunch breaks. The painters, however, were not, still working on the statue of Avatar Kyoshi, which they had begun cleaning up as soon as Aang was revealed to be the Avatar. He looked at the statue, considering for a moment how tall the past Avatar might have actually been; statues weren't necessarily life sized, so it was a little hard to tell.

"Big, serious looking lady. If Aang was as serious loooking as that, he might be able scare people without any bending." he joked to himself, before furrowing a brow, "Huh, if we made Aang scary... then we wouldn't need to fight anybody." he acknowledged, before shrugging his shoulders, "What do I know? He's a magical dude who had bend all the elements." he conceded, before turning his heels once more walking around toward the side of the village, back into the wooded areas that surrounded the village on all sides.

He made his way into the forest, feeling his stomach ache slightly, realising that Azula was right; he probably had eaten too much, and if he had eaten any more, he probably would have felt even sicker. He glanced around, taking note of all the tall trees which obscured the sun's light in such a way that the shadows formed lines across the forest floor, all running parallel to each other. He found it a little interesting, and began to step across the shadows, as if they were gaps in the ground. He knew it was a little childish, but he didn't have anything better to do, and he knew that the exercise would do him good. His leaps eventually became wide strides, and his pace increased to a solid jog as he made his way up along through the wooded area, back up the hillside on the opposite side of the houses. He remembered when he had walked through the forest in the Earth Kingdom for days on end, and was relieved that he wasn't going to have to do that again; the power of the flying bison was one that he would use to his advantage when it came to crossing the wide expanses that he might have otherwise had to trek on foot.

When he reached the top of the hill, he took note of a house that was isolated from the rest of the village, and slowed his pace as he approached it, glancing inside to realise that it was the Kyoshi Warriors, the girls that he had fought that morning. They were currently in the middle of their training, doing some sets with their fans, which intrigued him enough that he approached even closer, to the point at which they could clearly see him. When they stopped their sets, one of them gestured out toward him.

"Ah, the paralysing boy decided to show his face." she quipped, although her tone was rather disdainful; he guessed that they weren't very happy when he actually started fighting back against them.

"It's called chi-blocking." he corrected the girl, who rolled her eyes, "And, uh, sorry for this morning. I got a little carried away."

"That was actually quite impressive, I'm not going to lie." another warrior admitted, the one he remembered to be called Suki by Oyaji, crossing her arms with a genuine look of interest, "How do you do it?"

"Chi-block? Oh, it's pretty simple. You just hit somebody's vital chi paths to block the flow, and then that part of their body becomes useless; paralysed, and if they're a bender, they can't bend."

"Temporarily useless." one of the warriors quipped, "My arms are fine now." she explained, indicating that she was the one he had paralysed the arms of; she was trying to bind his arms, after all, so he had to react in kind.

"Yeah, you'd need to be able to bend inside someone's body to actually stop the chi paths permanently." he explained, "Which no one can do." he acknowledged, before furrowing a brow, "Or maybe they can. I'm unsure."

"I'd rather not try and find out." Suki quipped, before gesturing to him, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you and your friends were having your brunch, uh- feast thing." she simply observed, the Water Tribe teen shrugging his shoulders idly.

"Eh, my girlfriend told me to walk off my meal. She said I ate too much... which given the stomach ache that's coming on right now, I'd say she was right."

"The snarky one?" she raised a brow, making Sokka snort; that was the most succinct way to describe Azula, in his eyes.

"Yes, the snarky one." he chuckled to himself, before his eyes moved up to the warriors, "Would you mind if I trained with you guys? That would help me work off the breakfast desserts I just had."

"Sure, but on one condition." Suki clarified, raising a finger, "You have to show us how to chi-block." she told him, the warrior shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, I could do that. I wanna see how you guys nearly captured us. That was pretty impressive." he admitted; he had fought a fair few people in his time, but the closest he had actually gotten to getting captured, bar the time he was intoxicated and taking a piss outside a Ba Sing Se bar, was that morning.

Walking into the building, he grabbed his waist, pulling his parka up and over his shoulders, knowing that if he was actually going to do some training, his heavy furs would only slow him down. He placed it down to the side, stretching his arms out before he glanced toward the warriors.

"So, how long have you all been warriors for?" he asked them, just curious as what kind of experience he would be going against; he guessed that they hadn't left their island to fight in the war, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be tough opponents.

"We start training at around the age of eight. Sometimes younger, sometimes older." Suki clarified, before one of the warriors raised a fist.

"It doesn't matter how long we've been training. It's the skills that count." she piped up, before pointing toward the Water Tribe teen, "So, then... are you even a warrior?"

"Uh, yeah, of course I am." he assured her, making the group of girls look amongst themselves, snickering with amusement.

"Really, then where's your weapons?" one of them retorted, making him narrow his glare at them.

"My weapons?" he asked them, before he drew out his boomerang, "This is my boomerang, my most prized possession. My other weapons on Appa's saddle. Appa's our sky-bison- the giant fluff monster who your people are feeding."

"How does that thing even work? It kinda looks like a curved knife." one of the warriors narrowed her eyes at it, stepping closer, as if she were about to try and touch it.

"It's thrown. Not like a spear. It comes back." he clarified, making them look at him with clearly confused expressions; it seemed that nobody ever understood what a boomerang was.

"Yeah... well I bet it's not as versatile as a fan." the same warrior argued, before pulling out her own weapon, which was furled up like a folded piece of paper, opening it with the flick of her wrist, "These can be used to block and strike." she explained, before dropping her weapon down slightly, before glancing toward Suki, "So... can we beat him up yet? I'm kind of scratching for a rematch."

The leader of the group crossed her arms, glancing at him momentarily before nodding, a smug look appearing on her face, "Go ahead."

"Get back!" the warrior told her comrades, who obliged as they moved toward the edges of the room, giving her and Sokka the space to fight, "Lemme fight the boomerang boy."

"Uh... the name is Sokka." he clarified, rather embarrassed by such a nickname, even if it was better than the usual 'snow savage' he got from the Fire Nation people he knew, including his girlfriend, "And you are?"

"Amari." she clarified with a pursing of her lips, moving into a fighting stance, "Now, are you going to just stand there and let me knock you out or is this going to be a proper fight?" she quipped, prodding him into taking his own stance, with his left foot forward and right behind, his boomerang in his right hand, ready to be used in any way necessary to defeat his latest sparring partner.

"Yes. I'll go easy on you." he prodded her in return, making the warrior snarl at him slightly.

She stepped forward, looking as if she was about to try and charge at him with both her fans, but instead raised her left foot, moving her arms around in a circular motion, furling up one of her fans and throwing it right at him, Sokka forced to raise his hands to block the weapon as it nearly hit him in the head. In the motion he had covered his field of view with his arms, the Kyoshi Warrior stepped forward, closing the gap between them, striking him in the right shoulder with her other fan, making him flinch slightly, although he raised his boomerang up, swinging to clip her headband; she looked rather relieved, as she had only narrowly dodged getting her face cut by the sharp side of his boomerang. She then grabbed his right bicep, stopping him from using his arm for a moment, before she kneed him in the gut, making him gasp for air; even if he hadn't expected such a quick move, Amari probably didn't realise that he had already sent his left hand to jab at her right side. She grunted, before she began to raise her right arm, ready to hit him in head with her fan, only to realise that her arm had gone limp.

"Oh shit." she mumbled, taking his grappled arm and tossing it toward him, as if to delay the inevitable as he jabbed her in the collarbone, taking out her main chi-path, which inadvertently made it impossible for her to jump out of the way, let alone stand.

As she fell back onto the ground, he glanced down at her smugly, throwing his boomerang up into the air before grabbing it with his left hand. He pointed it down toward her before thinking of something cocky to say, but couldn't think of anything other than what she had mocked him about earlier.

"Who said I needed a weapon?" he quipped, the Kyoshi Warrior glancing back at him spitefully.

"You still had that stupid boomerang." she growled at him.

"No, no, he has a point." Suki intervened in their conversation, much to his surprise, "His chi-blocking was what he actually hit you with. He missed your face with the boomerang." she argued, making Amari glare back at the leader with frustration, huffing with frustration.

"Then how can I beat him, huh? If we fight at close-range, he can just chi-block me." she asked her, Sokka clearing his throat, realising that she had actually missed a part of his fighting style.

"I can also do it with my boomerang at a distance." he clarified that point, wanting to stress that he could chi-block from a distance, though it was usually a once-off tactic in any given fight, seeing that he only had one boomerang.

"Oh, that's just brilliant." Amari sighed, before her superior pursed her lips upward.

"Well, that 'brilliant' tactic is something we'll be able to use if Sokka's a good enough teacher." she argued, the Kyoshi Warrior smirking as she realised the potential outcome from their training.

"Oh... good point." she acknowledged, before standing up, glaring him down with a regained sense of confidence, "At some point, I'm going to beat you at your own game, boomerang boy."

"Good luck." he told her with a sarcastic tone, just to prod her once more.

She still seemed a little too cocky for someone who lost to him pretty easily; he did remember being as eager as she was when he was first wanting to become a warrior. He saw enough fights that went the wrong way, and that turned him away from thinking with that kind of mindset, where pure confidence and determination could win a fight. It was a bit hard for him to be cocky anymore, given that Azula was exponentially more arrogant than him, and unlike most people, she had the skill and strength to back it up.

"Now, how are you going to teach us?" Suki questioned him, reoriented the conversation and his mind back to what he had first intended to do when he entered their building, not to beat them up for fun.

"Well, my girlfriend, she- uh- beat me up until I learnt it." he admitted honestly, making her look at him with disbelief.

"I mean... it's a means to an end." she acknowledged the merit in the tactic, "But I'm sure the girls don't want to get beaten up countless times to learn your skill."

"Oh, no, I'm pretty sure I'll only have to beat up one of you at a time. Watching how it works is a bit more helpful than explaining it." he clarified, knowing that he had learnt chi-blocking by seeing it work in action; Long Feng was a rather humorous victory in hindsight, but it set off his training in chi-blocking, from which he was able to beat Azula with it.

Suki stepped forward, ready to volunteer herself, "Fine then, show me how it's done." she simply requested, the Water Tribe teen taking a stance, putting his boomerang back into its sheath; he didn't need, nor want to use the weapon when chi-blocking, knowing that it would be easier for the Kyoshi Warriors to see what he was doing if he used his fingers.

"So... do you know what chi-paths are?" he asked her, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors raising a brow at him.

"Uh... I mean, I have a general understanding of them. They cross over your body, like a stick-person inside you." she recalled, making him snicker, realising that he hadn't thought of it that way.

"Yeah, that's actually a good way of thinking about it. The chi-paths line up and down your limbs, torso and head. That's what A- my girlfriend told me, when she taught me it." he explained the concept, nearly slipping up by calling Azula by her name; he didn't think he was in the most travelled part of the Earth Kingdom, but that didn't mean that people wouldn't recognise her name.

"So you hit the chi paths?" she asked him, imitating the jab that he had done to Amari's torso, "To block them?"

"Not exactly. You have to hit certain points to achieve a certain effect. The most vital point is right at the back of the neck, right below someone's hairline. A soft hit will disable benders, and a harder one can make someone freeze up. There's nothing better than telling somebody who's thrown the elements around their entire life that their training is useless." he grinned at them smugly, recalling once more his memories of defeating Long Feng, the smug and arrogant leader of the Dai Li.

"Well, I'm not a bender." Suki said as a matter of fact, the Water Tribe teen raising a finger.

"But you expect to fight people who can bend, don't you?" he asked her, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors nodding in confirmation, her serious, almost cold expression telling him that she, like him, took her duties quite seriously.

"So... are you going to hit me or something?" she asked him, "That's what you said you were going to do." she reminded him, making him chuckle, before glaring at her deviously.

"Huh, I did." he acknowledged, before he sent his left hand forward to jab her in the shoulder, the Kyoshi Warrior grabbing his arm; he looked at her with surprise, realising that she was very agile when it came to fighting.

"Hmph, that was pretty good." he conceded, before raising his right hand, "but there's one thing I forgot to explain about chi-blocking." he clarified, before he jabbed himself in his bicep, "I can do it to myself."

Instead of holding a tensed fist, Suki was forced to hold up the weight of Sokka's limp arm; as he was able to ignore his left arm, leaning forward to he send his right hand into her side, right above her hip. The Kyoshi Warrior grunted as she moved back slightly, letting go of Sokka's limp arm; she limped backwards, realising that her left leg was paralysed.

"That was... an interesting technique." she conceded, "Are you always like this when you fight?"

He cocked a smug grin, "Well, more or less." he admitted, "I'm not the toughest warrior from my tribe. I use my brains to make sure I can be better than any tough warrior or bender." he grinned, even though he knew that his words were slightly inaccurate, and boasting of a claim he couldn't exactly confirm.

He knew he certainly couldn't beat a master bender of any of the elements, including his girlfriend, who he had only ever beaten through wit and trickery rather than through his fighting skills, which despite being quite versatile, were nothing compared to that which she could harness.

"That's a bold claim to make." one of the warriors quipped, "Chi-blocking's cool, but I doubt you could actually beat someone who was prepared for it."

"That's true." he agreed with the warrior, "I haven't beaten my girlfriend in a fair fight since she taught it to me because of just that."

"So, how are we going to beat you?" she quipped in return, the Water Tribe warrior retaking a fighting stance.

"You'll figure it out. That's what I did." he acknowledged, Suki retaking her stance as she cocked a smirk.

"Let's do this." she declared, the Water tribe teen grinning.

"I still want to see how you guys do all your moves." he conceded, knowing that was what he himself wanted to get out of their training; the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors smirked at him, crossing her arms as she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"You'll figure it out."

* * *

Looking through the market stand, Katara picked out a few vegetables and fruits that she thought would be good for them to eat while they travelled northward; she knew that they would only be staying on Kyoshi Island for so long so she knew that she ought to begin packing their supplies as a precaution. She hadn't seen either Azula or Sokka, so she was forced to do the work herself, but she had no issue with it. Being the one responsible one in their group gave her a sense of pride that she mightn't have had otherwise; she didn't want to be the boss, but she could be happy knowing that she was able to handle things herself, even if she would prefer if she was helped out by the others more often. As she was examining an eggplant, she felt a finger tapping on her shoulder, the Water Tribe girl turning around to face Aang, who she was relieved to see. Someone to help her out, as well as somebody to talk with; she sure could get lonely mulling over things all by herself. She had no idea what her brother and his girlfriend were doing, but she started to imagine things that disgusted her.

"Uh, are you alright?" he asked her, confused by her expression, the Water Tribe teen shaking her head.

"Oh, I'm fine. Could you help me carry this back to the room?" she gestured the pot of groceries toward him, "It's a little heavy."

"Actually, I can't right now." he raised his hands up, making look at him with slight concern; he didn't seem to be doing anything, so she was unsure why he couldn't help her.

"What do you mean, 'you can't'?" she asked him with slight annoyance, the young Avatar's face brightening with enthusiasm.

"I promised the girls I'd give them a ride on Appa. Why don't you come with us? It'll be fun!" he beamed at her, the Water Tribe girl turning her attention back to filling her pot with vegetables.

"Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does not sound like fun. I'm not some little kid." she told him with slight frustration, the boy looking at her with surprise.

"Well, neither does carrying your basket." he conceded, making her raise a brow at him, now genuinely annoyed at his attitude; she was actually trying to help the whole group out while he was running around being a show off for a bunch of little girls.

"Very funny." she narrowed her eyes at him, "This basket isn't for me. It's for the whole group. We need supplies for the trip, because we are leaving Kyoshi... soon." she added at the end to stress the point; he couldn't just keep running around enjoying himself when the Southern Raiders were more than likely looking for them.

"I don't want to leave Kyoshi yet. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something I really like about this place." he raised a finger to his chin, Katara taking note of his fangirls behind him.

One of them called out, "What's taking you so long, Aangy?"

The young Air Nomad turned back to look at them, "Just a second, Koko!"

"You know, I honestly thought you were pretty humble... but you're not." she glared at him, making him look at her with surprise; he obviously hadn't expected such a harsh remark from her, but Katara was more afraid of what might happen if the Fire Nation came after him than offending the young Avatar.

"You can go play off with your fangirls if you want to, but that doesn't change the world outside this island. If the Southern Raiders come knocking before we leave, I'm not even going to say I told you so." she warned him, making the young Avatar tense up for a moment, probably thinking over what he ought to say in response.

"Uh..." he mumbled, scratching the back of his head, "I'll... go now." he told her with a dejected voice, turning around to return to his fangirls; she raised her chin up, not regretting her words, even if they had been a little harsh.

"I'm guessing you'd like some help." she heard Azula quip from behind her; of all the people she was actually relieved to see, it was her, given the fact that she was, like her, a no-nonsense kind of person.

She approached her with a slightly humoured look on her face, "I see that you're not taking to Aang's new fame well." she observed, making the Water Tribe girl narrow her eyes, immediately reminded why she didn't like talking to the Princess; her bluntness and snark were an immediate turn-off.

"Are you trying to piss me off?" she snarled, showing her teeth, the Princess shaking her head with an indifferent look.

"No, not really. I just got back from f- meditation." she nearly mentioned one of their 'banned words', as there were all working hard not to reveal her true identity, "You look like you need a break." she added, making Katara snicker.

"Oh, I guess you could say that." she acknowledged, before approaching her with the pot in hand, "Were you actually going to carry the pot?"

"If I do, you owe me a favour." she told her with a straight, dead-serious face.

The Water Tribe girl sighed with defeat, knowing that her actually trying to help, even at the behest of a favour, was better than Aang, who just shrugged her off, "Fine." she agreed to her terms, "Do I get to know what the favour is?" she raised a brow, Azula chuckling as she took the pot into her hands.

"That would ruin the surprise." she declared, "Plus, I hold my secrets close to heart."

"Secret?" she raised a brow, now really curious as to what she wanted her to do.

"That was a lie. My favour is pretty mundane, honestly." she admitted with a blank, almost disappointed expression, Katara pouting slightly.

"Oh." she murmured, before Azula turned around, "We're just taking this up to the village hall, so we can put it on Appa's saddle when the villagers are done cleaning him." she explained, the Princess not even responding to her words, just beginning to walk up the hill toward the hall.

She followed behind, and after about ten seconds of prolonged silence, she decided that she ought to make conversation, "So... uh, how was your 'meditation'?" she queried, the Fire Nation girl pursing her lips into a smirk.

"Oh, fine. I set a few trees... alight. Don't worry. I put out the fires. I'm a martial artist, not an arsonist." she explained, her voice growing quieter as she indirectly mentioned the fact she was a firebender.

"I'm pretty sure everyone in the Fire Nation Army are arsonists, A- Saila." she almost referred to her by her actual name, "It's hard to lie this much." she conceded, the Princess looking at her with a thoughtful glance.

"Hey, you could just shut up and not talk to me. That'd solve your problem in an instant." she quipped, Katara unsure whether she was just trying to incite her anger or she actually being serious.

"Okay... won't you get... I don't know, lonely?" she asked her with some unease, finding some commonality with that feeling; both at that present moment, but also all throughout her life, when her only friend was her brother, who most of the time, she was fighting with.

"I think you're deflecting your own emotions onto me." she retorted, "Are you really that stuck up about Aang and his fangirls?" she quipped in response, making the Water Tribe girl clench her fists.

"Could you..." she began, before she sighed, realising that Azula was actually right, "not?" she murmured, making the Fire Nation girl chuckle.

"Well, I'd prefer to give advice when it's needed." she simply told her, "And you seem to be in a rather bad mood, and I didn't cause it this time." she joked, although she brought up a good point; most of the times she had gotten angry since they met Aang had been caused by her, and if it had ever been caused by a person, it was her.

Katara narrowed her eyes, before nodding, knowing that the Princess had a good point, "Yeah... you're right. I just don't like him acting so..."

"Childishly?" she finished her sentence for her, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Yeah. I just wish he'd take his Avatar duties a little more seriously. Having a little fun is okay, but we're got a world to save."

"Well, we're not 'saving' the world." Azula corrected her, "We're bringing peace to a wartorn one. The world wouldn't end if Aang didn't do anything, but it certainly won't get any better. My brother isn't exactly going to single-handedly fix everything, even if he thinks that himself."

"You speak about Zuko like he's self-righteous and ignorant. Is he really like that?" she asked her, unsure if her friend had the most unbiased view on her brother.

"He's a selfish prick." she simply commented, with a slight snarl, "He took the throne to fulfil his own vision without really considering what he was doing. From what I can guess, he had a mental breakdown after the comet, and overthrowing my father was the thing he did to try and alleviate whatever problems he has." she explained, making Katara's eyes widen; she didn't know much about her brother, but he did sound like he had a lot of issues, no matter how much bias her only source on the Fire Lord had.

"Ah!" Azula's expression turned one of surprise, "That was very witty of you, Katara. Getting me pissed off about my idiot brother."

"That wasn't intentional." she explained herself, making Azula roll her eyes.

"At least act like you're a mastermind. That way people won't know what you'll do next." she suggested, making the Water Tribe teen raise a brow; that was unusual, though useful advice, something that seemed to be coming from the Princess more often than not as of late.

"Uh... thanks." she made an awkward smile as they approached the village hall, Azula stepping up beside Appa, who was still getting cleaned, making a few groans and grunts as the villagers brushed off twigs, dirt and shedded fur from his body.

She placed down the pot before she glanced toward the Water Tribe girl, "So, are you ready to fulfil your favour?" she pursed her lips into a smirk, Katara stepping closer, nodding as she did so; she guessed that it would involve some kind of training, which she was looking forward to, given that she wanted to improve her waterbending skills in any way possible.

"I have found the perfect spot for us to meditate, but I need to get some firewood. I need you to help me collect it." she explained, Katara narrowing her eyes before she remembered what she had told her about breathing; if she wanted to use fire to focus her breathing and improve her passive control over fire, when she must have wanted the Water Tribe girl to do the same.

"So, where are we going?" she asked her, the Princess raising a finger to her chin, looking at her smugly.

"Oh, well, you're a waterbender. I'm sure you could figure out where your element is." she suggested to her, before walking back downhill, right past her, "Follow me."

Katara wasn't an idiot, she just had little understanding of how she ought to familiarise herself with her element; unlike Azula, she hadn't been trained by actual masters who knew everything about their element. She guessed, however, that they were going to some body of water, whether that be the beach or a lake, she was unsure.

"So, do you know what Sokka is doing?" she asked the Princess, still unsure as to exactly where her brother had gone.

"He met up with me a little earlier. He said he was teaching the Kyoshi Warriors chi-blocking. So... he's being productive. Teaching is the best way to improve one's skills... that's what some wise philosopher once said. I can't recall which one."

"I thought that was just a common saying." Katara acknowledged, sure that she had heard something along the lines of what she had just said sometime prior.

"Maybe my tutors were better liars than me." Azula amused herself, before turning to glance at Katara, "I'm sure Sokka's fine, that's if he's actually as competent as I hope he is."

"If those girls beat him, he'd never get over it." she smirked, knowing her brother's sexist presuppositions about the world all too well, although she was sure they had improved, especially since he met Azula, who was what she'd call an archetypical 'strong female'.

"I doubt they'd beat him, unless they all ganged up on him, but that would be a little unfair." she argued, "Individually, they're probably a lot less skilled."

"Sounds like learning to fight as a unit is a good advantage." Katara observed, the Princess nodding with an approving smirk.

"It certainly is. That's why you ought to learn to waterbend sooner, rather than later. Your skills could be a great asset to our team." she assured her, making Katara raise a brow; she both appreciated the respect Azula gave her, but felt uneasy about how she treated her only for her utility.

Whether that was just her way of interpreting the world, or whether she actually felt no kind of friendship toward her, she couldn't tell, not yet, when she still barely knew the girl. She had spent six whole months with the girl, but even then, she was no closer to truly understanding her; her mind was more of a mystery than Aang's powers were to her, and she was pretty clueless when it came to those. The two of them made their way down the main street of the village, before they veered off to the left, making their way through the lightly wooded area between the village at the bay where they had first touched down on Kyoshi Island. She guessed well enough that they were going to meditate by the shoreline, which seemed to be a good place for her to be in sync with her element; it was certainly better than actually swimming in the presumably cold water, which she certainly didn't want to do, out of fear of getting ill. Once they reached a place with a warmer climate, she considered that might be an option, but then again, she didn't exactly want to go dancing around in a river trying to learn how to bend. She wanted to learn forms, like the ones Azula practised in front of her, but for waterbending instead of firebending; she could take some inspiration from what she had witnessed both Aang and Azula do. However, she doubted that they would key into learning the basics of martial waterbending, the kind that she would need if she wanted to help fight with her friends.

The Fire Nation girl gestured toward the beach, "We can sit out there. All we need is the firewood." she explained, before raising a hand up to her chin, "I could just bend fire in my hands, but I don't want to freak out the villagers, or worse, turn them against us by revealing that I'm a firebender." she acknowledged, the Water Tribe girl nodding; she understood the situation they were facing with her identity, and she, probably more than anyone, wanted to make sure it was kept a secret, as she prioritised the safety of their group above all else.

"I understand." she nodded, before raising a brow, remembering the 'favour' that she owed the Princess, "Were you being serious when you told me I needed to get you firewood?"

"Yes." she narrowed her eyes at Katara, "I'll wait by the beach." she simply told her, making the Water Tribe girl snarl slightly, before she, with some contempt, decided to go along with fulfilling her favour.

She didn't actually agree that she owed her anything, seeing that Azula was carrying food for all of them to eat when they were travelling, but she didn't want to gain the Princess's ire. If anything, she wanted to actually build some goodwill with her, knowing that the less they butted heads, the easier it would be for them to work together. She didn't necessarily like Azula, and she honestly thought she was a snide and mean-spirited person at times, but she had a sense of honour that she could respect; she didn't agree with it, but she could respect it all the same. Whether she was better or worse than the average Fire Nation person when it came to her morals and principles was yet to be seen in her eyes, but she certainly hoped that she was worse, knowing that if the Fire Nation was full of Azulas then they might find it hard to actually make peace. She walked over a tree trunk, picking up some twigs that had fallen off of the tree, and bundled them into her arms, continuing over to a nearby tree to pick up some larger sticks. Keeping them bundled in one hand, she grew her collection of sticks in the other, until she had a hefty bundle in her hands, taking said sticks over to the beach, where the Princess was already sitting, facing toward the water in a meditative pose. Despite her posture, she didn't seem very calm, and like always it seemed a lot of things were on her mind; given what had happened to her, and what might happen when they reached the rebels in the Earth Kingdom, she could understand why she would be feeling nervous. A lot of her plans weighed on presuppositions that couldn't be corrected until they reached their potential allies, as well figuring out exactly what happened to her own forces after her departure from Yu Dao. Katara only knew what she heard from the story, and nothing else, and from what she could tell, Azula was set on fixing her mistakes, though what the result would be in the end still eluded her.

"I got your sticks." she spoke up, the Princess turning her head to the side, her right eye glancing toward her; she gestured down behind her with a flick of her wrist.

"Put them down there. Not too close to the water, just in case you have an accident." she explained her reasoning, making Katara raise a brow in interest.

"Huh, an accident?" she mumbled, kneeling down behind the Princess to put down the sticks, piling them up before Azula turned herself around, reorienting herself so she sat perpendicular to the shoreline, right in front of the sticks.

"You know, waterbending a big splash. That might actually be a sign you're improving... so, an 'unexpected incident' might be a better way to phrase that." she conceded, "You've got to figure something out eventually, or get pissed off enough that you start bending unintentionally." she explained with a slight smirk, as if she wanted to see her get pissed off; the Water Tribe teen swore to herself that she wouldn't let her get that bit of enjoyment, so she decided to try and remain as calm as she could, which wasn't that hard, seeing that they were about to meditate.

"Okay." she nodded, sitting down across from the pile of sticks, which Azula set alight with a snap of her fingers, her blue flames starting up the little campfire, though they quickly turned orange as the fire became natural, rather than controlled by the Princess's bending, "So, you've got your fire, I've got my water. Now what?"

"We sit here, and we breathe. The more you make contact with your element, the better your passive control becomes." she simply explained, before pursing her lips upward, "For example, I could run into a burning house, if I had to, and not have to worry about bending. I would already do it subconsciously, my chi tuning into the flames and getting making them harmless to me, as if they were my own."

Katara raised a brow, "So if I jumped into the water, I could just form a sphere around myself and walk around underwater with no worry?" she asked her, the Princess chuckling.

"Exactly... although I wouldn't try that specific example, seeing that you'd probably suffocate." she added, the Water Tribe girl narrowing her eyes, not having considered that point.

It would be like closing up her sleeping roll and being unable to breathe, except she'd be underwater, so it'd be a lot harder to get fresh air; she moved the thought to the back of her mind, knowing that what was more important to think about was actually connecting with said water so she could even achieve such a feat.

"So, we just sit here, huh?" she mumbled, the Princess nodding before closing her eyes, taking a deep breath, when suddenly, the flames in front of them turned blue, the heat of the fire intensifying.

Katara momentarily glanced behind them before turning back to face her, knowing that if she continued to make her flames blue, it was more than likely that she'd be found out by some random passerby, "Uh, Azula, I know we already asked this at breakfast, but can you make your flames... not blue?" she inquired, the Princess opening her eyes, snarling at her slightly, obviously annoyed that the same topic was being brought up, once again.

"I already told you this earlier today. Emotions power my bending... I can't exactly stop my emotions and so, here we are, stuck with blue bending." she explained, Katara pouting slightly; the blue flames always seemed so intense, and angry, and even if the Princess was angry internally, she knew that couldn't have been the only emotion in her head.

"Yeah, but... there's more emotions than anger." she suggested, making the Princess scoff.

"Ah-ha-ha." she responded in a monotonous laugh, "Very funny, but I can't run my flames off humour... I'm not Sokka." she joked, the Water Tribe girl snickering slightly, trying to imagine her brother as a firebender; seeing how hot-headed and cocky he could get at times, she would say that firebending probably would suit him more than waterbending, but then again, she knew next to nothing about waterbending.

"I didn't mean humour. I meant... love." she suggested, making the Princess snort.

"That sounds like something my uncle would say... though then again, he is a master firebender, so he must be doing something right." she conceded.

"Don't dismiss it." Katara suggested, "Love can be just as strong as anger. Trust me, I find it easy to confuse the two at times." she conceded, remembering back to her thoughts about what she had wanted to do to the Southern Raiders when they returned to her village; she wanted to destroy them, and avenge her mother, and even if she was angry, she was motivated to do so because she loved her mother, and she loved her tribe.

"Huh, I mean... that's a good point actually. Love and anger are both passion. Two sides of the same coin. Anger... anger is stronger, though." she retorted her against suggestion, even though she had obviously considered it, "I know my strength, and it resides in my determination, and that determination is strengthened by my anger."

"But... you can see that's kind of stupid, right? You can use love just the same." she pleaded with the Princess, hoping that she might see that her worldview was flawed; Azula narrowed her eyes at her, before sighing, although not with defeat, but rather with frustration.

"You know, I came here to help you out, and you're just pissing me off. You're either stubborn or spiteful to my existence." she snarled her, making the Water Tribe girl's eyes widen.

"I don't hate you, Azula." she assured her, taking a deep breath, "I want you to be my friend."

"You don't want to be my friend, trust me." she retorted, making her scoff; how she could say something like that to her, even after she befriended her brother, her former enemy, and still believe they couldn't be friends was beyond her.

"Okay, okay." she sighed, realising she ought to take a different path to allow her to harness her bending with a more positive emotion, "How about I guide your meditation? I have a thought in mind."

"Oh, this is going to be brilliant." Azula sarcastically remarked, the snideness on her face ignored by Katara for the sake of achieving her ends.

"Please. Just trust me." she pleaded with the Princess, who raised her chin with annoyance before closing her eyes.

"Fine. What did you want me to think about? Setting your hair loopies on fire?" she quipped, making the other teen sigh before taking a deep breath.

"I want you to think of... what happened at Yu Dao." she took the harshest route she could think of; perspective was something that Katara needed at times to know that she was looking at things the wrong way, so she thought Azula could use some as well, "The Agni Kai, specifically. How did that make you feel?"

"I was angry with my brother. I hated him for what he did. I thought he had killed our father." she explained the fact of the matter, something that the Water tribe teen already knew.

"And then, how did you feel when you lost?" she asked her, the Princess looking down, despite the fact her eyes were closed, the flames before her dampening slightly.

"Ashamed. I had failed at the one thing I had prepared my entire life for. I couldn't face up against my coward of a brother, and I felt for the first time in my life, like I was the weakling." she explained herself, "I never want to feel that way again."

"How did you stop feeling ashamed?" she asked the Princess, who grit her teeth, opening her eyes to stare Katara down.

"I still feel ashamed." she declared, "I still hate the fact I lost, and that despite everything my father's teachings had failed me. That I was unable to do what I was taught." she explained herself, the Water Tribe girl softening her expression, realising that she had addressed the wrong part of the issue, seeing the flames rise, and the heat intensify.

"But how did you... cope?" she asked her, the Princess looking back down toward the flames, which dimmed slightly as she took a deep breath.

"I wasn't alone." she admitted, "For the first time in my life, I wasn't alone. I'm relieved I wasn't, because if I had been, I would have broken down. I would have had nowhere to go, and only spite to drive me along." she told her, before the flames actually started to flicker with bits of orange, dimming even further, the warmth becoming more like that of a natural fire.

"Sokka." she simply uttered her brother's name, "He was there."

"He is here." she corrected, before chuckling to herself, "Well, technically he's up smacking the heads of those Kyoshi Warriors, but he hasn't left me." she explained herself, "I guess we're stuck together, for better or worse."

"Definitely better, even if his complaints about food get a little too much." Katara conceded, the Princess chuckling.

"Oh, he'll never give that up. That is our burden to bear." she stated her belief on the matter, before her eyes turned up to the Water Tribe girl, "Is this what you wanted to talk about? How annoying your brother can be?"

"No." she shook her head, "That you love him." she simply corrected, "And enough that you're afraid that he might leave." she added, making the flame flicker once more, brightening before Azula narrowed her eyes at her.

"So you want me to get all gushy in front of you, and talk about how much I love him, and think he's the greatest person in the world?" she sarcastically mocked her, standing up before looking toward the water, "No chance. My relationship with Sokka is between him and I. You can keep out of it." she declared.

"I mean, that's a better reaction than what I was expecting." she conceded, thinking that the Princess was going to start screaming at her for trying to make her talk about her feelings, "Think about it this way. How do you feel when you're by his side?"

"Like I'm... not alone." she simply told her, still standing, looking down at her with suspicious eyes, "I don't know what that has to do with my blue fire."

"You're afraid." she simply concluded, "Fear and anger go together, just like love and anger. But Sokka isn't going to leave. He's attached to you by the hip at this point." she quipped, the Princess's eyes widening, as the flames of the campfire rose higher.

"Sh-shut up." she grit her teeth, "I'm not afraid. I've never been afraid in my life. Fear is for the weak!" she shouted at her, before Katara stood up to stand at her height.

"I'm not done yet." she declared, reminding her that she wanted her to listen, "You can't let that emotion control you. Let your love control you. Think of him, think of what he means to you." she declared, the Princess, clenching her fists, before the flames suddenly burst up once more, completely incinerating the sticks they had been burning, except unlike before, the flames were burning a bright gold.

"He means more than I want to teach you your stupid savage bending." she declared with a snarl, "I'm leaving. If you want to spar, I'm in the right fucking mood." she flared her teeth at her, before turning her heels, letting the fire dissipate away as she walked from the beach.

Katara tensed up, before she called out, realising that she had actually succeeded, "The fire was gold!" she shouted, the Fire Nation girl only responding pointing her finger toward her, her finger tips sparking a blue flame.

"You ought to shut up if you know what's good for you." she warned, before she made her way back into the forest, back toward the village.

The Water Tribe girl couldn't help but smile, knowing that even if she had well and truly pissed the Princess off, she had gotten what she had been looking for: her true face. It wasn't anger driving her, but fear, which made enough sense from what she knew of her past, which was very little; there was enough that she knew, from what little Sokka had told her, about her mother and her relationship with Zuko had made her realise that she feared being alone. She feared the idea that her idiot brother would die, or worse be gone from her life; she needed him, and not in the sense that he was physically helpful, but because he was emotionally there to hold her. She smiled, knowing that if there was anything she was proud of, it was the fact that Azula was, behind her confident and angry facade, a normal girl; she had been hurt, and she didn't want to be hurt again. Katara just hoped above all else that she could see that fear wasn't the thing that ought to drive her when she bent fire, but her passion for Sokka, even if that might have felt completely foreign to her. She wanted the turbulent girl to find happiness, if anything; if she couldn't make her see right from wrong, she could at the very least help find peace in her love.

* * *

Azula relented setting the forest around her alight, even if she knew that would dampen the rage she was feeling; she had gone out of her way to help Katara, who then proceeded to lecture her on her emotions, as if she had any idea what was going on inside her head. She had, however, kicked a fallen over tree in her rage, which made her toes ache badly; she cursed under her breath as she stumbled back toward the village, knowing that there were two things that could sooth her anger. Fighting was one of them, and the other thing she was a little too angry for; she didn't want to hurt Sokka because of his sister's actions, but she wouldn't relent to give him a consual beat-down if it made her feel any less angry.

Her anger was focused on the words she had uttered, which made her clench her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms. 'You're afraid'- she never thought two words could make her want to scream flames up into the sky above her; it sounded like something her uncle would have told her, before her duel with Zuko. If he had, she wouldn't have relented to send a lightning bolt into her chest, knowing that such a word was so insulting to her very core that she would never have stood for it. Yet, she did- she had stood there and let Katara have her little tirade about how she ought to use love and all that, when she ought to have sent a flame-covered fist into the girl's face. The old Azula would have killed someone like Katara for saying what she did, but the new Azula, she couldn't even fight her. She couldn't find it in her to hate her; that was the problem she was faced with.

"Fuck you, Katara." she muttered under her breath, before she sent a fist into a nearby tree, which just like the kick, made her joints buckle as she grit her teeth with pain; she was unintentionally hurting herself, and that infuriated her further.

She didn't hate the Water Tribe girl, because she knew, in the end, she had to be right; she was just revealing the truth that she denied, or worse, outright ignored. She didn't want to be alone again, and she wanted Sokka by her side. She didn't want to be abandoned, not again. Being reminded of that made her so angry, because now all she could think of was all the times her mother ignored her, or chided her. Her disdainful words and praise of Zuko; all of those emotions were brought up when she thought about fear.

Azula had never feared her father, that was true, but she had feared being abandoned by him; when she thought her brother killed him, that was something that infuriated her so much, because she believed, for a time, that her traitor brother had killed her brother, taking away the only parent that ever gave her any attention or respect. By the time she fought Zuko, she had Sokka to rely on, to lean on and to love; but she didn't expect to end up in the Southern Water Tribe after that duel, she expected to be sitting on the throne, with her Water Tribe lover by her side. She knew it was a fantasy, and it would remain so until she defeated her brother. Such a thought only furthered her resolve; she needed to win, so she could both her country back, and be worthy of the love and devotion that Sokka gave to her all those months prior.

As she walked up toward the edge of the village, she tried to restrain her anger as much as possible, but found it challenging to walk around with anything less than a snarl. She tried to ignore the villagers, a few of which looked at her; the Water Tribe tunic that she was wearing marked her out as one of the Avatar's friends, and she realised she certainly didn't like the attention. She was filled with raw anger and pain, and she didn't want anyone to see that, just like how she hated the look Sokka had given her in Yu Dao, when she couldn't stand, let alone muster the energy to get angry like she currently was. She approached the hall where they had been housed by Oyaji, taking note of Appa, who was resting nearby, glancing her way as she approached; he groaned at her, the Fire Nation Princess momentarily stopping, wondering if Sokka was inside the hall. She was pretty sure he was at the Kyoshi Warriors' training house, so she decided that she wouldn't even bother; Azula stepped over toward the sky-bison, patting him around his ear, the sky-bison nuzzling her slightly.

Suddenly, she felt a hand tapping her on the shoulder, "Hey, Azula." she heard Aang pipe up, the Princess forcing her face to straighten; she didn't want to start screaming at the young Avatar because of something outside his control.

"Oh... hi, Aang." she simply turned back toward him, the boy raising a brow at her with a hopeful look on his face.

"Have you seen Katara?" he asked her, the Princess's eyebrow twitching as she held back her anger, taking a deep breath, placing her fingers on her nose-bridge.

"Why do you ask?" she responded in as calm a voice she could, her tone becoming jittery; Aang looked a little suspicious, but he didn't press the matter, simply leaning in closer.

"Because I'm gonna ride the Unagi. That big monster eel thing that tried to attack me the other day." he declared, making Azula's eyes widen; that didn't sound like a good idea at all, but she guessed that the Water Tribe girl would talk him out of it better than he would, seeing that he was seemingly infatuated with her.

"Okay, you go do that. Katara should be down by the beach... which is exactly where you're going." she added, realising that Aang questioning her was kind of redundant if he was going to end up running into the Water tribe girl anyway, "When you get there, tell her to mind her own business." she snarled slightly, letting her anger come out for a moment, before she took a deep breath, "Got it?"

"Um... yeah." Aang nodded with a look of slight unease, before he grinned, "Thanks!" he then turned his heels, running back toward his fa girls who were crowded nearby, cheering him on as he raced down the hill.

She then turned back to face Appa, who was looking toward the Avatar for a moment before his eyes darted back to her, "Yeah, he's a bit of an idiot sometimes, isn't he?" she scratched at the sky-bison's head before glancing down the path that would lead toward the Kyoshi Warrior's training house, "I've got to go. You'll make sure none of these villagers steal our things, right?"

The sky-bison groaned slightly, though whether he could actually understand her was beside the point. She simply nodded at the bison before she continued to walk toward where she believed Sokka was; she needed to talk to him, or more accurately, vent her rage. She couldn't just let it boil up inside of her, seeing that would be the easiest way for her to unintentionally reveal her firebending when she would start to involuntarily set things on fire by touching them, something which she had done by accident once when training. She quickly made sight of the house ahead of her, which stood amongst some trees, where she could hear the sounds of grunting, from what she could only guess was her boyfriend training the warriors in the art of chi-blocking.

She was quite proud of actually teaching him the technique, despite the fact she'd had no formal training in it, all of her knowledge limited to that which she gained from sparring against Ty Lee. That sense of pride she momentarily felt was overcome by the anger she still felt; Katara's words rung in her head like tinnitus, and just like said condition, frustrated her to no end. She didn't want to think about her fears, knowing that they were a weakness that she ought to destroy; she didn't, however, want to leave her relationship with Sokka because she feared it ending in the first place. That was stupid, and even she could see that, despite her own ignorance of the matter for quite some time. She wanted to avoid that more than anything at that very moment, that sense of fear overwhelming any fears she had about not regaining her title and honour, even if that was usually at the forefront of her mind. When she walked toward the doorway of the house, she made sight of two Kyoshi warriors trying to attack each other unarmed, seemingly with chi-blocking, though she neither of them looked to be paralysed yet.

Sokka's attention was immediately drawn to her, his eyes brightening upon seeing her face, "A-Saila!" he used her pseudonym, before his expression faltered, obviously being able to tell that she was pissed off, even if she was trying to hide it with a straight face.

"Ah, it's the snarky girl." one of the warriors took note of her appearance, making Sokka's eyes widen, obviously embarrassed that she had referred to her in such a manner.

"Hey, Nakata, please." he almost begged of the Kyoshi Warrior, who snickered as the Water Tribesman's attention was drawn back to his girlfriend, who stepped closer, "Do we need to talk about something?"

"Yes." she simply told him, before glancing at the Kyoshi Warriors momentarily, "You can continue your training without him, yes?"

Suki cleared her throat, nodding with a serious look in her eyes, "Of course. We learn quickly." she smirked slightly, before Azula's attention was drawn back to her boyfriend, tilting her head to gesture for him to leave the training house and follow her.

She kept her fists clenched as she walked away, Sokka following in tow, before they walked over into the nearby woods, far away enough that the Kyoshi Warriors weren't going eavesdrop on what she had to say. The Water Tribe warrior didn't need to say anything to show his concern, his eyes widened with unease, even if he hadn't said anything to suggest that he was aware of her own anger.

"Something bad happened." he simply observed, "Is it me hanging around the Kyoshi Warriors? Do you not like them?" he asked her, coming to the wrong conclusion.

She sighed, shaking her head, "No that's not it. This is... about me." she explained herself, not wanting him to think that he had done something wrong.

"Do I need to knock some heads?" he asked her, suggesting that he would beat anyone who brought harm to her, physical or otherwise; though she was flattered by the suggestion, she didn't expect him to go knock out his sister for simply lacking restraint.

"No." she shook her head, before letting her hands unfurl, her fingers moving out freely as she felt flames coiling around them, "Your sister is a fucking arrogant bitch." she declared, Sokka cringing as he edged back slightly, taking note of her flame covered hands, "I went to go and help her improve her mood after Aang annoyed her, but she went around and lectured me about my fucking emotions like I'm some damn child!" she growled with anger, the Water Tribe teen sighing.

"What did she say?" he asked her, his tone sympathetic rather than disbelieving, which was a relief.

"That I was afraid." she simply told him, raising her chin up, "Afraid of losing love." she growled, not wanting to show the fact that Katara's assumption was correct.

"W-well..." he murmured, his eyes looking at her with fear, "Are you?"

"That's beside the point, idiot!" she growled, raising her hands into the air, "She's being a disrespectful arsehole, who thinks that just because she has her principles and hope that she can shove them down my fucking throat."

Her anger subsided slightly when he placed his hands on her shoulders, "Azula, I'm not going to leave you." he assured her, already reading through what she had said; she didn't need to explain herself, he simply understood, "I know how you feel. I feel afraid sometimes about the same thing." he admitted, her flames dissipating as she felt angry at herself for having shouted at him; he felt the same, even if he didn't say it until then.

"I want to be strong, Sokka." she simply told him, before sighing, "That fear... it's a strength I can use."

"You shouldn't have to." he told her, the Princess looking at her boyfriend with unease, unsure what he would say next, "You can be in love and not afraid." he assured her, "I'm not going to abandon you. Not like them." he assured Azula, who edged forward, closing the gap between them; all she wanted was to be sure, and his words, they made her feel a fire inside that was stronger than that fear.

She kissed his lips, grasping her hands by his neck, before he gave in return, pushing forward and making a smug smile on his face, "You know, I'd like it if you were spontaneous like this more often." he admitted, the Princess raising a brow at him.

"This isn't spontaneity. This is my message to you." she simply told him, before kissing him again; the message that she would not give up on him, just like he said he would not give up on her.

She felt his touch and it made her feel like her spout of anger meant nothing; her hands grasped his shoulders, remembering the fact that he had taken her with him, and that he had not forsaken her. Her inner fire felt more intense than it had for days in that single moment, and she felt a growing need to let out her emotions. Though she wanted to continue kissing him, she knew that she couldn't hold onto him forever; there were always more things for them to do. When their embrace broke, all she could see was the giddy look on his face; she wanted to make fun of him for his expression, but relented, just appreciating it for a moment, before she pulled away.

"So, is that what you came here to do? Get angry and kiss me?" he asked her with a slightly amused tone, the Princess leaning in closer.

"No. I'd like you to come with me." she simply requested, the Water Tribesman raising a brow with interest.

"To do what, though?" he prodded Azula, who glanced over his shoulder toward the Kyoshi Warrior's training house.

"To a place where I could beat you up." she confirmed, making him look at her with surprise, his eyes darting back toward the Kyoshi Warrior's training house.

"You want to go spar in the dojo?" he asked her, making the Princess raise a brow.

"So that's what it's called?" she gave him a question in return, the Water Tribe warrior nodding before gesturing toward it with a tilt of his head.

"I'd take that as a yes." he concluded, before he narrowed his eyes at her, "For a second there I was thinking you wanted to go off somewhere in the forest so you could set me on fire."

"As much as I would like to use my bending..." she began, before remembering the golden flames she had made for a moment when she had gotten infuriated with Katara; her anger hadn't powered the flames, but rather her thoughts about Sokka, just as the Water Tribe girl had suggested, "I'd rather avoid what might come next."

"I understand." he nodded, even though he didn't know the full extent of her reasoning, before he gestured toward the dojo, "Let's go back. I'm sure you could show the Kyoshi Warriors your moves."

"Oh, I certainly could. Chi-blocking is one thing, but I wonder if they have the agility to face up against me." she raised a finger to her chin in thought; their short fight by the beach the day prior hadn't exactly been indicative of the Kyoshi Warriors abilities.

They had surrounded them and took them by surprise, in a head-to-head fight, it would be more fair, though she knew that without her bending she had a large disadvantage, despite her acrobatic and hand-to-hand fighting skills. The Kyoshi Warriors, unlike her, had probably trained their whole life to fight with what they knew, that being the odd weapons they used, fans, which seemed rather odd for even a nonbender to use. The only bending art she could see fans being useful in would be airbending; Azula was certain, however, that the warriors weren't secretly airbenders or anything of the like. As they approached the entrance of Kyoshi Warriors' dojo, she made sight of said warriors sparring each other with chi-blocking, with two of the warriors lying on the ground paralysed, the other two standing victoriously. Their leader, Suki, stood confidently with her arms crossed, her eyes darting back to them, with slight surprise seeing the Princess once more.

"Oh, is Saila joining us?" she asked, the Water Tribe teen confidently nodding.

"Yep, she's a pretty good opponent, if you ask me." he told them, the warriors looking amongst each other, those that had been paralysed glancing back their way.

"Just let my arms get a little less floppy." one of them piped up, "Then I'll be ready to go." she assured her, another warrior lifting her up.

"No, no, Sawa, you're sitting this one out." she stressed, helping the warrior limp over to the other side of the dojo, while Azula turned her attention back toward Suki.

"So, which of you want to go against me first?" she asked, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors raising her hand up.

"Do we have any volunteers?" she asked out, one of the girls cocking a smirk as she raised a finger toward the Princess.

"Can you chi-block too?" she asked her, making her chuckle; she didn't exactly know the ins and outs of it like Sokka did, but she at the very least got the principles of the technique down pat.

"Not really. That doesn't mean I can't beat you all." she stressed, making the warrior scoff at her, pulling out two fans.

"Oh, I can't wait to wipe that smug look off of your face." she declared, the Princess looking back toward her boyfriend, who seemed to be amused by the arrogance being shown.

"Yeah, good luck at that." she simply cocked a smirk, taking a repurposed firebending stance; even if she wasn't going to bend, she knew that keeping her feet steady and hands ready to strike was the best way to ensure she was ready to give the Kyoshi Warrior a proper fight.

She had her left foot and hand forward, ready to move forward at a moment's notice and strike with her right. The Kyoshi Warrior stared her down slightly, taking a similar stance, though it was a lot tighter than hers, with her fans raised up close to her face, ready to block any attack from the Princess. Azula decided to make the first move, by sending her right fist forward to feign a punch to the warrior's legs, only to swing upward in an upper-cut motion; instead of striking her chin like she had hoped she would, she only hit her fan, which she held over her chest to block her fist right in its path. The Kyoshi Warrior then retracted the fan in her left hand, jabbing it forward at Azula's chest in hoping to paralyse; she was forced to lean back, deciding to fall right onto her back, landing on her back.

She only had a few moments to react, watching as the warrior readying herself above her. The Princess quickly placed her hands behind her back, allowing herself to orient her legs into the air, kicking the Kyoshi Warrior in the hand as she moved to chi block her. She grunted with pain, grasping at her hand with a clearly annoyed face, although she quickly returned to the offensive, lunging forward as she aimed to jab her in the gut. Azula rolled out of the way quickly enough, making her opponent unintentionally fall to the ground. When she got up, she decided she would be fair and didn't attack the Kyoshi Warrior, stepping back as she readied herself for whatever strike would come next.

When she had returned to her feet, she could see the aggrieved snarl on the girl's face, which quickly turned to one of determination as she readied her fans once more, charging at the Princess. She sidestepped the first blow the Kyoshi Warrior attempted on her side, sending her own knee into the warrior's gut. She cocked a smirk, though it faltered as she felt the weight of her left arm suddenly grow; she realised that it was paralysed, though that didn't stop her from continuing her fight. With her right hand still functional, she used it to jab her opponent in the side of the head, making her flinch back for a moment. As Azula glanced at her limp arm, she snarled slightly, realising that she had actually got her.

She then turned her attention back to the Kyoshi Warrior who moved to strike her in the gut with her right fan, the Princess grasping her wrist to stop her from hitting her. That only stopped her opponent for a few seconds, who aimed her other fan, now retracted, right at her left shoulder. Azula, not having anything better in mind, flung her left arm up at the shoulder, flicking her limp up in the way of her fan. To her luck, the paralysis numbed what otherwise would have been a painful jab to her arm; the warrior's expression became more fearful as she saw her opponent's tact. Her fear didn't stop her from wringing her arm free, aiming to strike Azula in the chin; she missed, the Princess leaning backward as she sent her right leg out, tripping the warrior off as she had attempted to lunge forward. She used her hand to break the warrior's fall by holding her arm up at her neck; she glanced into her eyes, not saying a word, simply letting the fact of her victory soak in.

"Okay, I yield." she conceded the fight, making Azula smirk, seeing Sokka smile back at her with approval.

"That was actually pretty impressive." one of the warriors observed, "I thought she would have lost after her arm got paralysed."

"Why, I do put a lot of effort into making sure I'm a skilled hand-to-hand fighter." she declared, Suki raising a brow as she stepped forward.

"Do you have a preferred weapon?" she asked her, the Princess raising a brow; her firebending was her weapon of choice, though she knew what weapon she'd like if she had to choose an actual one.

"Daggers." she admitted, "I know how to use them decently, seeing that I stole some off of my friend when I was younger. She's really into throwing knives." she explained, knowing that Mai was the only reason she knew next to anything about using a blade; she was always a lot better than Azula was at it, though that was by virtue of the fact that she had her firebending, and not because she couldn't pick it up as a skill.

"Ah-ha, she sure is." Sokka mumbled, obviously thinking back to the time Mai had pinned him to a wall with little effort.

"Now, who wants to fight me next?" she asked the group, her boyfriend standing forward, as she had already told him that she wanted to spar.

"Well, you said. Let's go." he cocked a smirk, the Princess taking a stance; seeing that she couldn't use her bending, their fight would be relatively even, even though Sokka was unarmed.

He took a rather casual stand, obviously guessing that she would be making the first move; Suki stepped forward, looking at them both with confusion, "Don't you guys need some weapons. Or are you going to have a fist fight?" she asked them, Sokka cocking a smirk.

"Weapons aren't necessary." he suggested, "They've been teaching me how to dodge." he told his girlfriend, who chuckled.

"Ah, so now you're Aang without the airbending. Brilliant." she mocked him, the Water Tribe warrior stepping forward.

Although she was prepared to throw a punch at him, Sokka ended up making the first move, flinging his right leg forward in a kick, which barely missed her torso; she grasped his foot, ready to twist his ankle around and force him to the ground. Once she grappled it, he stared her down for a moment, before he pulled the same trick she had a few minutes earlier, falling down onto his backside; she hadn't anticipated the move and was dragged forward slightly by his foot moving through the air, but once it was free, it jammed into her gut, making her stumble back as she gasped for air.

"Oh, you'll pay for that." she grit her teeth at him, kicking him right in his left shin, Sokka grunting with pain as he pulled himself back, trying to return to his feet.

She aimed another kick at him, this time at his head; he narrowly dodged the attack, before jabbing her in the thigh with his fingertips, paralysing her right leg. Though she lost movement in her leg, she was still able to get out of the way of his next attack, limping backward as he rose back to his feet. He stood confidently, making a gesture with his fingers, suggesting that she attack.

"Come on, I'm right here." he prodded the Princess, who clenched her fists; she was prepared to wind him and force him to surrender.

Azula knew that attempting to use chi-blocking might end a lot worse for her, seeing that she had little to no practice with the skill. She limped forward, gritting her teeth as she realised it would be a lot harder to go on the offensive when she couldn't walk properly. Instead of giving her another chance to strike, Sokka jabbed forward, aiming to paralyse her arms; she weaved out of the way of his hand, punching him in the forearm, which despite the fact it didn't achieve the same effect as chi-blocking, it sure hurt him, the Water Tribe teen crying out before she swept her left leg forward, tripping him before sending a fist into his gut; she did finally make contact, and grinned, feeling that her victory was certain. She had forgotten about her lack of balance due to her chi-blocked leg, and was flung down with him as he fell toward the floor, out of breath. She grunted with pain as she felt his weight on top of him; it was a few moments later that the giggles from the Kyoshi Warriors indicated to her how much of an embarrassing position they were in. Azula's eyes darted up to Sokka's, glaring at him with contempt as he struggled to climb off of her.

"Get off me." she snarled, the Water Tribe teen gulping with fear, before he rolled to her left, landing on his back as he still struggled to breathe.

"Looks like you're both down for the count." Suki quipped, the Princess narrowing her eyes with determination; she wasn't done until she yielded, and Sokka falling on top of her wasn't going to cause that.

"N-no, I'm not." she snarled, placing her hands underneath her to pull her up to a seated position; she looked at her right leg, trying to move it, and found that she was unable to get any movement in her knee or below.

She pulled her left leg up toward her torso, hoping to use it to push herself back up to both her feet, but fell back when she tried to put all of her weight on her left side. Sokka snickered at her as she tried once more to pull herself back up, the Water Tribe warrior already climbing back to his feet.

"Azula, you can't stand. How can you expect to fight?" he asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him; he knew all too well in a proper fight that she would not have given up, as she could just as easily throw a fireball at his head from the ground.

"Oh..." she glared at him, before she sighed, "You've won this time, savage."

"There's no need to get angry... again." he assured her, making Azula chuckle; she had gone to Sokka to get rid of her anger, which she did, only to replace it with frustration of another kind.

He offered her a hand to help her up, the Princess begrudgingly accepting it, knowing that it was more embarrassing to continue fumbling around on the dojo floor than to concede defeat, "Thanks for that." she admitted, making Suki raise a brow with interest.

"You're thanking him for winning?" she asked her, obviously dumbfounded by the suggestion that she could be completely fine with losing after the anger she had just shown.

"No, I'm thanking him for letting me take out my anger. Nothing clears the mind like a good spar." she cocked a smirk as Sokka placed an arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, do you want lunch or something? I'm kinda hungry." he suggested to her, Azula smirking with approval.

"Oh, well, as long as I don't have to walk." she suggested, making him raise a brow.

"Wait, you want me to carry you all the way back to the hall?"

"Well, you can do it, can't you?" she asked him, inciting a sense of cockiness that was rare to see on his face.

"Well, I have been working out. I should be strong enough." he declared, Azula noting the Kyoshi Warriors rolling their eyes at his words; she snickered slightly, making her boyfriend look at her with offence.

"What, you don't think I could do it?" he quipped, the Princess grinning back at him.

"No, I think you could. You better." she warned him, the Water Tribe warrior nodding as he grabbed her by the waist, holding her up in his arms.

"Remember when you hated this?" he asked her, the Princess sighing; remembering that night in Yu Dao only made her feel shame, but she felt a sense of happiness, knowing that Sokka had done all he could to save her, and more importantly, succeeded.

"Oh, don't remind me, if you know what's good for you." she jokingly chided him, though he acted as if her threat was wholly serious.

"Yep, I'll shut up now." he assured her, making the Kyoshi Warriors, who had been watching the entire situation unfold, break down laughing, one of them looking like they were struggling to breathe because of said laughter.

She glanced around, taking note of the village headman, Oyaji, racing toward them with a fearful expression, "Girls! Firebenders have landed on our shores!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Azula groaned, letting her head fall back as she tried once more to move her leg; she was frustrated to find that her movement was constrained, although at the very least her knee joint was actually functional.

"Oyaji, we're on it." she heard Suki assure the headman, stepping forward with her warriors, who were all armed and ready; she looked their way, glancing toward Sokka specifically, "We could use your help. If you can kick our butts, then you can kick theirs too."

"We will." he declared confidently, before the warriors raced forward, back toward the village.

Oyaji followed after them with a clearly exasperated and nervous look on his face; the Southern Raiders, or someone friendly with them, were there to capture Aang, and would likely destroy his village in the process. Azula looked up to her boyfriend, sighing as she realised that she had found herself in the worst possible situation; unable to use her bending without being seen as an enemy, all while she was momentarily unable to walk.

"This has to be the worst timing ever."

* * *

Coughing water out of his mouth, Aang tried to gain a sense of his surroundings; he knew that riding the Unagi had been a bad idea, if not extreme idea, and in the end, he had given up on trying, knowing that he wanted to mend his relationship with Katara, who he had angered by being too self-centered and, as she succinctly put it, 'a jerk'. He realised that as soon as he glanced around at his surroundings, that she had gotten him out of the water

"Katara, don't ride Unagi. Not fun." he murmured as he opened his eyes, glancing up toward the Water Tribe girl with relief, but her face gave a very different emotion.

"Aang, the Fire Nation, they're here." she told him, making Aang tense up; he had been fooling around, all while he gave their enemies the chance to hunt them down, "We have to go stop them. Before they burn down the village... or worse."

He could tell from the look in her eye that she was thinking about what had happened to her mother, which made him feel even worse; bringing that upon the people of Kyoshi Island chilled him to the bone. He pulled himself up, despite the fact he felt pained being thrown about by the Unagi; Katara grasped him by the arm, helping him up, before she gestured above them.

"They're marching by." she whispered, the young Avatar hunching his back slightly as he leaned out from the rocks they were standing on, looking out in the direction toward the village.

"We need to get them away from here." he simply concluded, "Do you think they'll chase after us?" he asked her, the Water Tribe teen grimacing at the sight of the Southern Raiders marching toward the village in file.

"I hope so." she murmured, "You don't have your staff, or your clothes." she noted, making Aang chuckle with embarrassment, gesturing back toward the beach where he had his things where sitting.

"We'll have to be quick, but I think you could work on a distraction." he admitted, before gesturing to the sea water beside them, "How about splashing them?"

She raised a brow at him, before glancing to the bay beside them with a nervous expression, "I guess I could." he turned her face to a smile, showing confidence in her abilities; he gave her a thumbs up, and she took a deep breath, before she closed her eyes.

"Uh... why are you closing your eyes?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl simply responding in a calm voice.

"I am remembering." she simply uttered, moving her hands in the same motion that the waves lapped up against the shore, before she grit her teeth, grasping her hand out as she thrust it around, like she was throwing a punch; surprisingly enough, the move actually worked, and the water flew up beside them, dousing the Southern Raiders, catching their attention.

"Waterbender!" one of them shouted out, before Katara looked at him with a grimace.

"Uh, we've got their attention. Now what?" she asked him nervously, the young Avatar raising a finger.

"Now, I run!" he simply told her, his voice rising to a shout as he used his airbending to propel himself forward, racing along the rocks, catching the attention of the Southern Raiders, who had turned around to attack his Water Tribe friend.

While he raced away, she continued to use her bending to distract them, throwing up another wave of water to knock them off their feet, all while he dashed toward the beach, making sight of the small pile of clothes he had, which were sitting by his staff. He ducked under what he sensed to be a fire blast from behind, which struck a tree ahead of him; he thrust his hands forward, sending a gust of wind to put the fire out, before he turned his attention back to his things. He dodged another fireball that was sent his way, before using his airbending to levitate his glider staff into his hand. He spun it around to deflect the next fireball that came his way, before aiming said staff forward, funnelling a strong wind gust through it, which struck down a few Southern Raiders who were still trying to hit him.

Aang then turned his attention back to his clothes, grabbing his pants and stepping into their holes, pulling them up his legs as quickly as he could; he still had to turn around and block another fireball, sending it back the other way with his airbending. He then grasped his tunic, pulling it over his head and arms, letting it fall down and cover his torso fully; he then returned his staff into his hand with his bending, levitating it back into the air, before he opened the glider up. Glancing back toward Katara, he made a short run-up before launching himself into the air; he could see that his friend was struggling and that made his resolve stronger. He used his airbending to fly as fast as he could, quickly landing down on the path that the Southern Raiders had been taking, and knocking three of them over simply by the wind-gust his landing caused.

"I'm back!" he called on the enemy soldiers, catching their attention, blocking their attacks as they attempted to send streams of fire at him with his staff, cutting through their attacks and making their attacks dissipate out into the air.

He then spun around, and was able to send a few off of their feet with a whipping coil of air that came off of the end of his staff, before he jumped up into the air, conjuring an air scooter underneath him, and instead of landing on it, used the ball of air as a battering ram against the Southern Raiders who were still in some semblance of a formation; it was lit hitting over a tower made of coins, and they all were knocked back, though a few of them were outright knocked unconscious by the swift moving ball of air.

He glanced back toward Katara, who looked relieved as she climbed up over the rocks, onto the path beside him, "Do you need me to- uh- splash them again?"

"No, we need to get past them and save the village." he declared, the Water Tribe girl pursing her lips with confidence.

"Let's get past them, then." she raised her right arm up, once again grasping toward the body of water that laid beside them.

Together, they moved forward, Aang spinning his staff around to great a powerful wind gust, all while Katara bent the water beside them, arching it over and then into his wind, causing the water to batter at them like an intense rainstorm. He let up his spinning for a moment, and all the air she was bending moved forward at once, the mass of water splashing them off their feet. He counted at least two dozen Southern Raiders off their feet, but their attacks didn't seem to be doing much but delaying them. He knew that he had to move forward, and so he did; using his staff to bend back any firebenders that approached them, he moved along the path, with Katara standing by his side, ready to bend more seawater, if need be. Once they had seemingly pushed away all of the firebenders, either knocking them out or to the side, Aang glanced back to his friend, knowing that they had to hurry.

"Come on, let's go!" he called on her, using his airbending to speed up his approach toward the village.

He could already hear the sound of fighting from near the beach, and he just hoped that the Kyoshi Warriors were able to handle the Southern Raiders; he realised that Sokka and Azula would be there to protect the village, but he was unsure if they could beat them all. He honestly had no idea how many Southern Raiders were on the island; he had counted around thirty approaching the village, and he knew that he had only delayed them. He had no idea how many more were already attacking the village as they searched for him.

When the Avatar made sight of the statue of Avatar Kyoshi, he knew that he was getting close, and glanced behind him to see that Katara was running behind as fast as she could. Turning his eyes toward the village, he counted even more Southern Raiders, who were being barely held off by the combined efforts of the Warriors and his friends. Buildings were already smoking or outright on fire from the stray fire balls that seemed to be flying out with every attack the firebenders made.

"Looking for me?!" he called on the Southern Raiders, a number of which turned his way; the more distracting he was for them, the more of a chance the Kyoshi Warriors would have to beat them.

"The Avatar!" one of them called out, pointing toward him with a snarl, "Get him!"

When five Southern Raiders ran at him, he spun his staff around, sending two seperate wind gusts at his attackers, the two blasts throwing them off of their feet. He then ducked under a fire ball that was aimed at his head, he glanced back toward Katara, knowing that protecting the villagers was their main objective at that very moment.

"Go, make sure the villagers are safe!" she told her, the Water Tribe girl's eyes narrowing with determination as she ran off to the side to avoid the Southern Raiders; to make sure they didn't follow her, he charged forward, throwing his staff around to whip the firebenders off of their feet.

Looking at them all lying on the ground around him made Aang chuckle, knowing that he was able to beat them all, despite the fact they were all clearly trained adults. He was the Avatar, but he hadn't even mastered the elements; he guessed that nobody really did know how to counter airbending, which gave him a sense of calm and resolve that he mightn't have otherwise felt as he fought the Southern Raiders off.

"Get 'em, Aang!" he heard Sokka cheer him on, the young Avatar gritting his teeth as he charged up a ball of air in his hands, which began to rotate at an insanely fast speed; he was thankful that he had practiced his marble trick so much, because it made it a lot easier for him to articulate his bending in such a manner.

He then threw the ball of air around him, knocking the Southern Raiders back, throwing some of them into each other; he then dispersed the ball, letting the air rip out, which threw everyone back, including himself. Aang smirked as he then threw his staff down to make a cutting blade of air, which pushed the Southern Raiders apart into two halves, making it easier for his allies to fight them. He began to race down the parting, hoping to join Sokka and Azula in fighting off the firebenders, but found himself stopped in his tracks when multiple fire-streams were sent at him from behind; he had sensed the heat and jumped up in reflex, back-flipping over the attacks, swinging his staff as he spun around mid-air, striking his attackers back. When he landed on his feet, he almost gasped as he realised that the enemies he had 'beaten' a minute or two earlier had now returned in strength, and were surrounding him, all of them taking firebending stances.

"Aw, come on." he grumbled, unsure how he would knock them all down.

He wished at that moment that he already knew how to firebend, something that he wouldn't be able to do for some time; that was due to the traditional order of learning the elements, being air, water, earth and then fire. Even if the element of fire was seemingly the most destructive, he knew that being able to use it would have meant he could have easily beaten the Southern Raiders by that point. When they all punched toward him, sending blindly bright orange streams of fire at him, he spun his staff around, ready to disperse the fire as best he could; he wasn't expecting the fire to suddenly turn blue and spiral upward above him, forming something he could only describe to be like a tornado made of flames, beautifully painted the colour of water he'd seen at a Fire Nation beach. It took him a moment to realise, but what he was seeing was Azula's bending, in all its glory; she could bend the fire streams of two dozen firebenders at once- the feat in of itself made his jaw drop. He knew she was strong, but what he was seeing, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before; it made his own bending feats, that which had gotten him his tattoos, the youngest of an airbender in recorded history, pale in comparison.When the flames dissipated, he turned back toward where the Princess must have been standing, seeing her glaring his way with grit teeth, and both her arms out in front of her.

"I've had enough of this." she declared, before sending a stream of bright blue flames at the Southern Raiders surrounding him, who were flung to the ground as her fire seared their armour; Aang turned around, using his airbending to knock down those who she hadn't reached, or couldn't, seeing that he was standing in the middle of the circle they had formed.

He was able to then charge at them, using his staff to shoot them back with the powerful wind gusts it could conjure; he created an air scooter beneath him, sitting on it as he spun around, bending a coiling gust of wind, which threw the remaining Southern Raiders off of their feet. When the dust and flames had cleared, he sighed with relief, seeing that the invaders had been defeated and the village saved; he glanced back toward Azula, smiling with appreciation of her efforts, but her expression was more so concerned, and he immediately understood why. She had just shown her bending, making herself out to clearly be a firebender.

"You're kidding me..." he heard one of the Kyoshi Warriors gasp, jaw open wide, before Suki stepped forward.

"She's a firebender!" she pointed accusingly at Azula, who leaned her head back as she sighed with frustration.

"She just saved your village." Sokka retorted, making her look at him with anger, although it was more restrained than it was a few moments prior.

"You are a Fire Nation spy, just like we guessed." one of the other warriors pointed accusingly at her.

"Sokka, I feel like we've been here before." she raised her voice, her boyfriend stepping forward past the Kyoshi Warriors, who were obviously quite tense after seeing the revelation.

"Yes, I don't fondly remember being chased out of a village by an angry mob who threw stones at us, after they found out you were a firebender." he admitted, glancing back toward the Kyoshi Warriors, "I just hope you're more polite than those guys."

"That's not just any firebender... that's the Crown Princess!" he heard Oyaji's voice rise up, "There's only one person refuted to bend blue fire, and that's her- Princess Azula." he stepped forward amongst the growing crowd of villagers, where he could see Katara, who was looking absolutely terrified.

"The Princess?" he heard one of them mumble, "Didn't she die?"

"No, I didn't fucking die!" Azula raised her voice, gesturing to herself, "I'm right here!" she snarled, her face clearly showing her offence to such a rumour.

"Why is a Fire Nation Princess helping the Avatar?" Suki accused them, stepping closer with her fan out.

"Uh... because she broke me out of an iceberg." Aang clarified, "Without her, I wouldn't be back. I'd still be frozen." he explained, making the villagers look amongst themselves.

"Leave." the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors gestured to the sky-bison at the top of the hill, "Leave our island, and don't come back."

"But- we didn't want this to happen." Aang tried to argue, even if he knew that they ought to leave.

"It doesn't matter, Avatar." Oyaji shook his head, "We'll have to... dispose of these men, and you'll need to leave. Right now. There might be more of them." he explained, the young Avatar grimacing as he glanced down to the unconscious Southern Raiders, realising the fate he had sealed for them.

"O-okay." he mumbled, nodding with some relent, before he looked up to Azula, who was glancing his way with a serious expression.

"Come on, he's right. We need to leave." she stressed, gesturing for him to follow.

The young Avatar followed her, his eyes looking at the villagers, whose expressions were clearly showing the change of emotion; they felt betrayed by his friendship with Azula, a girl who had probably just saved his life. He didn't want to feel regret for that, knowing that, despite her rough edges, she wasn't a bad person; she wasn't going around like the Southern Raiders, who tried to enslave people. He knew that the villagers and the Kyoshi Warriors had good reason to mistrust her, but they had all seen what she did; she saved him, and she saved them- she was a hero, and it saddened him that they couldn't see it. They were then joined by Sokka, and then Katara, the four of them walking up toward Appa, who was already approaching him, groaning with a nervousness that he could understand; he wanted to get away, and Aang did too. He used his airbending to launch himself up onto his friend's neck, patting him as he grabbed the reins.

"Yeah, buddy, we need to go." he simply told his sky-bison, before he heard Momo chittering behind him; the flying lemur looked back at the villagers, just like he did, and quickly enough, his other friends were climbing up onto the saddle.

"Uh, so the koi fish are done." Sokka observed something that was so far from Aang's mind that it actually brought him guilt to think about it; he had brought the Southern Raiders to Kyoshi Island, something that Katara had warned him about, and he had chosen to ignore.

"We should have never come here." he admitted with a sigh, looking down at the villagers, "I was being childish, and I didn't think about what would happen if I stayed here."

She looked at him with a saddened face, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You- we saved them. We beat the bad guys. It's okay, Aang." she tried to reassure him, only making Aang's eyes move down with shame; he had been so selfish and self-centered, and because of that, he hadn't taken her advice.

"No, no it's not." he admitted, "This is my fault."

"Well, technically, I pissed them off." Azula clarified, accepting that without her intervention, the villagers might have been a bit more amicable to them as they left.

"I need to make up for the hundred years I was gone." he admitted, glancing back toward the villagers, taking note of the suspicious glares of the Kyoshi Warriors, "We need to stop this."

"We'll do it together." Sokka added, leaning closer with a warm smile; Aang looked back at his friends, giving them all a smile, which they gave in return, bar Azula, who refrained from making any kind of pleased look.

"Yeah, together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a few references to my last fic, Lost and Found, which makes sense given the story was centered around the Kyoshi Warriors and a certain member of the Fire Nation Royal Family. Consider my OCs as just my interpretation of the Kyoshi Warriors.


	7. Chapter 7

Azula knew that Omashu was the last great stronghold of the Earth Kingdom, and seeing it before her brought with it a mixture of emotions; its conquest was a great triumph for her father, though it had been overshadowed by the conquest of Ba Sing Se a few months later during the passing of Sozin's Comet. She felt a sense of unease, knowing that the city that was now named for her father stood to remind her of her own failures, and the treachery of her father's supposed loyalists, like Ukano, Mai's father, who had folded to support Zuko, probably because he knew that he could have his daughter married to the most powerful man in the world. All for power, and with no respect for the struggles she had gone through personally for her nation; she had defeated the Dai Li, and she had made sure that her father's empire remained strong and unified, only for her brother to tear it apart. As she looked upon the city, perched atop a mountain, covered in factories, she was reminded of the power and influence of her nation; whether the city would prosper under Fire Nation rule was something she did not know nor care for. It was not her country, not what she wanted to rule; she desired to rule the people of her nation, not some random city that was little more than a vanity piece for the Fire Lord.

"There it is, the great... well, once great, Earth Kingdom city of Omashu." Aang murmured, before he sighed, "So much has changed."

"Yeah, no shit." Azula commented on the obviousness of his statement, earning a glare from Katara, who was sitting beside her.

It was as if she had said, 'seriously, Azula?' without even opening her mouth; that was how well she was getting to know her, and that itself made the Princess feel uncomfortable.

"Are we going to get any closer? Because I don't think that'd be a good idea." Katara acknowledged, "The Fire Nation might attack us."

"I know for a fact that this city is under the rule of my brother, so if they attack us, then that means Zuko might not be as friendly as you hoped." Azula suggested, Aang nodding with a nervous look on his face.

"We better play it safe." he acknowledged, before glancing around them, at the rough, mountainous terrain that surrounded the city on all sides, "But where are these rebels. Sokka, you said they'd be at Omashu."

"Well, they're not going to be in the city... unless they're underneath it. The Dai Li were doing that." he acknowledged, before gesturing to the hills around the city, "They won't be in sight of the city walls. That'd be way too dangerous- the Fire Nation would attack them."

"So behind the mountains?" Aang raised a brow, the Water Tribe warrior nodding.

"Pretty much." he confirmed, "Let's just fly around a bit before we camp out. I'm sure we might find something. It's not just going to be all rocks and dust."

"It is the Earth Kingdom." Azula joked, her boyfriend snickering, pointing a finger at her approvingly.

"Oh, that's a good one." he applauded her, before furrowing a brow, "You know, I don't know if they like rocks, but seeing that they built a city in the middle of the mountains, I'd say they do."

"Couldn't they make everything with earthbending?" Katara suggested, her brother raising a brow.

"Maybe... I don't see you making igloos, though." he reminded her, making the Water Tribe teen snarl at her brother.

"Seriously, Sokka? You already know I can't bend that well." she growled at him.

He raised his hands up, making an innocent smile, "I know, I know. I just like to annoy you."

"You're asking to get whacked in the head with a snowball." she told him with a frustrated voice, Sokka gesturing around the saddle.

"Where's the water you're gonna make that with, though?" he asked her, Katara glancing around, her expression faltering.

"Maybe the clouds... they're made of water, right?" she asked, Aang turning to face her with a grin.

"Do you want to find out?" he asked her, Azula raising her head.

"I'd prefer if you didn't make all of our things wet. We are about to camp out, Aang." she reminded the young Avatar, who pouted slightly.

"Aw... that might have been fun." he responded dejectedly, the Princess crossing her arms.

"I don't want Sokka to demand I dry all his clothes with my firebending." she added an argument, her boyfriend looking at her with a surprised face.

"But you could." he noted, "Are you really that lazy?" he quipped, making Azula raise a finger.

"Being lazy is your thing, not mine. That and oversleeping." she retorted, the Water Tribe raising a finger, as if he were about to argue against her point; he sighed, obviously unable to argue against her factual observation.

"Okay, you're not wrong... but if you could use your bending for basic things, there's nothing wrong with doing that." he argued, bringing up a point that she'd heard before; her bending wasn't something she used for menial tasks, not when she could use it for far greater things, like beating her enemies.

"Bending is an art form, Sokka, not just something you throw around just because you can."

"I mean, it kinda is." Aang argued against her point, before he flicked his hand up, using his airbending to throw her backward; she grunted as she slammed down onto the saddle, raising her head back up with a snarl.

"What was that for?!" she shouted at him, the young Avatar shrugging his shoulders with a smug look on his face.

"Oh, I dunno, practising my 'art form'." he used her argument against her, Sokka and Katara both cackling at his joke.

"You little..." she growled, pulling herself back up to a seated position, "Stop laughing!" she demanded, Sokka wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"I'm- ahaha- it's just so funny." he tried to defend his actions, before he cleared his throat, "Uh, I'm sorry." he tried to speak in a serious tone, his sister still grinning with amusement.

"Your apology isn't accepted." she growled, before glancing at Katara, "And you better stop snickering or I'm going to set your hair on fire." she demanded, the Water Tribe girl covering her mouth with her hand to try and muffle her vocalisations, which seemed to be involuntary.

Azula glanced over the side of Appa's saddle, looking down to the rough terrain below; it was scantily covered with vegetation, and the steep slopes of the mountains and valleys meant that it was hard for anyone to do any farming or anything of the sorts around the city, meaning that the whole area was quite desolate. That meant that any kind of rebel camp would be rather obvious to spot. To her annoyance, she couldn't see anything, and looked back toward Aang, realising that she ought to try and give him some directions.

"I can't see anything yet." she explained, "Aang, take us around these mountains. If there's a rebel base around here, we'll be able to see it."

"Unless it's underground, that is." her boyfriend added, making her sigh.

"I sure hope it isn't. That'll just make it harder for us to find them, and waste our time." she narrowed her eyes into a serious glare, looking down toward the ground below, knowing that if the rebels wouldn't make themselves apparent, they'd be forced to scour the countryside for them.

"We've already wasted a lot of time already. One night isn't that much." Katara acknowledged, the young Avatar cringing.

"Uh, sorry about that by the way. We really should... uh- remain on task." he tried to sound as serious as possible, but only came off as sounding uncertain.

"That's the idea." Azula agreed with him, "And remaining on task hopefully won't involve you making fun of me with your airbending." she narrowed her eyes at him, reminding him of what he had just done.

"Uh... yep." he made a clearly exaggerated smile, which made his words seem less genuine, "I'll avoid doing that."

"There's no 'avoiding'. Just don't do it." she growled at him, making Katara snicker once more.

"Is this a soft-spot? Do you not like getting embarrassed?"

"Nobody likes getting embarrassed, Katara." Sokka retorted his sister's rather stupid question; Azula didn't like getting embarrassed, because it was shameful to look foolish or inept in the eyes of anyone, even people that wouldn't judge her for it.

"I am not my brother. I'm not some inept moron." she growled as she crossed her arms, her boyfriend scooting his butt a little closer to her, trying to offer her some assurance with a hand around her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, don't worry. You're not stupid. You just got pranked, that's all." he reassured her, the Princess turning her head away as she raised her chin in defiance.

"Pranking is one step away from being tricked, and being tricked is how you get defeated." she declared, Aang raising a brow with thought.

"So, what you're saying is that we can trick the Fire Nation and beat them that way?" he asked her, Azula's eyes widening with surprise; she hadn't expected such an idea to come from the youngest member of their group.

"That's one way of taking my words." she conceded, "Trickery is a useful tool in making your enemies believe that all is well, or make real threats seem trivial."

"That's how I snuck into Pohuai Stronghold, along with a little deception." Sokka recalled, "Tricking people is really fun, actually."

"Wouldn't have that been really scary though? you have to act perfectly, and if you slip up, then you're done for." Katara asked her brother, who shrugged his shoulders with indifference.

"My plan in those situations is to not have a plan. If I'm always ready to change my plans, then I don't have to worry about slip-ups. I think a way around it." he explained, before furrowing a brow, "I guess we might need to do a little deception sooner or later... and by we I mean you." he turned to Azula, who sighed.

"Yes, yes, I know the rebels won't trust us if they know I'm working with the Avatar... but didn't you say the Freedom Fighters were in this group? That would mean they would recognise me- even if they never met me, they could put two and two together."

"Maybe you should avoid them. That might work." Aang suggested simply, the Princess nodding; as cowardly as it was, it was certainly the easiest way to avoid such an issue.

"Evasion, your favourite tactic." she quipped, the young Avatar shrugging at her with a smug grin.

"It hasn't failed me yet." he argued, Azula narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yet." she warned him, before glancing off to the side of the saddle once more, "Where are they hiding?" she mumbled to herself, Sokka leaning over beside her.

"Probably underground. Earthbenders love their dirt." he argued once more, the Princess shaking her head.

"That doesn't mean we can't find them. They'd have to have people scouting around, even if they go underground to get into their base. So... tracks." she concluded, Katara raising a brow at her skeptically.

"How exactly do we find tracks from all the way up here?"

"Huh... good point." she acknowledged his point, before she glanced over toward Aang, "Aang! Take us down, we need to check for tracks."

"On it." he nodded, pulling on Appa's reins to guide him lower in the sky, the sky-bison gliding to the outer side of the range they were flying over as he descended down toward the ground.

As they grew nearer to the side of the mountain, she, Katara, and Sokka all looked down off the side of the saddle, glancing down toward the ground, trying to make out tracks.

"I can't see anything." the Water Tribe girl mumbled, "Maybe they're not around here."

"They have to scout around somewhere. They don't want the Fire Nation finding their base... where ever it's hiding." Azula declared, before she clenched her hand on the edge of the saddle, "They have to be." her voice quietened, before she glanced back toward her boyfriend, who had a sympathetic look on his face.

"Don't worry, Azula. We'll find them, I'm sure of it." he assured her, the Princess's eyes turning back toward him, simply frustrated that they were being forced on a wild chase around the mountains in hope that they'd find the rebels.

"Oh, I'm sure we will." she sarcastically retorted, before laying herself back on Appa's saddle, "We'll need to set up camp soon. The sun's already low in the sky."

"She's got a good point, Aang." Katara backed her up, "We won't be able to see anything when it's dark, even if we want to."

"Well, you can firebend light for us, can't you?" the young Avatar asked of her, Azula grasping her nose bridge as she sighed.

"You do realise that'll make it far more likely that our 'allies' will attack us, presuming that we're Fire Nation soldiers." she argued, Aang's face tensing up before he gulped.

"Oh... yeah, that might happen." he mumbled, obviously thinking back to the reaction they had gotten at Kyoshi Island, the last place her bending had been revealed.

Though they had stopped in a few towns and villages along the way to Omashu, she hadn't found it necessary to defend herself with her fire, and thus, her identity remained a secret. The water tribe colours were a good way of disguising her true identity, though her pale skin and gold eyes were always telling of her heritage if anyone paid close enough attention.

"Plus, that means we can cook some food. We still have some leftover rice and vegetables from our last stop." Sokka suggested, before licking his lips, "I'm looking forward to enjoying it."

"Oh, so you're going to be cooking tonight?" Katara retorted, bringing up a relatively frequent topic of argument for their group; though Sokka and Azula were both capable of cooking food, they weren't very good at it, compared to the Water Tribe girl, and almost always delegated the task out to her, much to her frustration.

"Uh... no." Sokka admitted, "But I can set up everyone's tents if you want."

"Oh, thanks, Sokka!" Aang beamed at him, obviously glad he didn't have to do that chore.

"And what about you?" she turned toward the Princess, who shrugged her shoulders.

"A campfire." she nonchalantly responded, knowing that was the thing she could be useful in making, seeing that with her bending, she could create fire out of thin air.

The Water Tribe girl raised a brow at her with a skeptical look in her eye, "That's not much."

"And who said Aang was doing anything?" she gestured towards the young Avatar, who gave the rest of them a nervous smile.

"Okay... fair point. How about we all help out on the jobs, and that way nobody gets to be lazy?" she suggested, all of them nodding along with agreement; she didn't like getting bossed around by Katara, but with no desire to start a fight on top of a sky-bison, she decided that it would be smarter to not complain.

"But you're still cooking, right?" Sokka prodded her, obviously wanting assurance that he'd be getting something edible for dinner.

"Urgh..." she groaned, before forcing a nod, "Yes, Sokka. I'll make your dinner."

"You're the best sister, you know that." he grinned at his sister, not improving her mood one bit; she glanced back over to the side of the saddle, Azula looking at her boyfriend with a slightly frustrated look.

"There's times when compliments don't work, Sokka. And this is one of them." she warned him, making him snort, seemingly involuntarily, looking at her with a bemused grin.

"Says the person whose compliments are rarer than..." he began, before stopping himself, "My only comparison would be a little mean spirited to say out loud, honestly."

"They're as rare as dragons." she finished his sentence, the Water Tribe teen raising a brow.

"Ah, yeah, that works." he nodded, Aang glancing back her way with a concerned look on his face.

"Don't tell me what I think you're about to tell me..." he stared at her, his eyes showing the same pain that she had seen when he first arrived at the Southern Air Temple; she glanced at two Water Tribe teens for a moment, slightly confused by his words, as she didn't know exactly what he was referring to.

"About the dragons?" she asked him, the young Avatar nodding uneasily, "They're extinct. My Uncle Iroh killed the last one years ago." she explained, raising a hand up as she formed some flames in her palm, "My great-grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, made it a tradition to hunt down dragons. It's a great honour for any firebender."

"That's disgusting." Aang looked at her with a face of displeasure, before turning away, Katara glancing at her with a slightly surprised look.

"Well, I thought it would have been smarter to keep them." she admitted, "That way, the Fire Nation could have conquered Ba Sing Se a whole lot more easily." she added, knowing that riding dragons over the walls would have been safer than trying to tear down the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se.

"Of course you would." the Water Tribe girl's expression turned to a glare, before she faced away from her once more.

"I can't help it. I'm a strategist." she defended her thought process; even if she wasn't currently desiring to conquer cities, her father had instilled in her the teachings and mentalities to do just that.

"You're a pretty good one." Sokka commented, his words holding weight, given, unlike the other two present, he had actually witnessed her strategies in motion, and not just her ideas.

"Thanks." she mumbled, though quietly enough that the other two didn't pay much attention to her response; she glanced over to the side of the saddle once more, seeing the barren terrain before them, noticing the sun disappear behind the mountains as they continued to descend.

They reached the base of a valley, which had a small stream running through it, though there was still very little vegetation barring some wild-grasses than ran along the edges of said stream; Appa groaned loudly as he landed, Aang glancing around their new campsite with interest, before he jumped off of the edge of the saddle which he had been sitting upon. He landed on the ground beside them and ran his staff along the soil, sending some dust up into the air as he turned back to face them.

"So, I guess we'll camp here." he simply concluded, Azula yawning lightly as she grabbed one of the bags at the rear of the saddle, slinging it over her shoulder as she climbed over the edge of the saddle.

"Yes, we will." she voiced her own agreement, though she narrowed her eyes at the Air Nomad boy, "But we're getting up at first light to look for these rebels, got it?"

"Of course, you're the boss." Aang assured her, making the Princess cock a smirk, appreciating the quick deference that he had given her, even if it had been out of fear of reprisal.

"I am." she proudly declared, before she threw the bag on her shoulder down to the ground.

She could tell from the weight of it that it was one of their tent bags, and she quickly pulled out the canvas, poles and mats that she would need to set up such a contraption with. She rolled out the mat, shaking it for a few moments to get rid of any dust on it, before she lay it out flat; she turned around to go grab some poles, only to find that they were missing, though she immediately realised where they had gone. Glancing up from her kneeling position, she saw Sokka holding the poles in both his hands, taking one and jabbing it into the ground beside her.

"I did say I was going to set up the tents." he reminded her, Azula rolling her eyes at him.

"And we'll get it done quicker together. Go get that pole in the ground." she gestured to the other end of the mat, where he stepped over to, twisting the pole around as he tried to move into the hard soil beneath their feet.

Azula did the same, taking the pole he had already put in the ground and hammering her fist down on its top; she felt move deeper into the soil with each hit, before she knelt over once more to grab the next pole. She grasped it and raised it up to the level of the two pole-tops, Sokka eyeing it as she moved it into place.

"Good." he nodded, before gesturing to the bag, "Now we need the canvas."

She grabbed the canvas, which was curled up like a sleeping roll, shaking it to get rid of any dust, as she had done with the mat; then she pulled it out and over the top pole with a flick of her wrist, her boyfriend grabbing the other end to make sure it was put in place. She heard the sound of Aang grunting behind her, momentarily glancing to see him carrying a large bag in his hands, with some struggle, Katara giving him a reassuring look as he took it toward her. The Princess glanced back toward the canvas, now knowing the next step was to take the pegs and put them in place; as she grabbed the bag, Sokka stepped over beside her once more, dropping to a knee as he offered his hand out. She reached into the bag of pegs, taking two out and placing them in his open palm; he smiled at her momentarily, making her eyes dart away, not wanting to make eye-contact for too long. She had learnt over time that she tended to blush when that happened, and seeing that she didn't want to embarrass herself any further, avoiding eye-contact was her chosen tactic of the evening.

He took the two pegs and reoriented himself to sit by one side of the tent, and after picking out the other two pegs, she did the same; grasping at one corner of the canvas, she slung the peg through the small sinew loops before she raised her right foot, proceeding to hammer the peg into the ground with her heel. She then took the other peg and did the exact same, quickly leaving her with a mounted canvas that was ready to cover them from the elements. The last part of their tent was the tarp, which she pulled out from the bag, unfurling it as Sokka grabbed the other end. The two of them slung the large, square shaped covering made of animal pelts over the top of their tent, the Water Tribe teen wiping his hands as he looked upon their work.

"Well, that was pretty easy." he admitted, before glancing back toward the saddle, "Then there's our sleeping roll." he acknowledged, Azula gesturing toward Aang and Katara, who were both still working on setting up their tent.

"You go help them and I'll get the sleeping roll, and make sure the inside of our tent is nice and clean." she explained, as she wanted to make sure herself that they were sleeping in the best conditions, given the dusty environment around them.

"Good idea." he smiled at her for a moment, before turning his heels, walking over to assist the other two.

She turned her attention back toward Appa's saddle, taking note of Momo, who was looking around the bags, "Oh, trying to steal more food, are you?" she questioned the lemur, who raised his head, realising that he was being watched, "Yeah, you." she pointed at him, after which he made a few chitters, jumping off of the saddle and running toward the others; she didn't have an issue sharing their food with the small creature, as long as he only got his fair share, which given his size, was a lot less than what they ate.

Approaching the saddle, she began to hasten her pace, before making a leap, reaching up to grasp the edge of the saddle; she then used her upper-body strength to pull herself up, swinging her legs up above her torso, vaulting up onto the saddle. She was relieved that she was still so capable of acrobatic feats, despite no longer having much use for them outside of climbing onto a sky-bison; down in the South Pole, given the attire she had been wearing, and the terrain, it was rather hard to do any kind of acrobatics outside of sparring.

She picked up her and Sokka's sleeping roll, before she turned around to glance off toward her friends, taking note of their efforts putting up the other tent, which was pretty much complete by that point. The Princess vaulted over the edge of the saddle once more, kicking up some dust as she landed, before she quickly approached the tent; pulling the canvas opening apart, she tossed the sleeping roll inside, glancing in to see that her tent was rather dim from the shadow cast by the mountains between them and the falling sun. She lit a small flame on her finger tip, glancing around to check for dust, extinguishing it when she saw that the tent was pretty much clean. She pulled out the sleeping roll, making sure it wasn't curled up at any of the edges, before she lay down on it, sighing as she thought about what would follow next.

They'd have dinner, and then maybe there'd be a tense argument between either her and Sokka or Katara, or the other way around; they would sleep, and then she would force her boyfriend out of bed the next morning, and if luck was willing to give them a break, then they'd find the rebels, and be able to figure out how they could assist each other. Azula just hoped that she could get through meeting their potential allies with no fuss, remembering the important fact that the Freedom Fighters were among them; even if they hadn't met Azula, if they saw a Fire Nation looking girl with Sokka, then they'd immediately figure out her identity. That could compromise any hopes they had of forging an alliance; the alliance they would need if she wanted to eventually move toward becoming Fire Lord.

"What are you pondering about now, your majesty?" Sokka asked her, catching her attention; she raised her head to notice that he was peering his head through the canvas partings.

"Oh, the usual. How I'm going to avoid ruining our chances with these rebels." she admitted the honest truth, the Water Tribe warrior raising a brow at her with interest.

"That's pretty easy. Don't show your bending... and, well, maybe if people don't see your face that much it'll avoid suspicion. Gold eyes and all." he suggested as he made his way into the tent, sitting down beside her; she nodded along to his words, agreeing with his points, though she could immediately think of something that he missed.

"And, I need to avoid Jet and his gang. If they're in this group, then if they see us together, they might rat out my identity. I'm not assuming everyone in this group will want to attack me on the spot, but some certainly will." she admitted, her boyfriend's eyes shimmering in thought.

"Yeah, you said that before. I'm sure if you avoid them, you'll be fine." he admitted, before raising a finger to his chin, "If you really want a disguise, we could lather your face with dust, and make you swarthier, so you look a little less Fire Nation."

"That sounds like something someone would do in an acting troupe to poorly portray another culture." she simply observed, "It'd probably be hard to make that look like anything more than dirt."

"Yeah, it was a kinda stupid idea." he mumbled, his voice sounding a whole lot less upbeat than it had before.

"It wasn't that dumb." she retorted, "It just won't work very well. I don't know how to create make-up, and I don't expect any of you to know how to make it either."

"Uh, true." he made a small, amused smile, before he lay down beside her, despite the fact that she was sitting up, "So, you ready to enjoy whatever dinner Katara makes?"

"Enjoy is an overstatement." she narrowed her eyes at him.

It was not out of any spite toward his sister, rather from the honest truth that the food she would make might fill her stomach, but she wouldn't find it pleasing to consume.

"Hey, it won't be that bad." he prodded her, Azula shrugging her shoulders.

"I didn't say it would be bad." she clarified, "I just said I won't enjoy it."

"I always enjoy food, even if it isn't the best." he gave his own opinion, despite that fact she hadn't asked.

"Yeah, I know that. That's what defines you as a person- a love of food." she stated blankly, though she said the last part with upturned lips, knowing that there were better things to live by.

"And of you." he added on the end, making her twitch slightly.

She hadn't been expecting those words, and she tried to hold back a smile upon hearing it; she hadn't asked for his reassurance, but even then, she received it, and Azula couldn't make any argument to say that annoyed her. Sokka could sure be annoying at times, but he could never annoy her by telling her what she needed to hear, whether it made her happy or not.

Sokka tilted his head slightly, before looking at her with concerned eyes, "Are you okay?" he asked her, the Princess still having tried to retain a blank, uncaring expression on her face, though it faltered when she sighed.

"I'm fine." she simply told him, before leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek, "Thanks." she whispered into his ear, before leaning back, flicking her bangs away from her face as she glanced back toward him.

"You confuse me sometimes." he acknowledged, before smiling at her brightly, "But that's okay, I like a little mystery."

"Okay, so that's how you're going to spin it?" she prodded her boyfriend, who chuckled to himself.

"What, it's true, though." he tried to reassure her, "Anyway, are we going to go outside? Katara might think we're getting the oogies on."

"Could you not call it that? We're not eight." she sighed with annoyance, remembering Sokka's childish term for romantic gestures.

Sometimes his immaturity was truly grating, though she didn't honestly care; she would have actually preferred 'the oogies' over Katara's cooking, though she didn't want to say that to her boyfriend's face, lest he accidentally tell his sister that and start another fight between the two girls.

"Okay, okay, Katara might think we're doing inappropriate things." he rephrased himself, making her roll her eyes.

"Let's just go outside, Sokka." she gestured back toward the opening in the canvas; he followed after her as she climbed out of the tent, glancing back over toward where she had last seen Aang and Katara, spotting the two of them mixing ingredients in a pot.

The couple approached them, the other two looking at them with interest, "Oh, so are you going to help with dinner?" the Water Tribe girl asked them, Azula shrugging her shoulders.

"No. I was thinking when it was going to be made." she retorted, making the other girl's brow twitch.

"When I've mixed all the ingredients." she clarified, before gesturing to the pot, "Then you can cook it."

"You mean hold my hands over a pot for spirits know how long?" she asked her, actually offended that she wanted her to use her bending to do something so trivial, "You do realise we can just find some kindling around here to make an actual fire, right?"

"Oh, that's a better idea." Aang agreed with her, before he glanced around their makeshift campsite, "But where is the kindling? I don't see any bushes around here."

"There's grass along this stream. Somewhere, there has to be some dead plants, ripe to burn." she gestured in the direction of the stream, before glancing back toward Katara, "Also, unless you can purify it with your waterbending, you'd best leave the pot to put some of that stream water in."

"What do you know about water purification?" she asked her with a skeptical voice.

"Not much. I know it's used in the Fire Nation to make sure diseases don't spread in cities, but seeing that I lived in a palace my whole life, I don't know how to do it."

"Melting snow is a lot safer than stream water." Sokka admitted, before raising a finger, "But boiling it should do the trick..." before he looked at her, remembering their first proper conversation all those months ago, "we didn't get sick then, did we?"

"No. The only thing I was worrying about was a twisted ankle."

"Aha! So you were worried!" he pointed at her accusingly, the Princess rolling her eyes; she had tried to ignore her foot at the time, and told Sokka just that, but that didn't mean that it wasn't in the back of her mind.

"I was concerned as much as I ought to be... my desire to escape that damn forest greatly outweighed my desire to see my foot heal." she clarified, the Water Tribe boy continuing to hold a smug look on his face.

"I believe you." he told her with a sarcastic voice, which she tried to ignore, as she tried to argue against throwing a fireball at him just because he was being smug, as much as part of her thought that was a brilliant idea.

"So, are you going to get the kindling?" Katara prodded her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Seeing that you're making the actual food, I don't see an issue with that." she observed the allocation of tasks, which she would admit was a little haphazard as of late.

Azula turned around, pacing past Appa, looking at the small stream that flowed down the valley, which was quite shallow, meaning that the stream was more of a line of puddles in the mud rather than an actual coherent flow of water. She approached the edge of it, looking at the grasses growing around the edge of the mud; the Princess ran her eyes along the length of the river, trying to spot out any bushes or dead grass that could serve as kindling. To her frustration, all the plants she could see were green, though she thought that might have had something to with dead plants being the same colour as the yellow soil that covered the base of the valley.

She heard Sokka's voice behind her, "Hey, wait up." he requested, the Princess coming to a halt as she glanced back his way.

"I can help carry whatever we find. That means we can have a bigger fire." he explained, Azula agreeing with his idea.

"More fuel makes fires last longer." she stated a common known fact about natural fires, before she began to pace along the edge of the stream.

"Can we burn the grass?" he asked her, gesturing to the tuffs of grreen along the edge of the mud.

"It wouldn't be as efficient. I don't want to be the one powering the fire, even if I'm capable of it. I need to save my strength." she explained herself, making him look a t her with a concerned expression.

"Uh... when you say that, it sounds like you're preparing for a fight." he observed, Azula's eyes darting down to her palm, in which she created a small blue flame.

"Wise leaders are ready for a fight, but avoid them when they're unnecessary." she recited a proverb she once heard, making him snicker at her.

"And you're our leader?" he challenged her claim, making the Princess raise a brow at him; she raised her flame covered palm up, the fireball growing larger as she willed it to, lighting Sokka's face a blue hue.

"I wouldn't try contesting that claim, for your own good."

* * *

The tent might have been dark, but beside the girl he loved, Sokka was always warm; he was amused that it was true both figuratively and literally, seeing that she was a crazy powerful firebender. He enjoyed her company, even if they were mocking each other, or kissing each other, or even trying to punch each other in the face, which seemed to happen more often than not. stretched his arms out, yawning as he tried to get comfortable in his and Azula's sleeping roll; she grunted with frustration as he accidentally whacked his arm into her head, her eyes narrowing at him with annoyance.

"Uh... sorry?" he apologised to his girlfriend, who simply sighed, rolling around to turn away from him.

He felt bad about having knocked her, so instead of staying quiet, he reached out with his right hand, grasping her shoulder; she shuddered from his touch, though she calmed down immediately after. He was concerned that she tended to twitch whenever he laid a hand on her, but he could understand that she simply just didn't like people touching her, rather than it being a personal dislike.

"I thought you'd be in a better mood." he admitted, the Princess remaining unresponsive, the only noticeable movement being that she tried to push her head further into the thin pillow they had at the end of their sleeping roll.

"Maybe don't be so clumsy, next time." she simply suggested with a snide voice, before she raised her hand up, underneath the sleeping roll, which he noticed by the change in weight above him; her hand, instead of trying to push his own off over her shoulder, simply grasped his, pulling it, and by extension, Sokka's whole body, closer to her.

"Oh, so you want to spoon." he chuckled, the Princess turning her head slightly.

"I never said that. I'd want you to hold me." she clarified; Azula always wanted to make her actions seem less awkward or cute than they actually were- she was the tough Princess, after all.

"Okay, holding you, coming right up." he jokingly commentated on his future actions, reaching his arm around her torso to hold her, nuzzling his face momentarily on her neck, which made her shiver slightly, before he let his head rest down on the pillow, "You smell nice."

"I smell like you." she retorted bluntly, "You can guess why."

He knew exactly why, because they had been enjoying themselves ever since they got back to the tent after dinner; a good way to burn off the food, she had offhandedly remarked, which he found to be both insightful, and amusing, given the context.

"I smell nice." he joked, making her give out a fake, obnoxious sounding laugh.

"Ha, ha, ha, wow, you sure do, Sokka." she sarcastically remarked, making him scrunch up his lips, now feeling self-conscious about his odour.

"Do I actually smell bad?" he whispered, the Princess snorting with amusement.

"If you don't wash, you do." she stressed, "We don't have much water around, so I doubt you'll get a chance anytime soon."

"Unless Katara splashes me with her waterbending after we have an argument." he suggested, making his girlfriend giggle.

"Enticing someone into anger so they can unintentionally clean you." she observed his idea, "That's the kind of plan I want to be hearing more often from you."

"What, do you want me to prod people into doing things I want them to?" has asked her, unsure if she was specifically referring to his idea or was just complimenting his wit.

"Like making an enemy firebender burn down the house they're in by making fun of them." she suggested, confirming the former suspicion he had.

"I'll keep that in mind." he mumbled, before leaning his face closer to her nape once more, putting his face in her tresses, "But right now, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe needs to sleep." he explained his actions in the most amusing way he could.

She snickered slightly, before he snuggled in closer to her, letting himself relax as he felt her warmth; she was always so warm, but he was able to discern, with some practice and intuition, her mood, just from her temperature. When Azula was warmer than usual, it was because she was either angry, openly or otherwise, genuinely happy, or rather simply 'in the mood'; when she was colder than usual, that meant she was usually feeling sad, conflicted or perhaps just bored. As he was drifting off to sleep, he felt a sudden shaking in the ground beneath him; he thought for a moment there was an earthquake, but his thoughts quickly turned to the more likely answer- somebody was going to attack them. Azula's head moved up from their pillow, and she growled with annoyance, obviously coming to the same conclusion as he did. The shaking intensified, though it was obviously not right underneath them; Sokka tended to get nervous with threats that others might dismiss as trivial, so with something so blatantly wrong, he was beginning to panic. He heard Appa growling just after, which was never a good sign. The Princess rose up to her feet, grabbing him by the shoulder as she did so, prodding him into doing the same, though he didn't need much enticement. As he did, he grabbed his boomerang, which was in its sheath, from behind where their heads were resting, and readied it in his hand.

"Who's there?!" Azula called out into the darkness, though after a few seconds of awkward silence, it seemed like no one intended to respond.

She grumbled with annoyance, flames sparking around her hands, which momentarily lit up their tent; he could see the anger in her eyes, and more than that, the determination to protect them from whatever threat lay outside. They both strode forward, crouching as they pushed the canvas flaps out of the way, looking around outside of their tent. Sokka took note that they had been surrounded by walls of earth, all the way around Appa and their two tents; the sky-bison obviously wasn't happy about what had just happened, and proceeded to whack his tail into the rocks, making them shake, though it didn't seem to do much damage.

"What's going on?!" Aang called out, stepping out of his tent with his staff in hand; Sokka could only see him because the embers of their campfire were still burning hot, which dimly lit the campsite a reddish hue.

"Stop right now, unless you want to be buried!" he heard a man's voice call out, the group tensing up, Azula clenching her fists shut, stopping any more flames from forming, which seemed to have been an involuntary reaction on her behalf.

"We're not here to hurt anybody!" Aang called out with as reassuring a voice he could make.

"Why should we trust you?" the same voice accusingly questioned them, from behind the wall, Sokka glanced around, examining his boomerang for a moment.

"I can hear where he is. Should I thr-" he began to ask his girlfriend, before he was cut off by the sound of another voice.

"Drop the weapon!" he heard a girl's voice this time, and from her pitch, she sounded to be young; probably younger than them, which seemed rather confusing to Sokka.

He had no idea why an adolescent girl would be attacking them, nor how she could see his boomerang, seeing that there was a wall of rocks surrounding them; the Water Tribe teen glanced around, checking to see if there was a girl standing on the walls, but saw nobody.

"Sokka! Do as she says!" Aang demanded with grit teeth and a tense voice, the Water Tribe teen sighing as he dropped his boomerang on the ground beside him, not knowing what they had gotten themselves into.

"Urgh..." he groaned, unsure who they were facing; they were obviously earthbenders, though whether they were associated with the rebels, or just some random bandits who found their camp was yet to be seen, "I have a feeling we should have just kept flying, Appa." he spoke to the sky-bison, who growled, obviously agitated after the walls popped out of nowhere.

"Please, there's no need to fight. You see... I'm the Avatar." Aang gave away his identity, which was either a dumbass or genius move on his behalf, depending on what happened next.

"The Avatar?" the same man questioned out again, before chuckling, "Are you hearing this kid? The Avatar?" he spoke off to whom Sokka assumed were his comrades.

"I can prove it!" he assured them, the earthbenders responding by making the ground shake once more, dragging their feet into the ground, making them unable to move; Aang had jumped up into the air just in time, using his glider to fly right above the campsite, gliding around, ready to attack their opponents if need be.

"Are you seeing this?!" another voice called out, "He's flying!"

"He wasn't lying." he heard the same girl speak out once more, in an annoyed tone; it was as if she thought the others were stupid for doubting Aang, which intrigued him- he guessed she had seen his tattoos.

"Oh, okay, Miss Lie Detector, then go ahead, ask the 'Avatar' a question." one of the earthbenders suggested, Sokka glancing around, still unable to see their attackers, not helped by his feet being encased in stone; Azula was looking rather frustrated as well, pointing her left finger down and conjuring a small flame.

"I can break your binds." she told him with a whisper, "Do we want to try and resist?" she asked him almost rhetorically, suggesting that she was ready to start fighting if given the call.

"I think these are the people we're looking for." he argued, making her sigh with frustration, the flame disappearing.

"Okay, fine then." the same girl growled with a now annoyed voice, "What's your name?" she called up into the air, Aang gliding down past her, calling out as he flew by.

"Aang!"

"I need you to get on the ground so I can check if you're telling the truth!" she shouted out with a similar boisterous tone, as if to mock him.

"Oh, okay!" he called back out, before he landed down on the other side of the wall.

"What is he doing?" Sokka heard his sister ask out, stuck with her own feet in the ground right by the entrance of her tent.

The girl addressed him once more, "Wow, you're a lot more gullible than I thought."

"Hey! My feet!" he called out, before he groaned, "I flew right into that one."

"You sure did, Mister Avatar." she quipped, before suddenly, the ground shook once more, the rock walls that had been obscuring their view disappearing.

Sokka gasped as he realised their campsite was surrounded by men dressed in the garb of Earth Kingdom soldiers, or at least what he assumed Earth Kingdom soldiers looked like; he hadn't actually encountered any prior to that point, barring the deserters he and Azula fought in the forest. He spotted the girl, who had ensnared Aang's feet with her earthbending; she was noticeably short, though not much more than the Air Nomad in front of her, wearing a drab, beige tunic with a green shirt and pants underneath, her hair covering her face in a messy fringe.

"Now, now, I'd like to hear the facts. Seeing that I can tell if you're lying, you better not lie." she suggested, the young Avatar nodding with a sigh.

"Uh, yeah, I can do that, I guess." he mumbled, before she raised her hand up, earthbending a chair out of the dirt, which she forced him to sit on, "Huh, a chair. Thanks!" he smiled at her, making Sokka face-palm; he was being a little too cooperative for comfort.

"Your name is Aang?" she asked him, taking what he had said before, the boy nodding.

"Yep." he told her with an enthused voice, "What's your name?"

"Not a relevant question." she raised a finger, before putting her hand on her hip, "Now, if you're the Avatar, which I'm guessing you are, because they just said you were flying... and only airbenders fly." she began, the Air Nomad nodding along, "Then why are you here?"

"Uh... well, it's a long story. You see-" he began, the Water Tribe boy shouting out, deciding that he could cut their 'interrogation' short with less words.

"Do you know Bato?!" he asked out, the girl tilting her head slightly.

"Oh, the other one's doing the questions now." she observed, "What's he to you?"

"Uh, well, he's my Dad's best friend, for one. And he came from a group of Earth Kingdom rebels back to our village a few weeks ago. He was saying that he thought we could join forces, and... well, here we are!" he explained, the girl stepping forward, resting her arm on the chair she had made for Aang.

"Huh... that's an odd story. So why is the Avatar in the Water Tribe?" she glanced toward Aang, who cleared his throat.

"Uh, well you see, I was frozen for a hundred years." he explained, making her snort.

"That better be a joke." she scoffed, Azula clearing her throat.

"A hundred and two years." she clarified, Sokka remembering that he had been frozen before Sozin's Comet, which occurred two years before present.

"Oh shit..." the girl mumbled, "He wasn't joking."

"I don't joke about serious things like that." Aang stressed, "These are my friends, they broke me out of the iceberg I was in." he gestured to them.

She narrowed her eyes at them, "Well, this has got to be the weirdest scouting mission ever." she noted, before she dropped her hands, freeing all of them from their bounds, Aang ungracefully falling onto his back as his chair disappeared into the ground.

"Yung, are we taking them in?" she called out to another one of the earthbenders; a man strode through the village, glancing at them all with an intrigued look on his face.

"We will. I'm pretty sure his majesty would like to see them. Especially the Avatar."

"His majesty?" Azula raised a brow with interest, "You have a king?"

"Well, he's not everyone's king, but he does lead our group. The King of Omashu." Yung clarified, making Sokka raise a brow; there still was some remnant of the Earth Kingdom government, even if it was from outside of Ba Sing Se, which was heartening, given the state of affairs that he guessed the rest of the country was experiencing.

"And who are you guys?" the girl stepped forward, approaching Sokka with an odd glare; she was staring off between the group rather than actually toward any single person.

"Uh, I'm Sokka." he clarified, before gesturing towards his sister, who had gotten up after being stuck in the ground, "That's my sister Katara," before he turned toward Azula, planning to use her pseudonym, even if the girl before him could supposedly see if he was lying, "and this is my girlfriend, Saila."

She tilted her chin up, pointing toward him, "One of those things was a lie."

"For fuck's sake Sokka." his girlfriend face-palmed, acknowledging his screw-up; if the earthbender could see when he was lying, then she could obviously figure out that her name wasn't Saila.

She glanced back toward the girl, looking rather tensely at her, "What's your name, or are we going to be stuck calling you Lie Detector Girl?"

"That's not my stage name." she seemingly joked, her lips widening to a grin, which confused the pair more than anything.

"Stage name?" Sokka raised a brow, unsure what such a phrase even meant.

"Like the name an actor uses." Azula clarified, before narrowing her eyes at the girl, "You're not actually an actor, are you?"

"No, I'm a wrestler... or I was one, before I came here." she clarified, interrupted by Aang approaching from behind.

"A wrestler. That's pretty cool." he admitted with an intrigued look on his face.

"Don't change the topic- your name." Azula pointed at the girl, who whacked her hand away, physically, rather than with her earthbending, as Sokka expected her to.

"Toph." she simply told her, "But most people call me the Blind Bandit."

"Okay, that is a cool 'stage name'." Sokka admitted, before crossing his arms, "I'm kinda disappointed we didn't meet you when you were a wrestler."

"Blind Bandit... do you mean that literally?" she asked the earthbender, who chuckled at her suggestive question.

"Well, yes and kinda." she admitted, "I don't steal from anyone other than the Fire Nation, and I am blind."

"Huh." Sokka mumbled, "That's even cooler. Earthbending when she can't even see."

"Oh, I know it is, but it's pretty normal. Earthbending is how I see."

"What?!" Aang piped up with an amazed voice, "That has to be the coolest ability I've ever heard of!" 

"Okay, that's 'cool' and all, but are we going to go meet this King of Omashu?" Katara spoke up, Toph raising a brow for a moment, before she nodded in confirmation.

"Yep." she simply responded, before gesturing toward the mountains to the west of them, "Our hideout's that way."

"Leave your things here, you can come collect them after you've met with the King." the man Sokka knew to be called Yung ordered them, making him pout with disappointment.

"Uh... so much for getting a good night's sleep." he mumbled, his girlfriend patting him on the shoulder.

"Oh, don't pout too much, Sokka. At least we actually got found by the rebels instead of spending a whole day looking around for them." she told him, making him raise a brow.

"Uh... Appa, you stay here. Keep our things safe." Aang spoke to his sky-bison, who grunted, before turning to their flying-lemur, who was sitting nearby, "Momo... uh... you can come if you like."

"Yeah, we've got to keep our food safe somehow." Sokka joked, though his words were intended to cover the feeling of fear that he had at that moment.

Azula was being the positive one for once, and that concerned him; he thought she'd be more nervous, given the fact Toph knew that Saila wasn't her name, "How far away is it?" she asked the stout earthbender, who scratched at her chin in thought.

"Oh... not too far." she clarified, before cocking a smirk, "Luckily for me, I don't need to worry about the dark obscuring our path."

"Huh." Sokka narrowed his eyes, thinking perhaps that she had some kind of earthbending vision or something like that; how else could she see without a light source, "This earthbending sight sounds like it'd be really useful."

"It is." Toph grinned at him, before she strode away, not bothering to tell them to follow; she was quickly joined by the other rebel soldiers, who followed in line after Yung, out into the darkness.

"That sounds like quite the technique." Azula raised a finger to her chin in thought, before glancing toward Aang, "You'll have to learn earthbending one day. That sounds like something you should figure out." she suggested, the young Air Nomad grinning at her.

"That's a good idea, A- Saila." he corrected himself, nearly using her real name; luckily, Toph didn't seem to notice him lying, and he continued along as the group followed after the rebels, "I just have to master waterbending first."

"Once we find a master, it won't be that hard, Aang." Katara tried to reassure him, Azula turning away from her boyfriend to face her.

"Okay, since when was learning bending... easy?" she questioned her; given that she was undoubtedly a master firebender, she was an authority on the matter of mastering one's element- Aang was a master too, but unlike her, he was the Avatar, and thus mastery was probably something that came more naturally than anything.

"I'm a prodigy and it still took me eight years of solid training to get to the point at which I could bend, let alone master all my forms." she furthered, the other girl smirking at her confidently, though her face was pretty hard to see, as they had already moved away from the embers of their campfire.

"You don't really need the forms though, do you?" she retorted, Azula sighing; he guessed that she was rolling her eyes, but he couldn't tell because of the darkness.

"No, you're right. But to learn how to fight effectively, one needs to master forms. Forms are a guideline for any bender." she explained herself, "If I didn't have my understanding of them... sure, I'd be a powerful bender, but I'd have no control."

"She has a point, Katara." Aang admitted, the Water Tribe girl making a surprised gasp; it wasn't common that Aang was agreeing with the Princess on something over her, "Without my training, from Monk Gyatso and the scrolls I read, I couldn't have become a master when I was twelve."

"Is anyone else going to comment on the fact we can't see a thing?" Sokka noted, his girlfriend chuckling at him.

"Oh, Sokka, how I'd love to help you with that, but alas I have my own safety to think of." she told him with a mocking tone, obviously insinuating that he was an idiot for asking what he did.

He remained silent for a moment, before he simply nodded, knowing that she was right to not assist with her bending, "Fair enough."

"Just walk straight ahead, you'll be fine." one of the rebels told them, not making him feel any better; they were slowly walking up the valley, which had quite a shallow slope, making him think it'd be a while until they actually reached the rebel hideout.

"Turn left!" he heard Yung call out, ordering the men, and by extension, their group to turn; Sokka could hear the breathing of the rebels in front of them, sounding quite exasperated, which he guessed they would be if they had been scouting around a lot that day.

That breath was easier for him to follow that any direction he was given, and he felt his feet splash in water; they had crossed the stream, and then soon after, the slope began to grow steeper. He heard the sound of earthbending in front of him, and suddenly, light appeared into view, though when his eyes adjusted to it, he realised it was quite dim, coming from a tunnel that sat in front of them; the earthbenders had moved whatever plug had been in place out of the way, and led them into the tunnel, a few remaining by the entrance while the Avatar and his friends walked inside. The tunnel was ever so slightly nauseating to walk through, as it felt quite confining when the entrance was closed off, leaving them in the dim light of the tunnel, which was lit by a torch some way away, up a slight incline. He glanced back toward his girlfriend, grimacing as he thought what might await her; he didn't know whether anyone would recognise her, and he hoped surely that the Freedom Fighters weren't waiting for them.

"Are we going to be alright?" he asked her, the Princess leaning closer to him, with a determined glare on her face, coloured a dim yellow by the distant torchlight.

"I will do what I need to." she told him, before leaning even closer, whispering into his ear.

"We have the most important hostage in the world."

* * *

Aang was amazed by what he was seeing; when he thought of a rebel hideout, he might have expected a cave with a few tents and some gruff looking men, like the warriors of the Southern Water Tribe he had met before he left the South Pole. He was so wrong that he would have laughed if it weren't for the awe he felt. The whole 'cave', if he could even call it that, formed a massive sprawling town of sorts, all meticulously carved out with earthbending; it was structured as a single building, somewhat like his home, the Southern Air Temple. He guessed that it must have been new, given the fact that Omashu had supposedly only fallen around three years prior, but that didn't make it any less impressive. He glanced around, taking note of the numerous and hallways that crossed around; he didn't know how many people lived in it, but given that Bato had supposedly travelled all the way from Ba Sing Se to just find them, he knew that it must have been the biggest Earth Kingdom redoubt in the region. It made him smile, knowing that even if Omashu was ruled by the Fire Nation, that didn't mean that the city had disappeared; it had been transformed in a way, and this new city, though very different to the one he knew, was still quite lively; there was market stalls around main hallway they were walking through, though most were closed, given how late it was. Passersby looked at them with awe and surprise, probably not used to foreigners appearing in their secret city; he glanced over to Katara, feeling confident that the Earth Kingdom hadn't truly been defeated, not at least as he had known it before he was frozen.

"This place is amazing, don't you think? It's like what Omashu used to be... though Omashu was on a mountain, not underground." he admitted, shrugging off the triviality of the matter, "That's not important though. Just look at it!" he grinned.

The Water Tribe girl looked at him warmly, "I'm glad you're so happy, Aang." before her eyes narrowed, her face becoming more uneasy, "But are you ready to face this king. You're the Avatar, so you've go to... do your Avatar duties."

"I know that." he nodded intently, "I will. Tomorrow. After we sleep. I hope they have a quicker way out, because that tunnel took a while to walk through."

"Yeah, sure did." Sokka groaned, "I really hope this king has some cushions for us to sit on, because I might... just doze off."

Azula whacked him over the back of the head for his words, "Sokka! Don't act like this is something trivial. We need to meet this King and have a serious conversation."

"Oww..." he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head, "I know. That doesn't mean I'm not ready to face-plant on the dirt right here."

"Me too!" he heard Toph boisterously proclaim ahead of them, making Sokka look at her skeptically.

"Really?" he raised a brow at her, the earthbender's lips forming a grin.

"Well, yeah, I love dirt." she assured him, the Water Tribe teen making a grimace, his girlfriend going even further, sticking her tongue out as if she were to belch.

Aang turned his eyes ahead, focusing on the sent of doors that sat at the end of the long hallway, where two guards stood, wearing more ornate armour than the rebels who had found them, who he was starting to more think of as soldiers; the seeming level of independence and calmness he felt in the underground city made it seem more like a place independent of the Fire Nation, and thus, not exactly rebelling from its rule, even if they wanted to reclaim the former Earth Kingdom city that sat in the valley nearby. The guards looked at them with confused expressions, stepping closer with their pikes in hand, Aang and his friends coming to a halt.

"Hi, I'm Aang. I'm here to see the King of Omashu." he explained, both of them looking at him with surprise; after a few moments of silence, Toph obnoxiously cleared her throat, catching their attention.

"He's the Avatar, dimwits!" she gestured to him with a shout, before motioning her right hand toward them, "Let him see the king."

"Uh, seriously?" one of them dared to question, Yung stepping forward with a more calm demeanour than his comrade.

"She's not trying to trick you. It's the truth. We all saw him airbending." he clarified, "And remember, she can tell if he was lying."

"I thought that was just a rumour." the other guard mumbled with surprise, Toph pointing toward him with a smirk.

"Oh, it isn't a rumour. Do you want me to interrogate you to prove it?" she questioned the two men shaking their heads; it seemed obvious that the guards were afraid of her, and after seeing only a glimpse of her bending, Aang could understand why.

"That won't be necessary, Blind Bandit." one of the guards conceded, the pair stepping back before they pushed the doors open for them.

He looked inside, seeing a rather modest throne room; the room was covered with green fabrics, indicative of them being in the Earth Kingdom, including a large draped banner behind said throne, which had the traditional Earth Kingdom symbol, a golden circle with a square hole in its centre. To his disappointment, there was no king sitting on the throne, and the room was completely empty.

"Where's the king?" Sokka asked with an annoyed voice, "That's who we were here to meet."

"He'll be here soon enough." one of the guards told them, before stepping back; Toph and Yung both looked toward him, though the former quite idly.

"Good luck." she simply told him, "I'm sure he'll be eager to see you."

"Eager?" he raised a brow, Yung grimacing slightly.

"That might be the wrong choice of words on her behalf." he admitted, before he followed her out of the throne room.

Aang glanced back toward the door, watching as it was closed behind them, Sokka and Azula both walking up to stand alongside him with Katara, all of them having somewhat unnerved expressions, though by nature, the Fire Nation Princess was the best at hiding her emotions.

"You think this king's going to be happy you're here?" the Water Tribe boy asked him, sounding a little nervous, though his tone was slow and drawn out, showing how tired he was.

"I don't know." he admitted honestly, before remembering back to the reaction he had gotten on Kyoshi Island, "The Kyoshi Islanders were happy to have me... but they hadn't been attacked by the Fire Nation, not until we came there."

"Yeah, but it was the Fire Nation who conquered Omashu. They probably would have done that whether or not you were here to stop it." Azula added, the young Avatar tensing up.

"What if I hadn't gotten frozen?" he simply asked in return, Katara's expression paling, and her brother making a similar face of unease.

"Then Fire Lord Sozin would have found you and killed you. He would have stopped at nothing." she simply told him, the young Avatar glancing down; he didn't want to think that he had been saved by the iceberg, but at the same time, he didn't want to be ridden with guilt over his unintentional disappearance.

"Don't worry about what could have been. Think about what you could do now." Katara added to the Princess's assurances, earning a surprised look from the girl herself.

"Uh... yes." she nodded, "That's what I meant." he conceded, indirectly acknowledging that her blunt and sometimes morbid way of phrasing things wasn't the best way to describe things to him; Aang might have been twelve-years-old, but that didn't mean that he couldn't understand the horrible things that must have happened to his people, and then to the Earth Kingdom and the Southern Water Tribe.

Suddenly he felt a shaking in the room, taking note of a doorway being opened up by earthbending; he glanced at the dust settling, and then a few moments later, a man walked into view. The first thing he noticed about the man was his stature, standing far taller than any of them, though he was slouching slightly; he was wearing a loose robe over his torso, though Aang guessed that given his stature and the breadth of his shoulders, he probably had muscles to show underneath it. The most odd thing was that the man he saw before him was ancient; he had to be the oldest person Aang had ever seen. He had a twitching left eye, and white tufts of hair on both sides of his head, along with a bushy goatee. He looked at them with surprise, scratching at his goatee as he approached.

"So you must be the Avatar." he simply observed, before he made a small tilt of his head, the closest a monarch could get to bowing, "I welcome you to my city, Omashu Two." he explained, making Sokka raise a brow, stepping forward between him and Aang.

"Wait, did you seriously call it that?" he asked him skeptically; the room remained silent for a good few seconds, Aang starting to become worried that his friend had offended the king, who broke the silence by snorting, amused by his question.

"Ah, of course not!" the elderly king assured him, chuckling at his joke, "It's New Omashu."

"Ah... that makes more sense." the Water Tribe teen acknowledged, before sighing, "Aw man, I'm so tired I can't even find good jokes funny."

The king gestured down to Aang's feet, making him realise that Momo was sitting right there, licking his paws, "Who's your little friend?"

"Momo." he smiled at the lemur, offering him his arm, which he quickly scaled up, perching himself on his shoulder, "I found him at the Southern Air Temple a few weeks ago, all alone."

"Ah..." the king looked him in the eyes, before he narrowed his own slightly, into a more serious expression, "You know that you are the last airbender."

"I guess I am." he pouted slightly, remembering the fact of the matter, "But I'm here now. I'm ready to help the Earth Kingdom... and the rest of the world."

"I'm glad you're here." the King of Omashu acknowledged, before he chuckled, a small smirk forming on his face, "So, do you know how you might be able to help me, young Avatar?"

"Uh... I want to make sure the Fire Nation doesn't give you any trouble. Those nasty guys who still think conquering the Earth Kingdom is okay." he explained himself, the now serious monarch nodding, his eyes sternly focused on the Avatar for a few seconds, before he began to pace backwards toward his throne; Aang momentarily looked at his friends, who were just as in the unknown as he was, so he simply decided to follow, keeping up his pace in line with the old king.

"I know you would like to help... but you see, the Fire Nation here shouldn't be giving us much trouble." he admitted, "The Fire Lord has withdrawn his forces to his 'colonies', which includes my city, though I am unsure how long he will hold it for."

"Do you plan to retake it?" Sokka jumped a question, the King of Omashu raising a finger.

"I don't plan to do anything. Until the right opportunity arises, I will wait. It would be a shame to waste our strengths on a fight we cannot win."

"That's a pretty good strategy, actually." Sokka raised a finger to his chin, glancing over to his girlfriend, "Don't you think so?"

"It's fine... but I don't prescribe to the idea of sitting on my butt when I could be doing something otherwise." Azula narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend, before she glanced at the Avatar, "We're not idling about, Aang. You're going to learn waterbending."

"I know that." he assured her, before he turned back to the king with as conciliatory a smile he could muster, "But, I do think I could help. I'm the Avatar, and making peace is my goal. If I can help that, then I will."

"That's very noble of you." the king acknowledged the merit of his point of view, "But peace is something that takes time. The Fire Nation forces who still control a large portion of my country are loyal to no Fire Lord, and they only seek to destroy. That destruction isn't something I expect even you to stop, not quickly, anyway." he told him with a calm voice, before chuckling, "You're only twelve, aren't you?"

Aang raised a brow at his guess of his age, "Uh, yeah, I am." he nodded, before narrowing his eyes, "There must be something I can do."

"Actually." Katara spoke up, "There's something we might be able to help you with, your highness."

The king gestured toward her with an intrigued, though not necessarily happy expression, "Go on, young lady."

"Our tribe has suffered for a long time because of the Fire Nation, but you probably met Bato. He's the one who told us about your rebels... though he didn't mention this city."

"Our friends are sworn to secrecy, even from their own people." the king clarified, before clearing his throat, "And you were saying?"

"Yes, well, I believe that our tribe... well, not just me, my father too, Chief Hakoda. He wants to help your group, but he wants a fair arrangement."

"I see." the king raised a finger to his goatee, looking off idly into the distance, "Well, you have brought me the Avatar, and for that, you have my thanks." he admitted, glancing toward Aang, "If I can trust you to guide him on his journey, then I can trust your tribe. I will see what can be done to help them. I know that they have quite a number of ships."

"Yeah, the best ships." Sokka piped up, his girlfriend shooting him a glare, obviously thinking his words were a little ignorant.

Even if they made him feel nervous, even Aang agreed that the Fire Nation built far better and faster ships than the Water Tribes; he had only seen Water Tribe ships from afar, and that had been one hundred years prior, so he was unsure if they were still the same.

"Well, our ships could help you, your highness." Katara suggested, "We could help your rebels move around to different parts of the Earth Kingdom. Spread your cause and hopefully, free your country."

"That is quite the proposition. What did you want in return?" he simply asked, the Water Tribe girl glancing at her brother for a moment before she turned her eyes back to the King of Omashu.

"The resources to rebuild our tribe, and to destroy our enemies." she admitted, "The Southern Raiders are a scourge on our nation, and we want to wipe them away, and bring peace to the Southern Seas."

"How can I help you with that?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl clearing her throat.

"They must operate out of ports in the Earth Kingdom. If your rebels attacked them, then the Southern Raiders could be crippled."

"I would have to speak with my best skirmishers, but I am sure they are up for the task. That would be a fair price for us to pay." he conceded, before pulling a smirk, "But I would like to know something from you all."

"Uh... what was it?" Aang asked him, feeling unnerved by such an open-ended question.

"Why are you travelling with the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation?" he asked them, making Aang's eyes widen with utter shock; how had he seen through Azula's Water Tribe garbs that easily?

"Oh fuck." Sokka mumbled, "And all I wanted to do was get some nice sleep!" he groaned with frustration; the young Avatar turned his focus back to the Princess, who looked shocked, though that expression subsided, quickly replaced by one of anger.

"There's only two ways you've recognised me." she declared, "You either saw my wanted posters, and my brother hired some excellent artists, in which case, I'd like to see said posters." she began, making Aang raise a brow at her almost joking way of talking about such a serious matter, "Or you've been warned about me by somebody else... not Toph, because she couldn't tell who I am."

The king chuckled at her words, raising a finger to contest her, "Well, the first part is half right. They did make some quite life-like posters." he conceded, before narrowing his eyes, "The second part, is also right. I have friends who knew about the events at Yu Dao, so I was prepared that you might eventually appear in my city... though I never expected it like this."

"Friends who..." she mumbled, before she suddenly drew flames into her hands, "Oh you're fucking kidding me!" she screamed out, shocking Aang and Katara with her sudden outburst, though her boyfriend was not surprised at all.

"You're in the Order of the White Lotus too, aren't you?" Sokka accused him, the King nodding.

"Indeed, I am." he admitted, before gesturing to her, "I recommend you calm her down. I don't mean to brag, but fighting in here would not end well for her."

"Oh... you've dragged me into this damn prison of a city. That was very smart of you." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes at him, her voice now calming down, though only slightly, "But you didn't know I'd be with the Avatar."

"That is true." he agreed, "You are quite the deductor."

"I figure things out on the fly, your highness." she told him, though her words were not of deference, but of spite, "Aang, I don't feel comfortable making bed with my Uncle's pals, so, if you don't mind, I'm going back to my bed and dream this conversation never happened." she told him with an a matter of fact, nonchalant tone, before turning her heels.

"You didn't answer my question." the king spoke up, catching all of their attention once more, "Why is she with you?"

"She found him, that's why!" Sokka gestured to Aang, who nodded, remembering that morning as clearly as he did the day he was told he was the Avatar.

"She broke me out of the iceberg, and she did it, despite whatever things she did before." he explained, not wanting to get into the details of Azula's prior deeds; she hadn't been the kindest person, but it wasn't as if she were evil incarnate.

"That's... surprising, to say the least." he admitted, "She's a descendant of the man who wiped out your people."

"I know. She was upfront about that too. I didn't believe her at first... but I saw what had happened to the Southern Water Tribe, and then my home, and now here... Omashu's fallen."

"She's not going to do anything brash." Sokka assured him, the king raising his chin up, looking at them all with an aloof look.

"I don't believe you're lying. I could have the Blind Bandit check, but I don't think I'll need to." he admitted, before turning his eyes to Aang, "You already have a firebending master, it seems."

"Yeah, that's the idea." he grinned at him, happy that he didn't even need to worry about such an issue, knowing the Princess was more than capable of training him in firebending; if she could help Katara with waterbending, despite knowing next to nothing about the element, then she could definitely teach him how to firebend when the time came.

"But, no waterbending master... unless, one of these two is." he gestured to Sokka and Katara.

"I'm a non-bender." the Water Tribe boy raised his voice, "And my sister, well, she's not a master."

"Yet." she clarified his words; the young Avatar smiled at that mention, knowing that with the right training, she could become just that.

"And no earthbending master." he furrowed a brow, before grinning, "But I do have quite the assortment of masters for you to choose from. Many of my finest followers are master benders."

"Like Toph?" Aang raised a brow, the king nodding with a giddy look on his face.

"She's special that one. Blind, yet she is able to use her bending to replicate the sense she lacks." he explained, "I'd say she's a master, but she hasn't fought me yet."

"You?" Sokka raised a brow at him skeptically, "You realise you're like a hundred years old or whatever, right?"

His sister shot him a glare, "Sokka!" she grit her teeth at him, the king shaking a hand at them.

"Oh no, you're right, I'm old. A hundred and fourteen to be exact." he clarified, before smirking, "But that doesn't mean I'm any less great a bender then when I was twenty!" he declared, standing up flicking his hand up and suddenly shifting the ground around them, creating a table out of stone.

"Wow!" Katara gasped with amazement, "You just did that like it was nothing."

"It was. I carved the tunnels of this new city myself." he explained with a cocky smirk on his face.

Aang looked at him with awe, before he remembered one thing that he had mentioned- he said he was a hundred and fourteen, which according to Azula's estimations was how old he was as well. The king's giddy grin made him realise exactly who he was, without any doubt.

"Wait a second! You're Bumi!" he exclaimed, the king snorting as he slapped his thigh.

"Oh, you finally figured it out!" he grinned at him, "You know, I thought you were smarter than that, Aang."

"Wait, you know this guy?" Sokka looked at him with confusion.

"Yeah, he was my friend, before I was frozen. We're the same age... technically." he clarified, making the Water Tribe teen's eyes widen with surprise.

"Wow, that's an... odd coincidence." he furrowed a brow, before stepping closer with a suspicious look on his face, "So, if you're in the Order of the White Lotus... why don't you ask Iroh for your city back?"

"Because the situation in the Fire Nation is less than ideal." he simply explained, Azula raising a brow with interest.

"Oh, so my brother really is incompetent." she spoke up, catching all of their attention.

"No, it's because it is now common knowledge that your father, the former Fire Lord Ozai, is alive." he corrected her, making the Princess gulp with an uneasy look.

"So, the rebels want to reinstall my father, is that it?" she asked Bumi, who nodded.

"Indeed, that's exactly what's happened. If Fire Lord Zuko gave me back my city, it's just as likely all of the goons in the city that don't agree with that decision will just kick out the Governor and rule it like a bunch of hog monkeys." he explained his thoughts on the matter, Aang nodding along with interest.

"So that's why you haven't done anything yet." he deduced, "But... what if you just surrounded the city. Couldn't they just surrender?"

"It's not that I doubt the intentions of Fire Lord Zuko to make peace, but I doubt that his soldiers will think the same if we did so." he explained, before he sighed, "Aang, I know you are only twelve, but you have to be the Avatar."

"You want me to confront the Fire Nation?"

"No." he shook his head, "I need you to master the elements. The world needs you to master the elements. If you don't, then the Fire Nation rebels will continue to fight with us, and perhaps even be bold enough to try and overthrow the Fire Lord. That would not end well for anyone."

"Yes, it wouldn't." Azula grit her teeth, her expression forming a snarl, "Now, King Bumi, could we actually go back to our camp and sleep?" she requested of him, the king raising his hand, which suddenly caused the doors to open behind them.

"Toph will escort you back to your camp, and you may rest. After that, we can discuss what comes next for you, Aang." he turned to his friend, who walked up to him with a bittersweet expression; his friend was so old, and he had lived through his entire life, probably thinking he was dead.

As his friends walked back toward the door, leaving them with a small bit of privacy, Aang decided to let his feelings be known, "I'm sorry, Bumi." he simply told him, the old king looking down at him with a sympathetic smile.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Aang. You're back in the world of the living." before he furrowed a brow, "Though being frozen for a hundred years... that'd make anyone a little crazy." he joked, the young Avatar shaking his head.

"I'm not crazy." he assured him, "It was like no time passed at all." he clarified the fact of the matter, "All I feel is regret. I should have been here. We should have been the ones to fight together, against the Fire Nation, before they could have conquered the world." he admitted, his friend looking at him with a slightly solemn face.

"I would have liked that, Aang." he admitted, the terseness in his voice telling him that he was being truthful, "But, even now, you can still be a great Avatar." he assured him, before he glanced over toward the door, "I'm still shocked by seeing Princess Azula with you. That's... a bit of a turn around, from what I've heard of her."

"Yeah, I felt the same when I found out what she used to do." he admitted, before smiling at his friend, "But I think she's not that bad. I'm sure she won't do anything too crazy."

"You best beware the Fire Nation, whether they like you or not, because those loyal to her brother, they will take the bounty on her head without a second thought." he warned him, the young Avatar grimacing.

"Really? Maybe we should try and avoid the Fire Nation colonies then." he admitted, the old king pulling at his beard.

"Yes, that would be the best idea." he agreed, before placing a hand on his shoulder, "You have to help your friends, and they'll help you back."

"Just like you would have?" he asked Bumi, who smiled at him warmly, the two of them hugging as he remembered the last time they had seen each other, which to Aang didn't seem that far in the past, but for his friend, was a lifetime ago.

"Yes, just I would have."

* * *

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Katara glanced around the streets of the city of New Omashu, taking note of all the people inside; she was still carrying her things to their temporary accommodation, having had to take their things off of Appa's saddle into the small apartment they had been offered by Bumi, who was more than willing to give them some place to stay for a few days while they restocked and relaxed for a little bit. They had been travelling for more than a week straight after they left Kyoshi Island, and she was exhausted from it; she was also sleep-deprived, although she planned to solve that issue by napping that afternoon, but first, she intended to go see what the city had to offer, and perhaps befriend some people. The only person they had met other than the king himself was Toph, a snarky earthbending girl who had trapped them in their camp when they were trying to sleep; she seemed funny and likable enough to hang around, but Katara had the issue of not knowing where she was. Aang was helping her with the bags, and he sped up from behind her with a grin on his face.

"Come on, Katara, let's go!" he prodded her, the Water Tribe girl trying to speed up her pace to no avail.

"I can't run." she simply told him, the Air Nomad pouting slightly as he looked back at her.

"Oh, okay." he mumbled, "Are you still tired?"

"Uh, yeah." she nodded, following after him as he approached the front door of their apartment; he pushed the wooden door open, revealing the dimly lit interior, which consisted of a few beds, as well as a table for them to sit at.

"I think I'm going to go out and do some training once we're done here."

"Ooooh..." he raised a brow, "Okay, I was going to go talk with Bumi again. There's a lot for me to catch up on." he explained his own intentions, the Water Tribe girl smiling at him.

"I'm happy that you've found an old friend." she admitted, before she placed her bag down, "But I'm going to try and make some new ones."

"Toph?" he asked her, Katara shrugging her shoulders; that was her intention, though whether she could actually find said girl was the real question.

"If I can find her. She might be training right now for all I know. I don't really know what 'Earth Kingdom rebels' do, honestly." she admitted, making the young Avatar snicker.

"Rebel from the Fire Nation?" he guessed, to which she raised a brow.

"I mean, Bumi did say that they were trying to avoid fighting them."

"That doesn't mean they can't rebel. Spread the word, get people to see there's hope." he argued, making Katara's eyes widen, realising that he had a pretty good point, "That's my whole idea, actually. Fighting the Fire Nation is going to be tough, but if I can make people believe that the war can end, then maybe they'll stop."

"That's a good idea, Aang." she agreed with him, before turning back toward the door, "A better idea is getting the rest of our bags."

"True." he snickered, before he strode out the door after her, "I wonder what Sokka and Azula are doing right now." he mumbled, making her ponder that issue; she knew her brother was grumpy about losing sleep, but after he woke up, both he and Azula said they would go do some training- where though, she didn't know, as they had disappeared soon after they had gotten back into New Omashu.

"Probably just beating each other up. That's nothing new." she conceded, the young Avatar furrowing a brow.

"They have a... weird relationship." he observed, the Water Tribe girl snickering.

"Oh, weird is an understatement." she joked, making him chuckle slightly, though he seemed rather unsure whether to do so; her words were a little mean, and even she knew that, but that didn't mean that she couldn't make a joke about it.

"Do you think they actually do normal couple things? Like go on a date or something?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl tilting her head to the side as she thought back to what her brother had said on such matters.

"Sokka likes to call them 'activities', though I don't know if they've actually done anything together like that. There wasn't much opportunity to do so in our village, other than fishing or hunting together." she admitted, before narrowing her eyes, "Are you saying we should make them go on an actual date?"

"Uh... I guess." he mumbled, sounding uncertain in himself, "But, I don't want to force them to do anything. Sparring's fine as long as they don't hurt each other."

As they approached Appa once more, who was sitting out in one the larger tunnels of the city, where he could fit comfortably, unlike inside of their apartment.

The sky-bison groaned slightly, Aang looking at him sympathetically, "Don't worry, buddy. I'll take you outside later today. I know caves aren't you thing." he assured him, patting his sky-bison on the neck, before he jumped up onto the saddle, picking out the last bag.

"This is the last one." he simply noted, Katara gesturing to him, indicating for him to bring it over.

"I'll take it back to the apartment. You should just go and enjoy your time with Bumi. We'll have to leave in a few days, so you might as well enjoy it." she suggested, making him beam at her brightly.

"Thanks, Katara!" he grinned, jumping down and handing the bag over into her hands, "You're great." he complimented her, before he darted off down the hallway, "Good luck!" he waved to her, Katara using her free hand to wave back, before she turned her eyes to Appa.

"At least he's in a good mood." she told him, patting the sky-bison on the neck, "You stay safe, Appa."

The sky-bison nuzzled her slightly, before he licked her arm, which disgusted her slightly, but she tolerated it, knowing that it was an act of affection from the giant fluffy beast. She then began to pace back toward their apartment, noticing that the pedestrian were rather surprised by Appa sitting in the middle of their tunnel, which made sense, given the fact it was challenging to even get him into there in the first place. She got back to the apartment quickly, given that the bag she was carrying only contained some spare clothes, which took up little space and didn't weigh much either. Opening the door, she glanced back inside, just checking if Sokka and Azula hadn't just shown up while she and Aang were retrieving the last bag. They hadn't, and she wasn't surprised at all by that; they were probably out fighting, or maybe even doing inappropriate things she didn't want to think about. All she knew is that they would be avoiding others, and were probably off outside somewhere, though obviously not too far from the underground city, given the danger the Fire Nation posed to Azula's safety. She placed the bag down by the others they had taken into the room, Katara knowing that they'd all have to unpack before they went to bed that night; even though she was underground, she still had a decent estimation of what time of day it was, given that they had woken up shortly after sunrise, and soon after, taken their things on top of Appa, and into the underground city.

She sighed, before turning her heels, deciding she was going to go the training area of the city, where ever that happened to be; she guessed with all the rebels in the city, they'd have to have a big area for them to all hone their fighting skills, given they'd want to do that if they expected to fight the Fire Nation. She made her way down the tunnel she had just taken, leading her back to where Appa was still sitting around, now drinking some water from a trough that he had been given; he didn't mind her as she walked by, glancing down the larger tunnel to try and figure out exactly where to go. She knew down to her left would lead her to Bumi's throne room, and to her right would take her toward the entrance that they had taken to get into the city the night prior. She decided to head in the direction of the throne room, knowing that it was around what she assumed was the centre of New Omashu. Seeing that nobody had provided her with much directions in the first place, she realised that she would have some trouble finding anything in the city without spotting it with her own two eyes.

She made her way down the large tunnel, taking note of a few market stalls that were propped up alongside it; she knew that she ought to go buy some food before they left the city, but kept that thought out of mind for that moment. Bumi was to be throwing them a feast in recognising the Avatar's return that evening; that meant she didn't need to go out and buy food, which she would usually need to make dinner for the group, seeing that she was the most skilled in doing so. She reached a crossroads in the tunnels, seeing two paths to her left and right, and noted that each of them led down for quite some distance; she didn't know which path to take, and decided to take her luck with taking a left turn. The tunnel went on for some distance, and it was lined with more apartments and even a few workshops, where she guessed they would make and repair weapons that the rebels used to fight, as well as more mundane things like furnishings and cooking equipment.

When she reached the end of the large tunnel, or rather the bend in it, she was forced to turn to her right, where she could see what she had been looking for; a large cavern that was lit up with numerous torches and full of men and women training, some of them with earthbending and others with weapons. She walked into the large cave, taking note of a large group of earthbenders attacking one figure, although they were obscured from view by their attackers movements, creating pillars out of the ground and throwing stones all toward the centre of their circle. This didn't seem to do them much good when they were all flung back smaller pillars, each striking the earthbenders off of their feet and onto their backs. She watched in awe as when the dust cleared, seeing that the victor of the fight she had just witnessed was Toph, the girl who had captured them the night prior. She understood why it was lucky they hadn't started fighting her as she walked away from her beaten opponents.

"Better luck next time!" she mocked them, before she came to a halt, obviously noticing that Katara had approached with her earthbending senses, "Ah... Kakara, was it?"

"Katara." she clarified her name, stressing it with a slightly frustrated tone, "I saw you kick some serious butt right there."

"Wasn't it great? I just flung 'em back. They're really predictable, you know? That's probably why the Earth Kingdom never kicked the Fire Nation back to their islands- they probably memorised all their forms." she went on a short tirade, before Katara raised a brow.

"What forms were you using?" she asked, just curious to see another benders opinion on such techniques, seeing that she and her friends had had a somewhat heated argument about them the day prior.

"Forms?" she raised a brow before laughing, "I don't need forms! I learnt earthbending from the original earthbenders!"

"The original earthbenders?" she raised a brow with curiosity.

"Yeah, the badgermoles. They're blind like me. They taught me how to become the greatest earthbender in the world." she proclaimed; even Azula wasn't as blatantly prideful of her abilities as Toph seemed to be, much to her surprise.

"Huh, the greatest?" she asked her, the skeptical nature of her question not missing the earthbender, who cocked a brow at her with slight annoyance.

"Oh, is that a challenge?"

"No- no it isn't!" she raised her hands, knowing that there was no way she had any chance of beating Toph; the only way she'd have any advantage against her is if they were in South Pole, surrounded by ice and water, or in the middle of the sea, where there was no earth for her to bend, "I can barely waterbend as it is."

"Sounds like you need a master." she raised a brow with interest, Katara nodding tensely, still afraid that the other girl might actually try to fight her.

"I do. That's why we're going to the Northern Water Tribe. To find Aang and I a master... but supposedly they don't teach girls combat waterbending there." she reminded herself of what her grandmother had told her.

"They don't sound very nice." she crossed her arms, "I'd very much like to show whoever came up with that rule a piece of my mind."

"Yeah, I don't know who did, but I agree, it's pretty stupid." she nodded, before glancing around, "But... uh... seeing that you are the greatest earthbender, could you give me some tips on how to be a better bender?"

"Hmph..." she raised a finger to her chin, glancing idly off into the distance, "I mean, I like earth, and being around it helps me attune my bending. Maybe I should toss you in a lake." she pursed her lips into a devious smirk, Katara rolling her eyes.

"Where are you going to find a lake?" she retorted, finding her suggestion to be rather unhelpful.

"You have that big flying creature, don't you? Can't it take you to a lake?"

"How did you know Appa can fly?"

"I've heard of flying bison before, but I thought they were extinct." she clarified, raising a brow, "I'm not as uneducated as might look, Kakara." she chided her, the intentional mispronunciation of her name angering her.

"Urgh..." she rolled her eyes, "You're almost as bad as A- Saila." she clarified, the earthbending girl raising her chin, her expression becoming slightly tense.

"You guys keep lying about her. Is there a reason for that?" she asked her, obviously curious as to what their secret was; she wasn't going to reveal it to her, not when Azula's identity was still a tightly held secret, even if Bumi had recognised her.

"Not one I'm going to tell you." she retorted, crossing her arms.

"Is her real name embarrassing or something?" she prodded, Katara sighing as she tried to figure out a way to respond that wouldn't end up with another question coming from Toph.

"Something like that." she told her the truth, which was that her guess was somewhat accurate; she couldn't mutter 'Azula' without causing a whole lot of strife, and she didn't intend to.

"That wasn't a lie. Huh, so what is it then?" she added another question, the Water Tribe girl rolling her eyes.

"Urgh... I'm not actually going to say it. No matter how many times you ask." she assured her, before turning her heels, "Do you actually have some advice for bending, or do you really want to annoy me?"

"No and yes." she grinned at her, "You're getting all flustered over nothing."

"It's not nothing." she snarled, "I'm keeping my lips sealed." she declared, before she began to walk away, finding herself being looked at by some rather odd looking people.

They were teenagers, some of them about her age, though one of them looked to be older, or just really big, and another looked to be younger than Aang. The odd thing about them was their attire; unlike Toph, and the other rebel fighters, who all seemed to be wearing some variation on the drab green and beige clothes that were common to the Earth Kingdom, they wore make-shift armour of dark colours, a mixture of blues, reds, greens and browns.

"Are you Sokka's sister?" one of them asked her, a girl with an unusual amount of eyeliner and short cut hair.

"Uh... yeah." she nodded, "Who's asking?"

"We're the Freedom Fighters." one of them stepped forward, a teenage boy with medium length messy brown hair and lightly tanned skin, whose piercing eyes made her feel a little uncomfortable to be in his gaze, "We met him in Ba Sing Se, and we came here with Bato."

"Ah, Sokka mentioned you guys." she nodded, remembering the stories all too well, "You saved him in Ba Sing Se. Well... not you." she acknowledged, before pointing to the girl who had spoken before, who she guessed, from her brother's own descriptions, was Smellerbee, and the boy beside her was Longshot, who wore blue robes and a conical straw hat, "You two."

"That'd be correct." Smellerbee nodded with a smirk, "I bet you've heard about us from whatever story your brother's been telling."

"The one where he got drunk and nearly kidnapped by the Dai Li. Yeah, it's one of them." she acknowledged, hearing a laugh behind her, coming from Toph.

"That sounds like a funny story. I think I'd like to get it out of your brother." she admitted, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head.

"You won't need to. I can tell you about it. He's told me about his journey so many times in so many different ways that it was almost like I was there." she explained, the leading Freedom Fighter stepping forward.

"I'm Jet, by the way." he told her with the cock of a smirk, making her narrow her eyes at him, remembering him from the story.

"The one who gave my brother death threats?" she asked him, making him clear his throat, his eyes darting away with embarrassment.

"Uh... yeah, that was me." he conceded, before Toph stepped over to stand beside her.

"So are you going to tell me the story?" she asked, the Water Tribe girl's eyes darting around, remembering the fact she had to keep Azula's identity secure.

"Uh... yeah, I guess." she conceded, "Uh... I guess you guys could jump in if you like, seeing that you were there and all."

The earthbending girl created a wall out of the ground, and leaned back on it, "So, tell me... how'd your brother get nearly captured by the Dai Li?"

"Well, he was in the city because he had been shipwrecked, and needed to... uh... do some work to buy his way home." she explained, the Freedom Fighters nodding along; it seems that they were told the same thing, though Smellerbee stepped forward with a suspicious eye.

"Working for the Fire Nation, that was." she clarified, making Toph raise a brow with confusion.

"For the Fire Nation?" she looked at Katara with surprise, "But aren't you all friends with the Avatar. That makes no sense?"

"Uh... I think at the time he was just desperate." she admitted, not wanting to go too deep into his reasoning, as she knew she'd inadvertently reveal that Azula and Saila were one and the same.

"So, he was staying in the Governor's Palace, which i think is where the Earth King used to live."

"The Royal Palace." Toph clarified, Katara nodding in confirmation.

"Well, yeah, the former Royal Palace." she agreed, "He got beat up in training pretty bad." she clarified, before glancing over to the earthbenders that the girl beside her had just beaten, "Like you just did to those guys."

"Ah, okay." she pursed her lips upward, before her expression changed to one of confusion, "This wasn't against an earthbender, was it?"

"No, a firebender." she corrected, "And to fix his pain, he decided to go out and get drunk. A brilliant decision, if you ask me." she sarcastically added, the Freedom Fighters nodding along, Smellerbee trying to hold back laughing, "So he did that, but he drank so much that he needed to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, I can see where this is going." the earthbender grinned, while Smellerbee stepped closer, trying not to break down laughing.

"W-wait, you're saying he got captured when he was peeing?" she asked him, nodding tersely, making her bellow out laughing, patting Jet on the shoulder.

"The luckiest man in Ba Sing Se!" she proclaimed, Katara nodding, trying to hold back her own amusement.

"So, he got beaten up and captured by a Dai Li agent when he went to pee." she continued, "And then, Smellerbee and Longshot saved him. I think Longshot knocked the agent out with his bow." she tried to recall, knowing that her brother's description was a little hazy.

"Wow, that is pretty lucky." Toph conceded, "So, then I guess you guys took care of him." she gestured to the Freedom Fighters, who nodded along.

"Yeah, pretty much." Jet confirmed before Katara raised a brow at him, wanting to reiterate the fact he ignored.

"And then you threatened to kill him." she added, making the Freedom Fighter twitch with frustration.

"It's not like I did it without reason!" he tried to defend himself, which amused Toph, "He was working for the Fire Nation Princess."

"The Fire Nation Princess?" the earthbending girl raised a brow, "The dead one?"

"Well, her being dead is just a rumour." the Freedom Fighter clarified, "Did they end up getting to Yu Dao?" he asked Katara, who cleared her throat, remembering that specific part of the story.

"Oh, yeah he did." she confirmed before shaking her head, remembering why he would actually be concerned about that, "Oh! Sneers! That's what you're asking about. Yeah, well, last time Sokka saw him, he was safe, and he had a girlfriend."

"Sneers got a girlfriend?" Smellerbee scoffed, "I still find things to this day that surprise me."

"Wait, so how did Sokka get back to your tribe? That's where I'm guessing he went, seeing that you're all together." Jet asked her, the Water Tribe girl grimacing slightly, not wanting to reveal that Azula was with them.

"Uh, he took a boat, and sailed home. Not that complicated, actually." she explained, before glancing back toward Toph, "Have you seen my brother today?"

"I haven't seen anyone ever." she retorted, making her grimace slightly; she hadn't meant it in that way, but she realised she ought to be more careful and avoid offending the blind earthbender, "I'm just joking." she assured her, "I think I sensed him coming by here a little earlier, but he left pretty quickly."

"He said he was going to train. I don't know where, though." she admitted, before Jet stepped closer to her.

"Is that why you're here? To train?" he queried, Katara scrunching her lips up for a moment in thought, before she smiled.

"Yep." she confirmed, "I'm a waterbender, but I'm not very good at it yet."

"Do you know how to use weapons?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl tilting her head slightly; she could use them, but then again, she hadn't ever trained for actual fighting, unlike her brother.

"Kind of." she conceded, "If using spears for hunting and fishing counts, then yes."

"That's good enough." he admitted, before gesturing toward a weapon rack that sat by the edge of the large training area, "You wanna train with us?"

"I guess I could." she smiled, glad that there was somebody willing to train her, even if it wasn't in her bending.

"I'll go back to beating up other benders." Toph voiced her own intentions, "I don't really care about fighting non-benders."

"Oh, you haven't fought my brother yet, Toph." she smirked, knowing that if anyone could lower the cockiness of the girl before her, it was her brother, who ironically, was as cocky as her a few years prior, when he could barely fight himself, even if at present he was one of the best fighters she knew.

"I doubt he'd stand a chance against me." she crossed her arms with a smug grin, the Water Tribe girl placing her hands on her hips.

"Ever heard of chi-blocking?"

"Uh... heard of it, yes. Fought someone who uses it, no." she explained herself, "But chi-blockers attack with their fingers right, so I just would drop him into the ground before he had a chance to touch me." she declared, Katara shaking her finger at her.

"I really hate saying this... but boomerang beats bending." she admitted the truth she honestly hated to consider, but understood it nonetheless.

"Boomerang?" Toph raised a brow at her with slight amusement, "What's a boomerang?"

"You'd have to be hit by it to see what I mean." she explained, the earthbender nodding before she raised her hand, removing the wall she had been leaning on.

"Okay, well you enjoy being beat up by the teenagers with weird fashion choices." she simply farewelled her, earning the ire of Smellerbee.

"How can you even say that? You can't see!" she exclaimed with annoyance, making Toph look back at her with a cocky grin.

"I don't need to be able to see you know that." she declared, striding away with a shit-eating grin still plastered on her face.

"That girl has some nerve." the Freedom Fighter snarled, before she turned to Jet, "So, we're going to train uh... Sokka's sister?"

"Katara." she clarified her name, realising that she hadn't actually mentioned it.

"Of course." Jet smirked, before waving for her to follow, "Come with me, and we'll see what you've got."

She followed on behind him, the other Freedom Fighters following along, before she glanced at them, realising she hadn't gotten their names, like they hadn't hers.

"Uh, so what's everybody's names?" she asked, the smallest of the group, a boy wearing a helmet that was probably a little too big for his head, gesturing to his chest with his big thumb.

"I'm The Duke." he told her, before gesturing to his large friend beside him, "And this is Pipsqueak." he explained, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"I'm guessing you guys chose your names?"

"Uh, yep." The Duke nodded, making Katara raise a brow; if she had had the opportunity to give herself her own name, she had no idea what she would choose- she had only ever thought of herself as 'Katara'.

Jet approached the rack of weapons, pulling off a spear, before tossing it over at her, Katara grasping it with her two hands before planting the blunt end into the ground, "Thanks." she simply noted his actions, before he and his Freedom Fighters glanced around at each other.

"Which of us is best suited to train Katara?" Jet asked his group, Smellerbee raising her hand to volunteer.

"I fight with a one-handed weapon, so it's got to be me. You'd just chop the spear into pieces, Jet." she explained, Katara glancing toward the leader of the group with interest.

"Why'd that be?"

"Dual hook swords." she explained, drawing out his weapons and swinging them around, showing her that they were indeed swords with hooks on the ends.

"That is... cool." she conceded, before glancing toward Smellerbee, "And what do you fight with?"

"A shortsword." she explained, pulling her blade out, "Kinda like a really big knife." she noted, Katara examining the weapon intently as she drew it out.

"Kinda like Sokka's machete." she acknowledged, the Freedom Fighter nodding.

"Well, you should be familiar with how this works." she noted, before she raised her arm up, moving into a fighting form, "Show me what you've got, Katara."

* * *

Sokka rubbed his head, feeling where he was probably going to get a bruise; he knew that fighting Azula would help her keep her mind off of things, but he hadn't expected it to hurt as much as it did. Then again, he hadn't expected to get slammed into the ground by a fireball to the head. He glanced over toward his boomerang, taking note that it was too far away for him to reach; Azula stepped closer to him with a smug look on her face, her right palm covered with blue flames.

"Now, now, Sokka. This is the part where you give up." she declared, the Water Tribe warrior sighing; she had a point, as he likely wouldn't be able to beat her without trying his luck with his club or chi-blocking, which wouldn't end well if she could send a fireball into his head, again.

"I've still got... one trick up my sleeve." he suggested, raising his right hand with a single finger up.

"Oh, enlighten me, savage." she moved her arms out to act as if she was still open for an attack; he cocked a smirk, grasping the dirt beneath his left hand and throwing it at her, forcing her to close her eyes.

She sent her right-fist toward him, propelling a stream of blue flames right toward his head; Sokka was able to roll out of the way, kicking his left leg at her own. When she fell down to one knee, he realised that he might have a small chance at victory. He pulled his club off of his back, ready to swing it at her side to knock her to the ground; as quick as he was to rise to his feet, Azula was just as swift, reflexively sending another attack toward him, even if with her eyes shut. The fireball struck his club, which blocked it from burning his tunic; that didn't stop the force from throwing him back off his feet, making the Water Tribe teen fall flat on his behind.

"Ouch." he grunted, before he reached to grasp the boomerang that was laying slightly closer to him; when he grabbed it, he readied his arm, but found himself stopped by another attack, a fireball striking him right in the palm, throwing the boomerang out of his hand.

"Come on!" he cried out with frustration, "Just let me have this!" he demanded, the Princess looking down at him smugly as she wiped the dirt from her eyes.

"I'm not giving you a chance." she declared, before she filled her palm with blue flames; he sighed, glancing around to try and think of something on the spot.

As she drew nearer to him, the cockiness growing on her face, Sokka's eyes dart down to his feet, which were right by her own. With a single pivot of his leg, he was able to send her careening down on top of him, the Water Tribe teen grasping her wrist to stop her from burning his face. She grunted as she found herself lying on top of him, her left hand barely holding her from face-planting on his chest.

"Sorry, what was that?" he asked her sarcastically, "You beat me?"

"Urgh..." she growled, her pouty eyes looking back at him spitefully, "Fu-" she began to insult him, not able to get the curse word out of her mouth as he locked lips with her; the Princess was silenced, and for a few moments he enjoyed the touch of their lips.

She was able to push herself free, before she narrowed her eyes at him, "Oh, you're a little too smart for your own good, aren't you?"

"That's me, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe." he proudly declared, before she rolled over lying down in the dirt beside him.

"I'll concede that was a pretty smart move on your behalf... though I think my judgement is clouded by the fact you kissed me right after." she argued, making him chuckle raising himself up slightly as he looked her in the eyes.

"Oh, but I thought that was the best part." he suggested, "That's how we first kissed, remember?"

"I remember being chi-blocked and unable to resist." she argued, making him feel a little uneasy; the way she phrased it made it sound like he had forced himself upon her.

"Uh... I'm sorry?" he mumbled, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"That was a joke, Sokka." she corrected him, "I was the one seducing you anyway." she declared proudly, the Water Tribe teen snorting.

"Oh, okay." he simply noted her words, before he furrowed a brow, "I thought you were more focused on the whole 'I need to fight Zuko' thing."

"Hey, you were a good distraction." she clarified, before she pursed her lips lasciviously, "A steamy distraction."

"I'm not a firebender. I'm pretty sure I should have that checked by a healer." he joked, the Princess chuckling, before she leaned in closer, kissing him on the lips herself; he didn't resist her, letting her grasp him by the nape as she tugged him closer.

"A stupid, steamy distraction." he corrected herself while her lips were barely away from his own, making him grin at the insult; it felt a lot more playful than the ones she usually gave him, the Water Tribe teen cocking a grin.

"Oh, I can do stupid." he suggested, making her clear her throat, breaking what he would have called 'the mood'.

"We can't exactly do anything here, on the side of a mountain, in the dirt." she warned him, to which Sokka pouted, disappointed that they weren't going to take their spar to its rather natural conclusion.

"Oh, well... wanna go back to the room then?" he suggested, the Princess looking back at him with haughty confidence.

"Well, that's if you can get there." she suggested, the Water Tribe teen raising a brow with confusion.

"If I can-" he began to ask before he saw her hand fill with flames once again; he realised that she wanted to continue their spar, which he would admit, wasn't surprising, though it just made his goal all the more challenging.

"Argh!" he cried out as he rolled out of the way of the fireball she threw his way, before he rose up to a crouched position, reaching for his club.

He realised that he wouldn't have enough time to grasp it, and instead turned his right hand forward, jabbing Azula in her forearm with his fingers, right before she would have used said part of her body to punch him in the chest. Her arm slumped down, and the flames she had conjured dissipated; her expression immediately changed to one of annoyance as she kicked her foot upward, hoping to knock him in the abdomen. He rolled out of the way of her attack, before he jabbed her again, striking her in the right thigh, which she couldn't block, given her right arm had been chi-blocked. She fell down to her knee, conjuring a blade of fire in her right hand, which flickered an odd colour, not as pure a blue as usual; when it came for him, he let the blade go right into his shoulder, hoping that she was bluffing. He guessed correctly, but that didn't mean her fist wouldn't connect with his shoulder, hammering him back to the ground; Sokka looked up at her as she glared him down with determination- she was intent on winning, though he was unsure exactly what that would lead to. He then dodged a ring of fire that she sent out from her right wrist, before he jabbed her once more, getting her shoulder, which made her left arm slump down as she tried to conjure one last attack. She grit her teeth, and then proceeded to take a deep breath; he had sparred with her enough times to know that meant she was about to breathe fire right at his face, so he decided to cut her short by kissing her again; quite an effective tool in his eyes. She groaned with annoyance, but fell into the embrace nonetheless, and as she did, he grasped her by the waist, pulling her into his arms. When their lips parted, he furrowed a brow at her, wondering if she had goaded him into using his chi-blocking to incapacitate her.

"Did you want me to chi-block so you didn't have to walk back?" he asked her, the Princess cocking a smirk.

"Why would I do that?" she feigned innocence, speaking in such a way that it was obvious she was lying; seeing that she was a very good liar, he knew that she wanted him to know the truth.

"You're too smart for your own good." he conceded, before glancing around, taking note of all his weapons that lay on the ground, "Can I just pick up my weapons first? Then we can go back to our apartment."

"Permission is granted." she responded, as if he was actually asking.

He rolled his eyes, sitting her down on the ground softly, before he looked back to see his boomerang and club, both lying a short distance away; he walked over and scooped both of them up, putting his boomerang back into its leather sleeve, before he slung the club over his shoulder into the band which held it tightly to his back. The Water Tribe teen approached his girlfriend, kneeling down beside her, grasping her by the waist with his right hand and by the underside of her legs with his left.

"Now, her majesty desires to be taken to her chambers, at once." she requested, Sokka knowing her words were in jest, though if she had actually been Fire Lord, she would have been completely serious in what she had just said.

"Of course." he assured her, before rising back up his feet, glancing back toward the path they had taken; the entrance was some distance away, but he remembered the path they had taken, so he had no issue going back along the side of the mountain.

They had been training on the side of the mountain opposing Omashu, making sure that nobody noticed blue spurts of fire on the mountainside, which despite the distance, would have been clearly visible, given the potency of Azula's flames. He carried her along, her eyes moving up to meet his own; they were locked in a staring competition, and he could only wonder if he was going to kiss him or mock him. She did neither simply looking into his blue eyes as he looked into her gold; he could usually tell how she was feeling, but at that moment, he couldn't discern the exact emotion that she felt. The Princess was a complicated person, but more than that, she was his complicated person; he was unsure what to say, so he tried to think of a joke to make.

"You know, I distinctly remember you telling me that you hated me carrying you." he noted, making her roll her eyes.

"I did." she noted, the Water Tribe warrior narrowing his eyes at her.

"And what changed?" he tried to prod an answer out of her, only getting a light, humoured scoff in return.

"Not much." she simply told him, "I can simply tolerate you needless actions for what they are."

"Love?" he asked her, genuinely curious if that was what she thought of his small deeds.

"I guess you could call it that." she conceded, before her eyes locked with his once more, "A burning desire that only I can fill." she pursed her lips upward, licking them lavisciously.

"Okay, Miss Fancy Words, we'll call it that from now on." he joked, before clearing his throat, "Oh, I feel a burning desire for you, Princess Azula!" he called loudly out to no one other than her, making her raise her hand up to his lips, hushing him.

"Not so loud, idiot." she growled, before her eyes darted around, "We don't want anyone else finding out."

"I'm sure Bumi will remain quiet. He knows you're not going to destroy his city or anything." he stressed, the Princess's eyes narrowing into a far more serious glare than she had held prior to that.

"But you're not." she told him the straight truth, "I know you'd like to tell everyone how much you adore me, but it's really not going to help anyone if you do."

"Oh, I see how it is." he feigned offence, "I need to think of a more heartful way to express my burning desire for you."

She raised her chin up slightly, her glare becoming a little softer, "You make my words sound less poetic every time you repeat them."

"Did you forget? I like annoying you as much as you like annoying me!" he declared triumphantly with a grin, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"I seriously doubt that." she dismissed his claim, making him snicker.

"Yeah, you're right. You do like it a lot more than I do." he conceded honestly, before he smirked at her, "But that doesn't mean I can't get a kick out of it."

"Oh... two can play that game." she warned him, the Water Tribe teen shaking his head.

"We can't argue right not. That won't set the mood." he retorted, making her laugh at him.

"And what will, you being all defeatist and defensive?" she retorted, making him raise a brow.

"Do you want me to drop you?" he asked her, the Princess kicking her legs up, revealing that she could move them properly once more.

"I can walk again, idiot." she revealed, before stretching her arms out, "But that doesn't mean I won't take advantage of your kindness for as long as I like."

"Okay then." he tersely replied, before narrowing his eyes, "So what will set the mood?"

"I'll let you figure that out yourself, genius." she mocked him, Sokka's glare darting upward to the sky as he considered what he ought to say.

"Well, I could start by explaining what I'm going to do." he decided, making her raise a brow.

"Oh." she simply mumbled, letting the Water Tribe teen continue without a snarky comment.

"I'll take you down to our apartment, and provided that Aang and Katara aren't there, I'll sit you down on our bed." he begun, making her smirk slightly; she was obviously enjoying herself, so he decided he would continue, "And then, I'd get some candles out, light them myself, of course, and then I'd ask you... where'd you like to be kissed first."

"On the l-" she began to respond, before she gave her what she wanted; their following embrace was warm, intense, and a little sloppy, Sokka being forced to lean forward and continue to hold her up.

She smirked at his kiss, and leaned upward to let them continue, grasping at his nape, pulling at his grown out undercut; she then opened her eyes, staring him down with her golden eyes, as if she were staring into his very soul.

"I see, you'd like your practice first." she observed, "You continue to surprise me, Sokka."

"Only the best for you." he joked, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"I'm the only one getting anything... which is how I like it." she declared with a smug look on her face, "I think you'd be better off doing things without asking though."

"You'd rather be surprised?" he asked her, Azula simply nodding as she leaned in closer, whispering into his ear.

"What would you like to do, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe?"

He chuckled, before kissing her on the cheek, "Oh, I'd rather keep it a surprise."

"Other than the candles and banishing Aang and Katara?" she questioned him, the Water Tribe teen grinning.

"Of course. I'm not going to say everything. What'd be the fun in that?" he prodded her, before he turned his eyes forward, taking note of the entrance to the city, which, to anyone who wasn't aware, would seem like an ordinary rockface.

"We're back!" he called out, the ground rumbling around them for a few moments before the rockface broke away, revealing a guard, who looked at them suspiciously.

"What were you two even doing out there?" he asked them, taking note of Sokka carrying his girlfriend in his arms.

"Sparring." he simply responded, before he stode inside, "I'm just being a dutiful boyfriend and carrying my girlfriend back." he told the guard with a smug voice.

"Uh... good luck with that." he mumbled awkwardly, looking away from him as he carried his girlfriend into the tunnel in his arms.

"You think he noticed the singe marks on your clothes?" Azula asked him with a whisper, the Water Tribesman shaking his head as he continued to walk deeper into the dimly lit tunnel, which was taking him on a shallow downward path toward the sprawling underground city.

"I doubt it." he assured her, "Most people only notice things like that if they're looking out for it."

"I must be the most observant person on earth." she mused, making him snicker, thinking that she was quite right to think that.

"You sure are, Azula." he told her with a small smile, which of all things, surprised her.

"Is that a lack of sarcasm I hear in your voice?" she raised her brow at him, the Water Tribesman grinning.

"What? I can acknowledge that you're the smartest person I know." he stated the matter of fact.

"How humble of you." she noted, "I thought you would be a little less eager to dish out compliments."

"Hey, I can dish out insults just the same." he declared, "I think Fire Nation clothes look stupid because of the needless points and angles. What are you going to, stab people with the tips of your shoes?"

"Aesthetics, Sokka." she simply responded, "We actually have some sense of taste, rather than wearing furs all day."

"Oh, but it's shit taste." he grinned at her, the Princess raising her chin up haughtily.

"You should be glad I'm not a stereotypical noblewoman who would have belted you in the head for insulting my clothing." she crossed her arms, before raising a brow, "Or maybe you just really like me wearing blues. I mean, it does match my fire." she admitted, snapping her fingers to light up the tunnel with a flame on her finger; he felt tense, knowing that she really ought to avoid bending, but was still a little confused, seeing that her bending wasn't actually as blue as it usually was.

"I think they suit you, but red suits you better." he conceded, knowing his idealised image of her was wearing a rather loose fitting red tunic, the kind she would when they sparred each other on her ship.

"How true." she cocked a smirk, Sokka grasping her palm to try and gesture her to dissipate her flames; instead of that, the flames grew brighter and became progressively more yellowish in their colour, until they were a bright gold.

"Uh... is that normal?" he mumbled, having remembered Azula saying something about her bending being stuck blue; she didn't answer his question, moving closer to kiss him on the lips, her flames disappearing as she did so.

Her lips were warm, and it felt like she was about to breathe fire down his throat; she didn't, of course, but the warmth he felt reminded him of the first time they had kissed. For some reason, she was in a good mood, and he was intrigued to find out why; he considered maybe it was because they had been sparring, and fighting was her way of letting her emotions out, but he couldn't be certain. All he knew is that she was enjoying herself, and he was glad to let her do that.

When their lips broke, he couldn't help but glance up and down the length of the tunnel, self-consciously hoping that nobody had spotted them, "Am I going to be stuck with you in my arms forever?" he joked, the Princess cocking a smirk.

"Would you prefer I stop kissing you, savage?" she quipped, Sokka shaking his head.

"Oh, certainly not... though I'd prefer you didn't do it near Aang and Katara. They'd never let it go." he noted, making her sigh.

"I certainly don't want your sister harping on about love to me." she conceded, gruffly raising her nostrils up, as if she were looking at Katara at that very moment.

"Yeah, only I can do that." he quipped, making her snort, breaking down laughing.

She patted his sternum with a giddy look on her face, "That's right, Sokka. You're the only one with permission. Anyone else, I'd set their hair on fire."

"You still do that, though." he reminded her, the Princess making an indifferent shrug.

"For different reasons." she stressed, the Water Tribe teen rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah, it's always the thought that counts." he sarcastically quipped, the Princess sparking a flame on her finger, which was still gold.

"Are you insulting my wit, Sokka?" she questioned, the Water Tribe teen shaking his head.

"I'd never insult your intelligence, simply your decisions." he argued, the Princess raising her chin with an intrigued eye, the flame on her finger dissipating.

"That is fair. You are my best critic." she conceded, the Water Tribe teen smugly looking at her, thinking that she was certainly right; though he wouldn't accredit all of the Princess's victories to himself while they were together, he would certainly claim that nobody was killed or suffered needlessly under his watch.

"I agree." he told her, "The only reason Ba Sing Se didn't become a complete shit hole is because I suggested otherwise."

"I think your actions might have only stalled that fate, Sokka." she suggested, the Water Tribe teen grimacing.

"That city is practically doomed, isn't it?"

"Through no fault of our own. Centuries of systemic inequality, corruption and a police state will do that to any place." she explained, making him raise a brow.

Her description seemed in line of what he understood the Fire Nation was becoming; that was because of the continued extreme interpretation of her great-grandfather's 'ideals', if one could skew their world-view enough to consider anything about his vision for the world as being ideal.

"Then what of your nation? Isn't that where it is headed?" he asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes in thought.

"Well, it is, Sokka. I do intend to fix that once I become Fire Lord. Your people have given me much inspiration on how my country ought to be run." she acknowledged, the Water Tribe teen narrowing his eyes with confusion.

Azula taking inspiration from the Southern Water Tribe, though reasonable, given her time there, seemed so absurd coming from a woman who regularly called him a barbarian and savage, despite the fact they were a couple.

"That's got to be the craziest thing I've heard you say yet. You actually are inspired by the Southern Water Tribe?" he made an exaggerated tone of surprise, the Princess raising a hand up to stress her point.

"The Fire Nation has become too narrow-minded with its style of governance. More free-thought, or better phrased, more opportunity for people like yourself to have a say in government would ultimately make my nation stronger than it currently is."

"A country run by smart people... it's like the idea of a Council of Elders, but a little less discriminatory by age." he concluded; he had never actually seen such a council, as it was quite rare for the villages of the Southern Water Tribe to convene a collective assembly.

"Yes, that'd be about right... but consider that on a far larger scale. The nobility and military are the ones with power at the moment, and civil servants, though useful and in some cases intelligent, generally fall in line with what the Fire Lord has to say." she admitted, before shrugging her shoulders, "I can't exactly say it'd work in practice yet, but seeing how your tribe is able to function as it does, I'd say it should work."

"So, you want a bunch of people who don't agree with you to give you advice. A bunch of Sokkas."

"Essentially, yes." she conceded, making him snicker, thinking about Azula sitting in a room with a bunch of duplicates of himself, all wearing different clothes and shouting at each other about who is the best to serve her.

"Are you going to get it on with all these other Sokkas?" he quipped, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Of course not. I have standards, savage." she growled at him, though her anger was obviously veiling her actual feelings, which he guessed were that of desire; they hadn't gotten back to their apartment yet, but when they did, he had no idea what she would do.

"I'm pleased to hear that your sexual fantasy isn't doing it with a bunch of me." he conceded, the Princess trying her best to hold back a laugh.

"Trust me, it is not. Though, I wouldn't mind an army of a thousand Sokkas to fight my brother." she noted, making him snort.

"Hey, you have the second-best thing, the Southern Water Tribe itself." he suggested, Azula's eyes darting around, as if she were mulling over his words.

"I don't believe they'll blindly follow me to fight my brother." she conceded, Sokka nodding; she was right, his tribe wouldn't blindly join her, obviously knowing how fighting opponents for the sake of it had turned out the last time they tried it.

"No, no, I think they'd do it believing you would help us in return, which you intend to do." he stressed the fact that she had already assured him of.

"I will." she clenched her fist, her eyes filled with determination, "We'll rebuild your tribe together, and our nations will be stronger because of it."

"Azula, you're going to do great things." he simply told her, before chuckling, "You've already done some great things... but you'll do a lot more."

She twitched for a moment, her eyes moving down as she snarled slightly; he didn't know why his words would agitate her, but for some reason she seemed to look concerned. He couldn't tell about what, and he didn't dare to ask, letting her say what she pleased.

"If my father's alive... then I'll have to confront him." she admitted, making him gulp with fear; he was under no presupposition that Azula could simply fight her father.

She was not only loyal to him to the point at which she was willing to kill Zuko without question for his supposed kinslaying, but believed in his teachings to a fault; of course, she had questioned them time and time again since they had met, but that didn't mean that she was going to become a simple and calm pacifist like Aang just because she could.

"I know." he simply mumbled to her, glancing forward as he tried to think of the best thing to say, "You don't have to worry about that."

"I can't just ignore it." she simply told him, the Water Tribe teen raising his left hand from her waist up to her head.

"You're not going to have to fight him." he assured her, "He's not running around trying to destroy the Earth Kingdom or anything like that. He's in prison."

"If my father's alive, Sokka, I don't think he'll be restrained there for long." she warned him, the Water Tribe teen scoffing at her words.

"Oh, and what will Zuko..."" he began, before pursuing his lips, thinking of a better way to phrase his question, "Sorry, Zuzu, do if he breaks out?" he asked her rhetorically, guessing the answer she would give him; she tried to restrain her amusement from him using her mocking nickname for the current Fire Lord, making as straight a face as she could.

"He'll kill my father." she guessed, before narrowing her eyes, "And if I'm too much of a nuisance, he might try and kill me too." she mumbled, Sokka leaning forward and kissing her on the forward.

"Nobody's going to kill you, Azula." he assured her, "Not even your arsehole of a brother. You really think your uncle would let him do that?"

"Good point." she mumbled, "He's got a leash on as long as Uncle's by his side."

"You made that sound a lot weirder than it actually is." he grimaced in disgust, actually imagining Zuko with a leash around his neck.

"Oh, it is disgusting." she agreed with him, "My brother can't even be his own man. He's just pretending to be the Fire Lord while my uncle pulls the strings."

"How can you even know that?" he asked her, slightly concerned by her assumptions; she was making out Iroh to be a lot more sinister than he actually was.

"Because I know my brother. He's driven by rage and angst, and honestly, my uncle is probably the only thing that's keeping him together." she explained her thoughts on the matter, making Sokka tremble slightly, feeling a disturbing parallel with their own relationship.

"Are you... are you okay, Azula?" he asked her, the Princess staring into his eyes for a moment; he couldn't see any spite, or hatred, only a sense of longing- fear, perhaps.

"Of course I am." she assured him, pursing her lips upward, "As long as I'm by your side... or in your arms, I'll be ready to take on anyone and anything."

"Well, maybe you should get a leash for me, so I don't wander off." he joked, making Azula snort with humour, covering her face with her hand, trying to mask her flushed cheeks.

"You just had to make it weird, didn't you?"


	8. Chapter 8

Looking at his friend, Aang was genuinely shocked by how well built he was, and also by the fact that he had challenged him to a duel; Bumi claimed that he wanted to test out his bending, but it seemed to be a little more than a test. After getting a massive boulder thrown his way, Aang didn't exactly feel sure his friend, who was never the most straightforward type, was holding back. He didn't dare question him, and he honestly found their ad hoc spar to be quite enjoyable, other than the fact he was forced to dodge boulders three times his size. Bumi was already a good bender when they were both twelve, and he wasn't surprised he became such a great one, though he was certainly amazed that he could still bend like it was nothing, despite his age.

"Come on, Aang! I know you can do more than dodge and weave." he demanded of him, pulling a few smaller boulders out of the ground beneath him, before he threw them at the young Avatar, one by one.

Though he dodged the first few, he realised he would have to fight back, and decided to use his airbending to shatter the boulders, before bending the air around him into a shield. The dust he picked up from destroying Bumi's attacks actually made the sphere around him almost opaque, which Aang used to his advantage. Funnelling the dust into a tornado-like form, he sent it toward his friend, obscuring his field of vision entirely; he used that moment of blindness as well as he could, conjuring a disc of air, somewhat like a flattened air scooter, propelling it out from his feet, right into the dust cloud, where he had last seen the King of Omashu.

"Smart move, too bad I saw it coming!" Bumi called out, before he bent the dust out of the air, hammering it down onto the ground, revealing himself and his bending form; he then thrust his two hands forward, pointing his fingers toward Aang, which created a fast moving rupture in the ground, pushing up spikes of rock in the process.

As said spikes grew nearer to the young Air Nomad, he grit his teeth, unsure how he was going to respond; he knew he could dodge, but his friend had already told him that it was an insufficient tactic to beat him with. Bumi was right, and knowing that, Aang decided he'd beat earth with earth, even if he couldn't earthbend. As the spikes were about to strike him, he swung his staff sharply, a wedge shaped air blast cutting clean through one of the spikes, which was flung up into the air by his attack. He then reeled his staff back as he jumped out of the way of the spikes, firing the one he had in front of him right back at Bumi at an incredible speed. The King of Omashu simply raised a wall of earth in front of him to block the spike, which exploded on impact; the young Avatar sighed, realising his plan hadn't worked- if he had had more spikes perhaps he would have stood a chance. He then used Aang's own tactic against him, shooting out small cylinders of earth from his wall, right toward the Avatar; he was able to duck under said attack, using his staff to send the stone cylinders off course, veering away as they hit the wall behind him.

"Come out Bumi!" he prodded his friend, who was still using his wall of earth for cover; when he revealed himself, he had the same giddy grin on his face.

"Okay, here I am..." he raised his arms up, not motioning to bend any earth, before slamming his palms together.

Aang's eyes widened as he glanced to his sides, watching as the walls were ripped apart and thrown toward him. The Avatar decided, given that he couldn't dodge the attack, to use his airbending to hold it back; he knew that earth was more sturdy than air, but with enough concentration, he was sure he could at least stop the debris from crushing him- not that Bumi would actually crush him, but if it were a real fight that would have been a possibility. He raised his staff up into the air before he hammered it down into the ground vertically, creating a powerful blast of wind that he was able to maintain by spinning his staff around. The blast pushed at the rocks, preventing them from moving any closer to Aang, who struggled to hold them off, glancing back toward Bumi, whose expression did not disguise his approval of his strength. He grit his teeth, stopping the motion of his staff as he slammed it down once more, forcing the rocks that had been aimed toward him into the ground with it, shattering them in the process.

"I am impressed, Aang. You have a great heart." he admitted to his friend, approaching him with a giddy grin, "Sorry for nearly crushing you back there."

"Nah, I know you wouldn't actually do that." he stressed before raising a brow, "So other than sparring, was there anything you wanted to do? Give me wisdom from your long life?"

"Oh, I could give you wisdom, sure. But I think in fighting you, I understand you have the mind to figure things out yourself." he admitted, before snorting with amusement, "Using your enemy's strength against them, that the mindset of a waterbender, and I believe you showed that today with that little spike trick."

"It didn't really do much." he mumbled, noting that even if it was a good idea, Bumi was able to dispense of it pretty quickly.

"That's nonsense, Aang. I'm a master earthbender, and you're an Avatar who can only bend one element." he placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure once you are able to master all four elements, you'll be far greater than me." he suggested, the young Avatar beaming at his friend.

"Really?!" he exclaimed, becoming slightly self-conscious of his near shout of amazement.

"You will." he nodded at him, "But it will take time and effort. You're still twelve, so I'm sure you've got some time, and as long as you remain focused on becoming a master of all four elements, it'll come naturally to you." he suggested, Aang tilting his head slightly, thinking about how different the other elements were to air.

"I hope you can show me more of your moves when I'm ready to learn." he admitted, his friend chuckling, offering him a hand to shake.

"Oh, I'm ready to spar for real one day." he grinned at him, the young Avatar making the same gleeful expression; one day he would be as great as Bumi was, and that was something that made his heart rise in his chest.

Suddenly the doors of the chamber they were in were opened up, revealing a few rebel soldiers, who looked slightly exasperated; Bumi turned around to face them as they approached, "Your majesty, we've had... an altercation."

"Oh, with the Fire Nation?" he asked, the soldiers nodding, the leading one stepping closer to the king.

"Yes, my king. We captured a scout, and he is ready to be interrogated." he explained, Bumi stepping closer to him with an intrigued look.

"Is the Blind Bandit ready to interrogate?" he asked them, the soldiers shaking their heads.

"Uh, no sir. She's in the training hall." one explained, before the KIng of Omashu gestured to the door which they had come through.

"Go get her then, you can't have an interrogation while you're blind... to the truth." he raised a finger to stress his point, making Aang snort, while the rebel fighters remained deadly silent; Bumi's sense of humour never failed to get him, even if the others were too stern and serious to have a laugh.

"Of course, your majesty. We'll retrieve her at once." the leading soldier assured him, before the group paced out of the room, which would be better called a cavern, and a haphazard one at that, after all the damage Bumi's bending had caused.

The king looked at his friend with a more serious expression than he had held before, "So, I'll have to do my duties as the king and protector of his city." he explained, before leaning closer, "Are you ready to do yours?"

"I will make sure no harm comes to your city, Bumi." he assured him, bowing in respect, before he raised a brow, taking note that his friend was still walking around with nothing his loose pants and leather arm bands, "Are you going to get dressed, or are people okay with you walking around shirtless?"

"Oh, good point." he chuckled, "It's better to show off my strength when it's necessary. That way the enemy won't expect it." he suggested, Aang nodding.

"That's a good idea. I should probably do the same. If the Fire Nation underestimates me, then I'll be able to trick them! They'll think they've trapped me, when I'm really in charge."

"Exactly!" Bumi grinned at him, "Great minds think alike." he told him with a wink, the two of them laughing as they approached the door, his friend retrieving his royal robes, which he pulled back over his shoulders, obscuring his intimidating form from sight.

As they walked through the doorway, Aang glanced down the hall, walking back the way they had come in the first place, back toward Bumi's throne room, which was the entrance to all compartments of his expansive underground palace.

"Now, I trust you can put on your best serious face for the interrogation, Aang." his friend suggested, the young Air Nomad making as stern an expression he could.

"Of course." he responded with as gruff a voice he could muster, "I'm Avatar Aang, and I will not let anyone threaten New Omashu."

"Good, good." the king nodded along intently, "Now, you have to remain as calm as possible. People are most afraid when they don't know what will come next."

"Uh-huh." he agreed with him, "I was pretty afraid when your rebels caught us, because I had no idea what they might do to us."

"And this Fire Nation soldier, no matter where they're from, is going to be afraid of the Avatar. They'll expect what they've learnt at their schools, which I'm sure isn't going to be the best painting of your character." he conceded, the Avatar grimacing slightly as he imagined what the Fire Nation actually thought of him.

"They might think I'm the crazy one for wanting balance. That's how confused the Fire Nation is right now." he noted, remembering all the weird things Azula had said, or more so, the presumptions she made, despite being a very smart person herself; with Fire Nation people who had known nothing but the war and unquestioning loyalty to the Fire Lord, he guessed that they would be even more confused and narrow-minded.

As they entered the throne room, Bumi approached his throne at the end of the room, and flicked his hand up to make Aang a seat, "Come, we can sit here and wait for Toph and this scout."

He nodded, sitting down on the seat he had made for him, then turning his eyes toward the main doors into the throne room, "I wonder what they were looking for."

"The Governor doesn't want me or my supporters around." Bumi concluded, "They're not all stupid, even if a lot of them are crazy." he conceded, before snorting, "And this is coming from me."

"You're not crazy." Aang assured his friend, "You've just opened your minds to the possibilities. That's what you said."

"Huh, yeah, I sure did." he winked at him, "The Fire Nation is pretty open to the possibility of me trying to retake my city, which I'm not going to bother doing until the right moment."

"When will that be?" he asked his friend, unsure exactly when he intended to make his move.

"When the Fire Nation gives it to us, or they try to attack us." he conceded, narrowing his glare in thought, "Fire Lord Zuko is planning to withdraw the newer colonies, but he probably doesn't want to immediately. The soldiers might turn against him, and that will be more enemies for us all to fight. Ozai loyalists are around us on all sides, and I know they want us gone. They think we're as useless as the dirt we bend."

"Dirt isn't useless though." Aang argued, making his friend chuckle.

"Well, it isn't, that's just how they'd see it." he noted, "The Fire Nation... and the world all need peace, we just need to achieve it without destroying each other."

"Hate just leads to more hate." he mumbled something he had heard the monks tell him before, "Revenge is the same. We need balance, not to beat the Fire Nation."

"That's right, Aang... though, you'll have to fight some Fire Nation people to make sure they stop fighting each other."

"So, you'll have to fight too... if you want to make sure they don't hurt your people." he concluded, Bumi nodding with a slight grimace.

"Of course. But I won't fight if I don't need to. Needlessly wasting time and energy is something no good leader should have to do."

The young Avatar glanced back toward the entrance of the throne room, wondering when the prisoner would arrive; his thoughts were followed by an answer, which happened to be about two seconds later, the doors swinging wide open as a Fire Nation soldier was dragged into the room, although his head was covered by a sack, obscuring his sight. As he was taken toward Bumi, he squirmed and grunted, the muffled sounds he made indicating that they had gagged him, which disturbed Aang slightly; even if the man was a Fire Nation soldier, the idea of being blinded and gagged was terrifying. When the soldiers dragging him along got close enough, they bent a chair out of the ground, forcing him down onto it, making him yelp with pain as his head hit the stone backrest. A moment later, the sack was removed from the soldier's face, and the Avatar felt even worse; the man before him was barely a man- he guessed he was the same age as Sokka, if not younger. He didn't seem like the idea he had built up in his head about Fire Nation soldiers after witnessing the Southern Raiders; he was a teenager, and a scared one at that.

When the gag was removed from his mouth, he cried out with fear, "Please! Please, I don't wanna die!"

"Who said anything about dying?" Bumi snorted, rather amused by what he must have seen as an overreaction; Aang didn't agree with that assumption, but he didn't question his friend as he stood up from his throne, "Do you know where you are, young man?"

"U-uh..." the soldier mumbled, looking like he was about to have a nervous breakdown, "N-New Omashu? The rebel city the General wanted us to find." he explained himself, the rebel soldiers who had been binding him glancing his way with interest, obviously wanting to know exactly what he was talking about; it was their livelihoods at stake after all.

"What General? What are you ash-makers up to?" one of them growled at him, hammering down his fist on the stone-bound wrist of the captured Fire Nation scout.

"Argh!" he cried out in pain, "I- Please! I don't know anything!"

"Everyone knows something." Bumi simply responded furrowing a brow as he gestured toward his head, "Unless these men have hit you in the head a little too hard."

"We treated him delicately, your highness." the same rebel soldier stressed, the King of Omashu pulling at his goatee in thought.

"Well, he is alive, after all. You should be happy, it's not usual that my men are so merciful."

"Y-you didn't kill my friends? Did you?!" the prisoner cried out with fear.

"No, you're the only one we got. Your 'friends' just ran away like a bunch of cowards." the other soldier told him mockingly, as if to suggest that his friends abandoned him to save themselves.

"Th-they'll come for me. For you." he tried to bargain with them, Bumi rolling his eyes.

"You already said you were looking for us." he reminded him, "They'll come here if we're not careful... and by we I mean you." he gestured to the soldiers, whose heads rose up with slight fear.

"We did not mean to be reckless, your majesty. We simply took the opportunity when it arose." the soldier tried to reason, Bumi raising his hand.

"Of course you did. That's how we work around here. Now, leave me with the prisoner. The real interrogation hasn't begun yet." he told them with a serious look; the pair bowed before turning their heels, making their way toward the doors, which they shut behind themselves.

His words visibly frightened the prisoner, who probably thought he was about to be tortured with earthbending or something along the lines; his friend wasn't cruel like that, so he was just going to use Toph's earth sense to work around whatever lies the prisoner gave them.

"Aang, did you have any questions to ask the prisoner? You're going to want to understand your enemy before you have to truly face them, if that's what it comes to." Bumi suggested to the young Avatar, who grimaced slightly, after seeing what he had; he didn't want to scare the teenager before him, who probably was misguided into joining the Fire Nation army.

Remembering back to the things Azula had spoken of, or how she spoke of the other nations and her experiences, he understood that the Fire Nation, or better phrased, its citizens, were all taught lies about the rest of the world from a young age. They were fed those lies to the point where they believed they ought to rule the world, and everyone else in it was below them; the Princess didn't prescribe to that world-view, not anymore, but other people, like the teen before him, certainly did.

"Where are you from?" he simply asked him, not knowing if the prisoner was going to lie.

"U-um..." he mumbled, his eyes darting around as he tried to move his head, "I'm, uh, from Hizumi." he explained, before looking down, "I shouldn't have said that. I..." he began to mumble, his words becoming incongruent to Aang's ears.

The young Avatar stood up, not fearing the well-restrained prisoner before him, "I'm not here to interrogate you." he clarified, looking at him with a small smile, "I just want to understand who you are."

"Don't play mind tricks with me!" he grit his teeth at Aang, showing anger instead of fear, "It won't work!"

"I'm not tricking you." he assured him, "I just want to know how you got here."

"H-how I got here? What kind of stupid ques-" he began to grumble at Aang, who shook his head, raising a finger.

"No, not like right now. I mean, how did you become a soldier?" he clarified his question, the prisoner still looking at him with a tense glare, though it was less suspicious and more confused.

"I joined up, like any good patriotic son or daughter of Fire Nation should." he simply explained himself, "To make sure these dirt eaters don't have a chance to destroy us."

"The Earth Kingdom isn't going to destroy the Fire Nation." Aang retorted, thinking his suggestion was completely absurd, though in hindsight, he considered that maybe the prisoner thought his words were absurd by his change in expression.

"No, they won't." he cocked a smirk, "But if they had the chance, they would."

"That's not what the Earth Kingdom wants." Bumi clarified, looking at the prisoner with a bemused eye, before he took a bite out of an aqua-coloured crystal; he offered a crystal to Aang with a smile, "Jennamite. Did you want some?"

"Uh... no thanks." he raised his hand up to politely refuse, "So, you think the Earth Kingdom wants to destroy the Fire Nation... why?" he simply asked the prisoner, wanting to see inside the mentality that he held toward the other nations.

"Because they're peasants. Savages. They conspire to destroy us! Just like the Water Tribe savages!" he exclaimed, the Avatar rolling his eyes; his words were simply confusing, rather than enlightening him on the mind of the Fire Nation.

"I'm seriously confused, Bumi." he admitted to his friend, "This guy really believes all this stuff."

"The Fire Nation is run on these delusions, Aang. That's what a hundred years of straight crazy does to a place." he explained it simply, the young Avatar trying not to laugh.

He was right though, the ideas that the prisoner was espousing were completely crazy and inane, and that made him wonder what Azula was like before she met Sokka. The idea that she could have been even worse disturbed him, but also gave him hope; if she could come to understand the world as she had, then the prisoner before him, and the Fire Nation as a whole could do so too.

"Did somebody call..." he heard Toph's voice behind the door shouting out, before they swung open wildly, revealing the earthbender with her hands on her hips and a giddy grin, "the Blind Bandit?"

"Ah, good, you're here." Bumi smiled, "I want you to meet our new prisoner... oh, we didn't even ask for a name."

"I could probably get that out of him if you like." she suggested as she cracked her knuckles, before suddenly stopping, "That'd just take a lot of tries though."

"Good point." the king nodded, before gesturing to the prisoner, "Go ahead, he's all yours." he directed, Aang stepping back slightly as Toph moved to stand in front of the prisoner, pointing at him accusingly.

"So, what'd you do, huh?" she questioned, the prisoner looking at her with slight confusion.

"What?" he asked her with a quiet voice; she responded by using her bending to force his stone chair closer, his face only a few inches from her pointing fingers.

"Do I have to ask again, punk?" she asked with a more serious voice than before, the prisoner grimacing with fear.

"N-no, no!" he assured her, obviously thinking she was going to do something horrible to him; as he didn't know Toph that well, he was unsure what lengths she would go to interrogate him, "I was scouting! Your people captured me." he told her with a panicked voice, the earthbender nodding with a small smirk.

"Okay, that was definitely not a lie." she conceded, before she turned around to face Aang and Bumi, "Were there some specific questions you wanted answered?"

"Yes, what they were intending to do." the king simply told her, before he scratched at his beard, "He already said something about wanting to find our city, and I doubt that was a lie."

"You were looking for this place?" she turned to face the prisoner, who grimaced with fear, trying to turn his head away from her glare, which was amusing to Aang, given the fact she was blind.

"Y-yes!" he told her, "We were."

"Were... or are still?" she furthered her questioning, the teens eyes glancing back toward the king, before they moved down.

"Still." he mumbled softly, "Hopefully my sacrifice wasn't in vain."

"Oh, your sacrifice wasn't a sacrifice." she clarified, "A sacrifice would involve the Fire Nation benefiting by getting away, but instead, you'll lead me right to them." she smirked, making the prisoner grit his teeth.

"I'd never do that! I'm loyal to my nation! I'd never betray it to the likes of you, dirt-muncher!" he shouted her down, the Blind Bandit cocking a smirk as she got rid of his chair, throwing him down to the ground; in the moment he found himself free of his stone binds, he looked around with fear, before he found his arms bound to the ground.

"Call me dirt-muncher one more time and the only thing outside of the dirt will be your head... because I have a sense of humour. The next interrogator might have suffocated you." she warned, the prisoner trembling with fear, closing his eyes.

"I won't!" he cried out with fear, before he looked back at her with a more serious expression, as serious a one he could muster, "But I'd never tell you where my people are. That'd be dishonouring my oath to protect my nation, my fellow soldiers, and everything that is ours."

"You don't have to." she simply told him, "Where'd you come from? Omashu?" she asked him, the prisoner not responding, though she cocked her head up, considering what she felt with her bending, "He's not from Omashu." she noted, "So, then where did you come from? North... south... east... west?" she asked out cardinal directions, the prisoner still looking up at her with fear, remaining speechless.

"This'd go along a lot quicker if you just told me, y'know?" she prodded him, crossing her arms, "So, I think it's north. How long did it take you to get here?" she asked him, the prisoner narrowing his eyes at her, "Come on... a day? Two days?"

"I'm not saying anything." he growled, Toph shaking her head with frustration.

"I don't think you get it. As long as you can hear me, you will respond to my questions, even if you don't speak." she simply told him, the prisoner's eyes filling with fear.

"How?" he mumbled, making her cock a smirk.

"He has no idea, really?" she glanced back toward Aang and Bumi, who both nodded.

"We didn't say anything." the young Avatar assured her, "He really doesn't get it."

"Oh, what a fool." she mumbled, before looking back down at him, "So, less than two days..." she furthered her thoughts, still trying to narrow down where they came from, "Well then, did you come by foot?" she asked him as she leaned down over him, "Maybe on one of those big, angry things."

"A komodo rhino?" Aang asked, remembering that the Fire Nation used such steeds, although he hadn't witnessed them being used in warfare, only to carry carts when he had travelled there before the war.

"Yeah, one of those." Toph snapped her finger at him, before pointing it down toward the prisoner, "I'd take your reaction as a yes. So that's what... over on the other side of the mountains. I'd bet they're in one of the valleys, camping out." she concluded, before glanced back toward the Avatar and her superior,

"That's it. A camp to the north of here, maybe a two day march, a little quicker if you use earthbending." he explained, Aang raising a brow in thought.

"I could get there in a few hours on Appa." he suggested, the earthbender pouting slightly.

"Sky-bisons are fast. I wish we had something like that... on the ground. I never want to fly in my life."

"Flying's great." he retorted, before the subject of her interrogation gasped with fear.

"W-w-wait a second! You're the Avatar!" he cried out, "How are you here?"

"Uh... by my flying bison." he simply explained himself, before stepping closer to the clearly shocked prisoner, "How did you not realise I was the Avatar?"

"I never learned what an Air Nomad looked like. I'd heard rumours... but you're really alive." he mumbled, with a mixture of awe and fear in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm alive, and I'm here to make sure you people don't get anywhere near New Omashu." he declared with a confident tone, before glancing over toward Toph, and then to Bumi, "Did you want us to take care of your Fire Nation issue?"

"You're not getting all the fun Twinkletoes." she crossed her arms, before cocking a grin, "We'll help you give these guys a good beatdown."

"Twinkletoes?" he asked her with confusion, unsure where such a nickname even came from.

"You're light on your toes, I can barely sense you. Twinkletoes." she explained the nickname briefly, before turning back to Bumi, who snickered at hearing the nickname.

"That's a good one."

* * *

Putting the last of her supplies into the bag before her, Toph sensed around her room, wondering what else she might need; she was just about ready to go and fight the Fire Nation, once again. She had done it a number of times before, and that was even before she had joined King Bumi's rebel army; fearing a bunch of people that she could easily sink into the ground was something that seemed absurd to her, so she didn't. Fighting was something that only brought excitement to her otherwise mundane life; she knew being a rebel fighter was something far more enjoyable than staying at her old home. Gaoling was boring, other than the Earth Rumble, which was postponed indefinitely after the Fire Nation occupied the town, so she had to find something fun to do with her life, away from her controlling parents, who only wanted her to sit at home while they panicked over the fact their wealth and power meant next to nothing when the Fire Nation could just seize it.

She pulled her bag over her shoulder, not thinking there was anything else she needed; all she had with her was a sleeping roll, some preserved food and a few spark rocks, knowing that she'd prefer to be by a warm fire when going through the mountains. Inside of a mountain, where New Omashu was, tended to stay around the same temperature throughout the day, but the outside world didn't have that benefit, especially on the windy slopes of mountains which she'd have to climb while heading toward the Fire Nation encampment the prisoner had indirectly told them about. She didn't for a second doubt her abilities, and neither did Bumi, who immediately approved of her suggestion to go after the Fire Nation before they had a chance to find their city. At least the soldiers in Old Omashu were afraid enough of them to not try and attack their city, but the renegades were dead set on wiping them out, from what she could tell. They didn't get prisoners very often, given the nature of earthbending; it was a powerful element, but seeing that rock was quite heavy, it was more often than not their opponents either got away or were crushed.

When she turned around to head out the door, she sensed that there was someone waiting outside of it, which intrigued her; she didn't have much friends, only comrades whom she fought with in the field, who were friendly enough, though they didn't exactly get on with a snarky fourteen year old girl. Pacing over, Toph used her earthbending to pull the door open, allowing whoever was outside to see her; she guessed they would address her, and thus, give away their identity.

"Hi, uh, Toph, was it?" she heard the person ask her, Toph recognising their voice as belonging to one of the Freedom Fighters, Jet, who she had encountered a little earlier than day; she knew of them prior to that, but she wasn't friends with them, as she found them to be a little too cliquey for her taste.

"What are you doing at my apartment?" she simply asked him, the teenager tensing up slightly before he gestured down the tunnel.

"Uh, Katara was asking about where you were... we're going to go fight the Fire Nation together." he explained himself, to which she simply stood forward pointing at him with a suspicious finger; even if he hadn't lied to her, she found it a little odd that he had showed up at her place out of the blue.

"Why'd you come here instead of her?" she asked him, the Freedom Fighter scratching the back of his head.

"Uh, she went off to find her brother... and his girlfriend, I think." he explained himself, "So she told me to find you, to make sure you were coming along."

"Of course I am. I was the one who got the information out of the Fire Nation scout some guys captured this morning." she pointed her thumb at her chest, "Why are you coming? You're just a scrawny non-bender. I doubt you'd be able to take on some actual Fire Nation soldiers."

"I can fight." he defiantly declared, his heartbeat getting a little faster, "It's not like you've seen me fight." he crossed his arms, making her snicker with amusement; she was riling him up, and he had given her good bait.

"Okay, two things. One: I can't see." she gestured to her eyes, before pointing toward him, "And two: I could sense you and your gang sparring with Katara earlier. All show, not enough push." she critiqued him, Jet crossing his arms as he turned his head away; she couldn't exactly read his facial movements, but she guessed he was trying to visibly express his annoyance.

"Okay... fine." he simply grumbled, before he pointed down the hallway, "Wanna head back to the training area? That's where everybody's mustering." he suggested, Toph raising a brow at him before nodding.

"Yep." she simply responded, "That's where I was going." she explained, before beginning to walk down the tunnel, the Freedom Fighter walking slightly ahead of her; as she guessed, he began to speak to her, obviously not wanting a good few minutes of awkward silence before they arrived at their destination.

"So, uh, you can sense everything with your feet?" he asked her, sounding a little uncertain of said fact; when she considered it, she noted that she couldn't sense everything, but as long as she was on solid ground, she was able to sense almost everything, irrespective of distance, though most things were drowned out by noise over longer distances.

"Most things." she clarified, "I can't see everything, especially when whatever's beneath my feet isn't made of earth." she admitted, the Freedom Fighter remaining silent for a few moments before he spoke once again.

"That's an interesting ability." he admitted, "Is that how you're able to knock out everyone else really quickly?"

"That's exactly why. As long as somebody's feet on the ground, I can beat them." she declared confidently, making the boy beside her snicker with amusement.

"I'd like to see that for real." he acknowledged, Toph cracking her knuckles before smirking.

"Oh, if you stick around me, you'll see it happen quickly enough." she declared, before she considered the skills of the boy beside her, "So what can you do other than swing those weird swords around?"

"Strategise, sneak around, and lead." he declared with as confident a tone as she had spoken of her bending; the boy before her was quite cocky, not unlike herself, though his heartbeat suggested he felt no doubt in his words.

"Sound pretty sure of yourself." she observed, "Are you the leader of your gang?"

"Uh... I guess you could call me that." he acknowledged with little uncertainty in his voice, "That's what I've been doing for a long time now."

"So you like to boss people around... fair, I do too, but I'm not really into forcing everyone to kiss my feet, I'd like them to choose that option." she grinned at him, the boy only responding with a snort.

"Really? I mean, you could challenge everyone to fights. That'd probably go in your favour. I've seen what you can do to other earthbenders... I'm sure the Fire Nation wouldn't stand a chance against you."

"They don't." she told him as a matter of fact, "Where did you and your gang even come from, anyway? You're... relatively new." she observed, remembering that the Freedom Fighters had only shown up about three months prior, while she had been living in New Omashu and fighting for their cause for more than a year.

"Ba Sing Se." he clarified, "We weren't from there originally. Moved there two years ago, just before the Fire Nation conquered it." he explained, his heartbeat rising, "We wanted to try and help the people there rise up against them, but... it didn't turn out the way I'd hoped."

"I mean... that whole city's a mess." she admitted, going off what she knew of the place; she had visited a few times with her parents before the Earth Kingdom fell, and all she thought of the place was its tight rules and rather extreme class distinctions.

"I know." he agreed, "But then Sokka happened." he admitted, making her raise a brow; she knew that he knew the Water Tribe teen, but she didn't actually know what had transpired, nor what had led to him 'giving him death threats', as Katara had phrased it.

"Yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about." she admitted, "You guys were talking about it earlier, but I was only there to hear the funny part."

"He was working for the Fire Nation." he clarified, making he snort with amusement.

"Seriously? That guy? Why would he even do that?"

"To save his own skin, supposedly." he explained, before narrowing his eyes, "Supposedly he was shipwrecked with the Fire Nation Princess, and then she recruited him."

"Wait, the dead one?" she raised a brow, remembering rumours about the current Fire Lord having killed his sister; those were just rumours, but she had still heard a few things about her going missing or being presumed dead, so she was surprised to hear that Sokka, who was with the Avatar, had anything to do with her.

"I'm unsure if she's dead." he admitted his own opinion, "But yeah, her." he clarified, "Bato, Sokka, and the other Water Tribe warriors were going to capture her, but they got shipwrecked. That was months ago now, but I'm pretty sure Sokka went off with her after we all met up."

"Did you ever meet this Princess?" she asked, the Freedom Fighter shaking his head.

"Nope." he admitted, "Never wanted to. Sounded like a manipulative arsehole to me. I'm just glad the Fire Lord we're having to deal with isn't as bad as I guess she would have been."

Toph furrowed a brow for a moment, thinking back what she knew about the Avatar and his friends, and still felt completely dumbstruck how there could be some kind of association between the former Crown Princess of the Fire Nation and the Avatar, all through one guy, who didn't seem exceptional in any way. She knew she was missing something, but without going anything short of interrogating Aang and his friends, she was unsure whether she'd find that link anytime soon.

"So, where were you before Ba Sing Se then? Running around trying to fight the Fire Nation?"

"I used to live in a forest." he explained simply, making her raise a brow.

"Like... in the trees?" she asked, unsure exactly how living in a forest would work.

"Yeah, in the trees. We stole from and fought the Fire Nation for years. There were a lot more of us back then. Most left when we were forced out."

"Did they burn down your forest?" Toph guessed, the Freedom Fighter shaking his head, his heartbeat growing faster by the second.

"No. They hunted us down. We had to run away, and Ba Sing Se was where we ended up." he explained, Toph raising a brow as she considered his words; she was unsure what they could have done personally to be hunted down by the Fire Nation, seeing that there weren't that many of them to begin with.

"What'd you do for that to happen?" she asked him, the boy's heartbeat getting even more erratic.

"I can't talk about it." he simply explained, "We did things."

"We're doing things right now. Fighting the Fire Nation is our job." she simply told him, the boy's unease still showing, even if he was tensing his strides; still trying to act cocky and tough even if he was obviously worried about something.

"It wasn't like that." he told her with a darker tone, before clearing his throat, "Why are you here then? Did you have to run away from the Fire Nation as well?"

"Yeah." she lied, knowing that even if she had been fleeing the Fire Nation at some points, she left Gaoling because of her parents and their controlling behaviours, not because of the Fire Nation occupation, "The Fire Nation occupied my hometown- things changed. I had to leave." she explained more truthfully, even if she was being vague; she didn't want to outright lie to the boy before her, even if she didn't feel comfortable discussing her own reasons.

"Yeah... that is what happens." Jet acknowledged, his heartbeat rising once again; whatever had happened to him, to make him into the Freedom Fighter that stood beside her, she knew that it must have been traumatic, probably a lot worse than any controlling parents could ever be, "So, how far away is this Fire Nation camp?"

"Two days, I think." she admitted, before she pursed her lips upward, remembering that unlike the Fire Nation soldiers who came to find them, she had the ability to dig through a mountain to save time, if need be, "But I bet if we have enough earthbenders, we'll be able to dig ourselves a path and get there quicker."

"Huh, that sounds a lot better than climbing some mountains." he conceded with a tone of relief, "You ready to kick some ash-maker arse?"

"Of course." she grinned, "But we won't get any action for a while, which is a good thing. If these guys were camped right nearby, I'd be a lot more worried about them attacking."

"What about Old Omashu? You think the real Fire Nation's going to try anything?"

"They haven't attacked us since the new Fire Lord got in power. I think they'll stay behind their walls and hope we don't come for them."

"We're gonna." he declared confidently, "One day, the Earth Kingdom will be free from their grimy hands, and we'll be safe."

"That's the idea." she nodded, before furrowing her brow, considering what they had already done so far.

She didn't know the plans that King Bumi had, but that was rather because she had never bothered to ask him, only knowing the principle that the rebels had organised to fend off Fire Nation forces; ever since the Fire Nation shat itself into a thousand pieces, they hadn't fought the Fire Nation proper. That was the part ruled by Fire Lord Zuko, who to the best of her knowledge, was an eighteen year old running an entire country, who supposedly wanted peace; despite those claims, she had never heard or seen anything to suggest that he was anywhere near close to achieving it. As they turned around the next corner, they arrived at the training area, where she could already sense a number of people waiting, recognising the heart beats of Katara and Aang distinctively, noticing them standing by Jet's Freedom Fighters.

"Jet, you're back!" she heard the voice of the girl she remembered to be called Smellerbee.

"And Toph's here too." Aang acknowledged her, before he stepped closer toward her, "I'm happy that you're coming along." he explained, the earthbender cocking a smirk.

"I wouldn't miss the chance to kick some firebender butts." she assured him, cracking her knuckles, "Where's Sokka and his girlfriend- uh- Saila, that was her name, right?" she asked, actually still unsure whether it was her name, seeing that everyone seemed to be lying when referring to her.

"Uh, they'll be around soon enough. I went to the apartment before to find them, but all I got was a shout." the young Air Nomad explained to her, making her raise a brow with thought.

"Huh, so an angry shout?" she prodded him, the young Avatar making a confused mumble for a few moments before he responded properly.

"Uh, yeah. I guess it was angry." he admitted, sounding rather confused as to whether that had been the case, "I'm sure they'll be here. I don't want to go off without them."

"So, what's the big plan, Twinkletoes?" she asked him, hearing a snicker out of Katara after she heard his nickname.

"Urgh..." he groaned, obviously embarrassed, which only set it in stone; she'd refer to him by that moniker until she could think of an even funnier one, "We're going to scout out this base on Appa, because he'll be able to get there quicker. I can give you the details, so then you won't go running over with no idea."

"How considerate." she quipped sarcastically, "So, is it going to be just you?" he asked, the Avatar shaking his head.

"No, I'm pretty sure Sokka and Saila can help me." he clarified, before his voice grew more confident, "Actually, I think there's something that'll really help us. Katara, remember that extra bag Sokka brought along?"

"You mean the... oh..." the Water Tribe girl mumbled with realisation, "We've got something that'll help a lot with scouting out that camp."

"What is it?" Jet stepped closer, his voice sounding his curiosity on the matter, "A way to help you sneak around? Like smoke bombs or something?" he guessed, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head.

"No, no, we have a disguise. A Fire Nation disguise, actually." she clarified, making Toph chuckle.

"So you want to trick the Fire Nation into thinking one of us is a Fire Nation soldier?" she asked, Katara giving her a resolute nod.

"Exactly. Sokka's done it before, actually." she explained, making Toph grin, now curious about another story that the Water Tribe teen might be able to tell her.

"Okay, that's another story I've gotta hear." she grinned, only receiving raised hands in response, which was disappointing to say the least.

"Uh... maybe another time." she refused, before the young Avatar beside her spoke up.

"So, your earthbending senses, what's their range?"

"It goes on indefinitely, but it becomes harder to distinguish smaller things over distances." she clarified, before raising a finger to her chin, "I don't know how far it goes, because I've only really ever used it on my immediate surroundings."

"Could you just attack the Fire Nation from afar without getting yourself in danger?"

"What'd be the fun in that?" she quipped in response with a smirk, knowing that even if he had a good point, she wouldn't ignore the chance to have a good fight.

"She does have a good point." Smellerbee piped up, cracking her knuckles as she made an aggressive looking stance, "Beating ash-maker butts is our whole deal."

"Well, we've got to actually find the firebenders to beat first." Katara noted, the Avatar clearing his throat, jabbing his staff into the ground beside him.

"We're going to beat them... that means we're going to make them run away, not... well, you know." he clarified, Jet stepping closer, his heartbeat rising once more; Toph was pretty sure the Air Nomad's pacifism was something that conflicted with his own worldview, even before he began to grumble.

"Well, what else do you expect us to do? The Fire Nation is relentless. They'll destroy everyone and everything unless we put an end to them." he argued with a clearly aggrieved tone.

Aang's own heartbeat rose up with the Freedom Fighter's tone, suggesting that, despite the fact the boy who was getting annoyed with him was a non-bender, he was getting nervous and worried; she was amused by this, but also a little concerned, given that the Avatar of all people shouldn't be afraid of a mere teenager with swords.

"Well... uh... we can scare them away." he suggested, the Freedom Fighter stepping even closer to the Avatar.

"How are-" he began to question, before somebody spoke over him from behind Toph, who had to realign her seismic sense to figure out who had just shown up.

"It's quite simple, actually." she heard Saila speak up, the earthbender turning around to face her and Sokka, who had both arrived in the mustering area, "We trick them into a false sense of security, and then... when the perfect moment arises, we strike hard, without any mercy." she hammered her hand into her palm, her voice exuding confidence that she didn't think was possible; she also took note that she wasn't lying when she spoke, which she remembered for future reference, considering the whole fake name issue.

Sensing around her, she noticed that the heartbeats of both Aang and Katara grew faster, but also Jet's, though she didn't know why; she guessed that maybe he was impressed with her speech, or more amusingly, found her attractive, something Toph couldn't verify, given the fact she was blind.

"Uh... so you must be Saila." Jet addressed her, the girl nodding, her heartbeat remaining steady.

"That's me." she simply responded, her heartbeat remaining steady, making Toph raise a brow with confusion; if she wasn't lying about her name, then she had no idea why the others had gotten so nervous about the topic back when they first met.

"Oh, you missed the Aang's great idea." Katara piped up, catching the new arrivals' attention, "We can use that disguise you have to scout out the Fire Nation camp when we get to it."

"So that's what we're doing?" Sokka noted, his voice sounding rather annoyed by the news, "Aang, you were pretty vague when you said 'we're having a meeting in the training hall'." he acknowledged, making Toph raise a brow with surprise, realising how out of the blue Saila's advice had been.

"Wow, so you just gave us that quick strategy without knowing what was going on?" she asked her with as restrained a voice as possible; Toph didn't want to give off the fact she was in awe of her, without even having seen her fight, which was a first for her.

"Precisely." she told her with an undoubtedly smug tone, which she didn't consider to be very arrogant given that she had just proved her wit by her prior comments, "We're going to attack some Fire Nation forces. Fire Lord Fire Nation, or Stupid Fire Nation?" she asked her, making Toph snicker, finding her comparative names of the two factions to be quite judgemental.

"Uh... 'Stupid Fire Nation'." she clarified, before grinning, "But I think the whole Fire Nation's stupid to begin with. Maybe you should come up with a better name."

The confident girl's heartbeat picked up pace, suggesting that she was unnerved by her words, though Toph didn't get why, just appreciating the fact she could make her feel such a way after her cocky entrance.

"Yeah, so, that means we're going to be fighting an under-supplied force. They probably aren't going to be much better than literal bandits." she suggested, before chuckling, "That's even easier than I thought."

"Oh, do you have any more quick strategies to offer up?" she asked, genuinely wanting to hear if she had anything else in mind.

"Not at the moment, we'll have to wait and see." she excused herself, before she turned to face her boyfriend, "Sokka, so, which one of us is getting into disguise?"

"Which one? The armour fits me, remember?" he quipped in response to her question, making her cross her arms, her ever slightly increased heartbeat telling Toph that she wasn't happy with his attitude.

"That doesn't mean you're a better actor than me." she retorted in kind, Jet stepping closer to the pair, intervening in their argument.

"Sorry, I'm confused. What are you going to do?"

"Trick these Fire Nation forces into dooming themselves." Saila quipped in return, "I'm sure that with a little trickery, they could fall nicely into a little earthbending trap laid by our friend here."

"And the other two dozen earthbending soldiers that'll be coming along with us." Toph clarified, wanting to assure her that even if she was a great earthbender, she did have a lot of back-up.

"Oh, that's even better." the other girl's voice turned almost giddy, "Well then, are we going to go do said trickery?"

"Uh... well, we need to wait for everyone to get here so we can make a plan." Aang clarified, "That's what Bumi said we were doing."

"Okay, so who's running this operation?" Saila questioned with a terse tone, suggesting she wanted to get things done as quickly as possible; that was something Toph could agree with, which made her smile.

"Yung." she clarified, "He's the go-to guy for this kind of stuff." she added, before gesturing over toward him, having distinguished his heartbeat out from the rest in the room, "He's over there if you want to talk to him about your strategies."

"I'll do just that." she assured Toph, before grabbing her boyfriend by the arm, "Come on, Sokka, we have some strategising to do."

"My third favourite thing!" he beamed brightly, making Toph roll her eyes; he was a little too lovey-dovey with her for her own taste, but that might have been because his girlfriend was so serious in contrast.

She glanced back over toward Katara, curious as to whether his attitude was always so giddy when he wasn't sleep deprived, "Is your brother usually that happy?"

"No, not really. He's usually a lot more cynical, though that's just as annoying." she conceded, before suddenly, her heartbeat sped up, "Oh, Sokka..." she mumbled his name, though Toph wasn't able to understand why she had gotten so quiet.

"So, uh, I don't think we've met properly." Aang cleared his throat, Toph taking a few moments to realise he was referring to Jet; the Freedom Fighter turned his way before responding, with a cocky voice, as she had expected.

"I'm Jet, the leader of the Freedom Fighters... and you're the Avatar."

"You can just call me Aang." he told him with a giddy voice, "Are you friends with Toph?"

"Uh, no, we just met today." he clarified, before he glanced her way, "You can be in this place and not know a lot of people."

"Yeah, I never had the... uh, privilege of meeting these interestingly clothed people." she suggested with a grin, making the Freedom Fighters groan, turning amongst themselves; Jet stepped closer to her, his voice now suspicious.

"How can you even tell our clothes are... weird." his voice softened at the last bit, obviously a little embarrassed to admit that his own attire was odd.

"They're not that weird." Katara piped up, "I think they're unique and cool." she suggested, the largest member of the group stepping over and patting her on the shoulder.

"Oh, that's kind of you Katara. We put a lot of effort into our clothes." he told her with a bright and happy tone, which given his deep voice, was rather amusing for Toph to hear.

"I wouldn't say the same about you." Jet spoke up, "Your clothes are pretty... drab. It's just two tunics on top of each other."

"Yep." she cocked a smirk, "It's comfortable, and I don't care what you think because I'm blind!"

"I mean, comfy clothes are the best kind of clothes." Aang agreed with her, before he turned to address the Freedom fighters, "You guys look like you've been through a lot of fighting with that armour." he suggested with a point, Smellerbee raising her fist into the air.

"Yeah, we have. Nobody messes with us without getting beat." she told him with a confident tone, though it was more threatening than cocky, unlike the leader of the group.

"Well, well, if you think you're all so experienced, how about you try and fight me?" Toph suggested, making the heartbeats of the Freedom Fighters grow a lot faster than they were before; they were afraid of her, and with good reason.

"Uh... I don't know if we could beat you." Smellerbee admitted, her nervous voice a stark contrast to her previously confident one.

"We could try, though." Jet admitted, before raising his hand into the air, "Everybody move back. We're gonna spar!" he shouted out, catching the attention of a few other rebels who were standing around, who as requested, moved back as the Freedom Fighters got into form; Aang and Katara stepped off to the side, both of their heartbeats suggesting that they were nervous about what was about to go down.

"Oh, this is gonna be hilarious." she mumbled to herself, unable to hold back a grin; she straightened her expression as well as she could, pointing toward her opponents, "Are you ready to face the might of the Blind Bandit?"

"Bring it!" Smellerbee demanded, drawing out two weapons from her belt; Toph could sense that they were daggers, and she could sense a few more on her body.

Instead of waiting for her opponents to move, she decided that she'd first scare them a little, seeing that she didn't want to simply sink her opponents into the ground and be done with the fight. Raising her left hand up, she deformed the ground underneath Longshot, making him jump up and out of the way, all while she moved her hand along, throwing a few of them off their feet as the ground became misshapen below them. Smellerbee and Jet both raced at her as soon as she moved her hand across, Toph, throwing up a wall just as they were about to reach her; the sound of them running face-first into solid rock made her cackle.

"Ow!" Jet grunted, before Toph bent the wall forward, pushing the pair back to where they started.

Sensing to her left, she took note of Longshot drawing out an arrow and aiming it at her; at the moment he released the arrow from his grip, she raised her left hand, creating a pillar which caught said arrow. She sensed another two Freedom Fighters coming at her in the most odd fashion, with one on the shoulders of the other; Toph simply aimed a few pillars to knock the larger one off his feet, but suddenly, she could no longer sense the smaller one. Instinctively, she guessed he was about to jump on her and formed a shield of rock around herself. Sensing his feet collide with her makeshift armour, she chuckled, impressed by the boy's drive. When she released the armour, she sent the rocks at him, using them to ensnare the boy, who cried out with fear.

"Ah! I'm trapped!" he called out, his high-pitched voice indicating that he was a lot younger than the other Freedom Fighters she was facing.

She sensed to her left, feeling once again Longshot drawing out an arrow; she flicked her left hand upward, throwing him off of his feet and onto his back. Though she wanted to laugh, she was immediately forced to draw her attention back to Smellerbee and Jet, who were racing right toward her; before she could use her bending to trip them, they jumped into the air, obviously guessing what move she was going to make. She reformed her rock armour, this time letting it fit more tightly to her body, blocking the daggers and swords that came her way, though the hooks at the end of Jet's swords were able to rip off the rocks on her arms. Though his more made her own heartbeat grow faster, she didn't relent to keep her own moves going, taking a form where she moved her hands up and then together, creating a few pillars on either side of herself, and using them to knock her opponents back. They grunted audibly, indicating that her moves were working, before she continued by thrusting her left foot forward, creating a wave through the ground which threw the two of them backward. She sensed the biggest member of the group throwing down a hammer at her, Toph's fist forming a pillar beside her which caught the end of her opponent's weapon.

"Too slow!" she grinned, before using her right hand to create another pillar which struck the Freedom Fighter square in the gut.

She then dropped her hand, flattening out all the debris she had created with her earthbending, taking note that Longshot and Smellerbee were both about to attack her at the same time; she clenched her right fist, creating a pillar, before firing it at Smellerbee, knocking her off her feet, right into the archer, who was about to fire an arrow at her. He was quick enough that he still succeeded, but even then, Toph had already reformed her earthen armour to protect herself.

She shrugged off the arrow, which pierced her rock covered shoulder, before she grinned, "Anybody going to hit me?" she quipped, before she heard Jet call out to her, his heartbeat suggesting that he was hyped up for the fight.

"I am." he declared with a determined voice, charging at her with his hook swords; before she could create a pillar to strike him down, the Freedom Fighter jumped on the one she created to hit Smellerbee a few moments, momentarily masking his position.

Instead of cowering, she formed three pillars at her feet, firing them up diagonally into the air; she heard the sound of feet landing, and then sensed Jet, who seemed to have, from the sound his swords made, destroyed the rock she sent his way. She then grasped his left foot with her bending, dragging it into the ground; even with his foot ensnared, he was still able to lunge forward, striking her shoulder with his sword, breaking the rock covering her face and chest. She grit her teeth, knowing she had to end their fight then and there. Using her still covered hand, she grasped one of his swords; he tried to hit her with the other one, but because she had deduced where it was coming from, Toph simply bent a pillar right in front of her, striking the sword out of his hand.

"Crap." Jet mumbled, before he struck down by another pillar, this time clipping his chest; as he fell down to the ground, Toph grinned at her defeated opponents, sensing that even if they were recovering, none of them seemed willing to fight her.

"I would call that a conclusive victory for the Blind Bandit." she declared, sensing Aang clapping behind her.

"That was awesome, Toph!" he grinned at her, "When I learn earthbending, you've gotta show me how you do all those awesome moves."

She turned his way with a smirk, realising how she could interpret his words as a suggestion they ought to spar one day, something that she was already looking forward to.

"Be careful what you wish for."

* * *

Striding down the tunnels of New Omashu, Sokka felt like he was in a pretty good mood; he knew it might have had something to do with what he had been doing before being interrupted by Aang, who had informed he and Azula of the intention of the rebels to attack a group of Fire Nation soldiers. It was only when he had spoken to Yung, the leader of the fighting force, that he found out their opponents had been seeking out New Omashu, and were not, in fact, loyal to Zuko, but rather in opposition to him. He thought that this might have aggravated his girlfriend, who wanted to gather her own allies against her brother, but instead, she seemed to be fine with it; though he couldn't understand her thought process exactly, he guessed that it might have had something to do with the priorities she held. Earning the trust of King Bumi, and indirectly, the Earth Kingdom itself, was something she needed over a few soldiers who wanted to destroy the city he was currently walking through.

"So, you seemed eager to talk about fighting the Fire Nation with Yung." he observed, catching his girlfriend's attention, her eyes having, until that moment, been focused ahead of them.

She seemed to be momentarily startled by his words, but her expression straightened as she began to speak, "I know what I need to do, Sokka." she simply told him, "Even if I'd prefer to use these rebels for my own desires, I know this is the right decision."

"To defend the Earth Kingdom?" he asked her, confused as to what aspect of her action she actually considered to be righteous.

"No. To ensure that the Avatar is respected and feared by the world." she declared confidently, her eyes momentarily glancing back to Aang, who was chatting away with Katara not too far behind them, "He is a weapon- not just in the sense that he can glow and destroy things like some kind of god, but because he is an icon. The Avatar has been gone for a hundred years, and he has shown up right in time to establish peace."

"Is everyone really going to be that afraid of him?" he asked her, skeptical that Aang, a twelve-year-old airbender who was a self-declared pacifist, could inspire fear into the Fire Nation.

"Eventually... yes." she raised her chin up, her eyes shimmering with dread, "You saw what he did at the Southern Air Temple. If Katara hadn't calmed him down, he could have destroyed the whole place."

"You don't expect him to go like that all the time, do you?" he asked her with an uneasy voice, thinking about what might happen the next time his abilities were activated.

"I'm guessing his Avatar abilities are activated when he's in mortal danger or extreme distress; fighting a whole division of Fire Nation soldiers is sure going to get him in mortal danger." she raised a finger, speaking as quietly as she could, not wanting to alert the young Air Nomad himself; he was more than capable of taking care of himself, but that didn't mean they would be safe going to fight the Fire Nation.

Sokka turned his eyes forward, thinking about what they were actually intending to do, "Are you sure we're going to be able to control... it?"

"The Avatar spirit is powerful, but... it has a purpose; there's a reason every person born the Avatar does their 'duties', and I'm guessing it has something to do with that spirit." she admitted, sounding rather unsure of herself; neither of them knew enough about what Aang could do, and why he could do it, to really make any judgement on the matter.

"Let's just hope it's as well-intended as Aang... otherwise we might have a bit of a problem on our hands." he conceded, before his eyes turned ahead of them once more, taking note that they had once again reached their apartment, "Let's go get our things, and then we can get going."

"That's the idea." the Princess agreed with him, before raising a brow, "We cleaned up, right?"

"Uh, yeah. I didn't just leave my clothes all over the floor... did you?" he asked her, Azula shaking her head, before she chuckled.

"Sokka, I do everything perfectly. Did you forget that?" she quipped, making him rub the back of his scalp awkwardly, thinking about all the things he knew about her, both intriguing and mundane.

"No. I'm... uh- knowledgeable on your habits." he noted, before pursing his lips upward, "You are very clean." he took note of one of her many virtues, which despite what his sister might have thought, greatly outweighed her more undesirable traits.

"And you're not. We complement each other in the worst ways, sometimes." she admitted with a humoured tone, Sokka wincing at her insult, even if he knew it was truthful.

"I try my best." he argued, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"The only thing organised about you is your schedule." she retorted, before scrunching her lips, "Which is.... exceptionally organised."

"Yeah, who calculated how long it ought to take us to get to the North Pole? Me." he grinned, gesturing to his sternum with his thumb.

He remembered back to how proud of himself he had been when looking over the maps and comparing it with their actual travel times to calculate how long it would take to reach the North Pole, their ultimate destination.

"And just how many days behind schedule are we now?" she asked him, the Water Tribe teen raising his right hand as he counted on his fingers the days they had spent not travelling.

"About four days. Kyoshi Island... that didn't help us... at all." he conceded, his eyes dropping down as he thought back to their flight of disgrace from the island, and the eyes of all the villagers on them, suspicious of, if not despising them, all for associating with Azula.

"I know." she narrowed her eyes as they approached the doorway, the Princess stepping forward to open it up, pushing the door inward to reveal their apartment; the whole room was lit up dimly by a few candles, a number of which were lying on the floor, around where their bed was.

"Uh... maybe we should move those." he gestured to the candles, Azula nodding, raising her left hand to cover her flushed red cheeks, obviously thinking back to what they had been doing.

"Of course, we can't have you-know-who barraging us with questions." she suggested, referring obviously to his sister, as Aang was clearly too young to understand the things they did together.

He wasn't at the age where he could make fun of them, which Katara certainly was, something that his girlfriend understandably feared. He paced into the room, scooping up two candles in his hands, taking them over to the nearby table, while Azula grabbed a few more, snuffing out the flames in the process. As the other two paced into the room, they looked at them with slight confusion.

The young Avatar gestured to the candles as they picked them up, "We're not going to bring candles with us, are we?"

"No." Azula assured him, "We're just cleaning up before we leave." she told him truthfully, ignoring the fact of why there were candles all around their bed in the first place.

Sokka picked up another two candles, placing them over on the kitchen bench where Katara had made them breakfast earlier that morning; he glanced around the room, thinking what he might need for their short trip. Other than food, which was obvious enough, he considered what other supplies he might need; seeing that they were going to be assaulting a Fire Nation camp, and not a fortress of some kind, he guessed that things like climbing rope and hooks wouldn't be necessary, and that potential challenges that he might face could be just as easily dealt with by his bender allies. Azula's firebending along with the strength of a good dozen or more earthbenders would be something he could rely on, even if he didn't exactly know or trust the latter. He paced over to his own bag, checking what was inside it; it only had a few bits of food wrapped up at the bottom, as well his parka, which given the weather outside, wasn't something he needed at that very moment.

"Have you got everything you need?" Aang asked him, the Water Tribe teen nodding.

"Yep. I just need to grab my weapons." he clarified, kneeling over to reach under the bed, where he had thrown his weapons after returning back to the room with Azula; he pulled out his club and machete, taking the former and slinging it over his back, while sliding the latter into his belt.

He then grabbed his sheathed boomerang, which was sitting on the small stone table beside the bed, before he slung it over his back, letting it hang beside his club. Turning to face the others, who were all ready, from what he could tell, he smiled, confident that they could immediately set off on Appa's back.

"Now the lazy one's ready, we can all go." Azula mocked him, before gesturing toward the door, pacing toward it, quickly followed by Aang and Katara, who had quickly gotten their own things ready.

Sokka rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's comment before following the rest of his friends out the door, blowing out the last of the candles as he did so, leaving the room shrouded in darkness. As he stepped out of the doorway, he pulled the door shut, before he increased his pace to follow after the others, who were already walking on down toward Appa. He paced past Aang and Katara, who weren't surprised that he was heading right back to walk beside his girlfriend, who looked at him, almost snidely as he reached her.

"Attached at the hip, are we?" she quipped, the Water Tribesman keeping up his smile; though he did spend a lot of time with her, he didn't do so because he felt obligated to, but because he genuinely enjoyed being around her, mockery and all.

"Hey, I just enjoy your company." he argued, the Princess scrunching her lips up, before she made a small smile, silently appreciating his words.

"And I bet you like dinner more." she retorted, Sokka unable to hold back a snort of amusement.

"Closer to the truth than most your insults, I'll give you that." he conceded, knowing that he really did love a good dinner, "Starvation is a scary thing."

"It's like you've ever starved." she suggested, the Water Tribe teen narrowing his eyes in thought.

"Well, I've never starved... but those long summers while the warriors were out fighting the Fire Nation, we got pretty hungry... having to store most of our fish and seal meat for the winter night." he admitted, not remembering that time very fondly; it was hard and lonely, something that seemed to be the opposite of his current experiences, even if he was wilfully endangering himself on a daily basis.

"Is that why you're always scratching for more food?" she guessed, the Water Tribe teen raising a brow to her intriguing query.

"It's an instinct at this point." he acknowledged, realising that most of his instincts were based in his natural fears that resulted from the challenges he experienced at the South Pole.

"The most annoying instinct in the world, I say." she grinned at him, the Water Tribe teen narrowing his eyes at her, thinking of an insult to throw in return.

"Oh, like trying to set me on fire when I wake you up?" he asked her in return, the Princess looking back at him with a smug grin.

"That's only annoying if you're too slow to dodge." she retorted, forcing him into a corner; he did usually dodge her instinctive firebending, and sometimes, he would even chi-block her in return, just to make sure she didn't accidentally burn their tent down, which was another fear he held, with good reason.

"I'm quick." he assured in return, before he gestured over toward Appa, who they were quickly approaching, "Are we just going get straight on his saddle?" he asked back to Aang, whose head flicked around to face his way.

"Uh, yeah. We can just sit on the saddle while he climbs up through the tunnel, unless someone carves a hole in the mountain for us."

"You're the Avatar... but I don't think the Avatar's that special." Sokka admitted, before shrugging his shoulders; he had no issue with lying back on Appa's saddle while he walked through the tunnels to the closest exit.

He was sure that the big sky-bison would be a lot happier if he could laze about outside, but it was safer for him in the mountain than outside of it, given that the Fire Nation, whether enemy or not, would not take kindly to a flying bison in their vicinity. He turned his attention back toward Appa, making his way up to his saddle, patting the sky-bison as he reached him.

"You'll get out of this cave soon enough." he assured the sky-bison, "Then we'll have fresh air."

"Something to relieve me of your stench." Azula quipped, making Sokka self-consciously sniff at his tunic.

"Do I really smell that bad?" he mumbled, realising that she was right; his clothes, and by extension, his body, smelled rank of body odour and sweat, which, did make sense, given all the physical activity he'd been up to that morning.

"Why are you even asking, Sokka?" she rolled her eyes at him, making him chuckle smugly, appreciative of her, even if she was currently chiding himself.

"Because I love to annoy you." he declared, making her raise a finger, almost impressed by his comeback.

"Shut it." she simply told him, before she threw her bag up onto Appa's saddle; she quickly scaled up onto the saddle, jumping to grab the edge of the saddle, digging her toe tips into his thick fur.

Once she reached the top, she looked down at him with an aloof expression, reaching her hand out toward him, "Come on, we don't have all day savage." she told him, the Water Tribe teen realising that he had been looking at his girlfriend longer than he ought to have.

Grasping her hand, he let her raise him up, making the same movements she had by kicking his feet softly into the sky-bison's thick outer layer of fur. After he climbed up, he pulled his bag off and placed it at the rear of the saddle, where he always put it, before lying down, waiting for Katara and Aang to get on. Suddenly, he flinched as he felt a sudden weight on his chest; his eyes darted up and he realised that Momo had jumped on him, which wasn't the worst of it, as he then proceeded to climb onto Azula's head. Though she didn't shriek, he guessed that she was pretty close to doing so; he grasped the lemur by his belly, taking him off of her head, hearing a snicker from Katara, who climbed up to see the situation unfold.

"No, Momo. Azula's hair isn't a bed." he warned the lemur, who chittered at him, before racing down the saddle, over to the front, where Aang had just landed, using his airbending to get himself into position.

"Okay, are we all ready?" he asked the group, who nodded along silently; the young Avatar gripped Appa's reins and whipped them downward, making the sky-bison groan, "Come on boy, let's get out of this cave."

As the sky-bison began to move forward, ever so slowly, Sokka glanced over to his girlfriend, who had reclined herself on the saddle, currently in the process of pulling her hair back into place in its usual top-knot. She noticed his eyes on her, the Princess raising her chin up as she tried to ignore them.

"What's so interesting about my hair?" she simply asked him, the Water Tribe warrior shrugging his shoulders.

"It's nice looking... out or tied up." he complimented her, genuinely liking her natural hair, which made her look almost like a completely different person; her near-black locks lay down to her shoulders when out, shorter than it was before she trimmed it to disguise herself, which she had done around seven months prior.

"It's better than what it used to be." she acknowledged, before grimacing slightly, "I can't believe I let you persuade me to cut my hair."

"Emphasis on the word persuade." he smirked at her, making her realise that she just said his argument to cut her hair short was good, even if she hadn't intended.

He liked the shorter cut as well, thinking it framed her face nicely, though she had her fair share of complaints, the only positive she stated was that she looked less like her mother, which was a little unusual of her to say. He guessed that her mother looked quite similar to her, which made sense, since children tend to resemble their parents; that was something he had gotten from his grandmother a number of times since he grew his hair out, seeing that he currently looked quite similar to his father.

"I wonder what Aang would look like with hair." Katara commented, intervening in their conversation and catching the attention of the young Air Nomad, who self-consciously touched his scalp.

"Shaving your head is an ancient Air Nomad tradition. Supposedly it helps with airbending." he explained, making Azula raise a brow at him skeptically.

"Really?" she asked, the Avatars shrugging his shoulders.

"Eh, I don't know. I've always been bald." he explained, making the Princess furrow a brow.

"If you wanted to disguise yourself better, you could stop shaving your hair." she suggested, the Avatar cringing at her and shaking her head.

"I don't think I need to do that." he responded, obviously determined to keep his head-hair as it was, that being non-existent.

"Your choice. But when you start getting recognised everywhere we go, I will tell you I told you so." she warned him with a smug grin, before she turned back to Sokka, "I am right." she reaffirmed her statement, to which he nodded.

"You are." he agreed, "Sooner or later, everyone's going to know what the Avatar looks like. Even if most of the people we meet are friendly, there's still a danger of running into Fire Nation people that want to..." he explained, turning to Aang with an uneasy look, "uh, get rid of you."

"Well... not yet." Aang piped up, tapping his scalp, "Until then, I'll proudly wear my tattoos."

The Princess made an exasperated breath, arching her head back with an annoyed look in her eye; she thought Aang was thinking recklessly, but she was defeated by the simplicity of the argument. She couldn't make the Avatar believe he was putting himself in danger until they were actually in danger.

"Don't worry." he assured her as he lay down beside her, "If we're the ones kicking butts, they'll just run away instead of trying to capture Aang."

"Huh, that is a good point." she conceded, smiling at him with a regained confidence, "You're in luck because we're just about to go do that."

"Uh, yeah, that's what we're doing." he noted with an awkward voice, having said what he did because he knew what they were about to do.

Even if they were stopping the Fire Nation from attacking New Omashu, the actual outcome would be scaring them and making them worry about the Avatar; it was both an effective tool against their morale, as well as distracting them from their actual intentions, that being maintaining control over the Earth Kingdom.

"What are we going to do while we wait?" he asked them, realising that he would get bored pretty quickly just sitting on Appa's saddle while it was the middle of the day.

"What, for the few hours it'll take us to the Fire Nation camp?" Katara retorted, "Are you really bored that easily, Sokka?"

"No, I just want to be... doing something. I mean, I could sleep, but night time's for sleeping." he explained his feelings on the matter, his girlfriend raising her head up.

"How about you walk with the rest of the rebels? That'd keep you distracted... aching feet, that is." she suggested as a matter of fact, making the Water tribe teen clear his throat, thinking that was far worse than lying around on Appa's saddle.

"Yeah, I think I'll just nap." he acknowledged, "All that sparring wore me out." he added, nudging her with his elbow.

She shot him a flustered glare, turning her face away from Katara's eyes, making sures she didn't realise that she was blooming red over what they did not too long before.

She cleared her throat, before whispering to him, "Do you want your hair to be on fire?" she warned him, the Water Tribe boy raising a finger in consideration of her threat.

"Don't do it in New Omashu... otherwise I don't know if they'd let us back in." he warned her, the Princess nodding along, obviously agreeing that she ought to avoid bending in the presence of those who would obviously fear and antagonise her because of it.

"You provide a compelling argument. Your scalp is spared." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes at him, "For now."

"I'm trembling with fear." he sarcastically acknowledged her threat, the Princess crossing her arms.

"You think you're the wittiest person in the world, don't you?"

"For a matter of fact, I'm probably not... but I can still annoy you, so I'm getting there!" he grinned at Azula, who rolled her eyes at him.

"You seriously are asking to get hit." Katara commented on their conversation.

"This is normal." he waved off her warning, before yawning, putting his arms behind his head, "So, what did you all get up to while we were sparring?"

"Other than finding out about the Fire Nation scout?" Aang raised a brow, before smirking, "I nearly beat Bumi in a spar!" he declared cockily, before his expression faltered, "But... he might have been going easy on me. I dunno."

"He's a hundred and fourteen, how tough could he be?" Sokka quipped in return, the Avatar looking at him with a dead-serious, wide-eyed expression.

"Very tough. He's got muscles where I didn't even think you could get muscles." he stressed, making the Water Tribe warrior raise a brow.

"Extra strong pinkie finger?" he raised said body part into the air, making Aang chuckle..

"I'm just guessing, but I'd go with yes." he noted, before he glanced over toward Katara, "What about you? You said you'd go looking for Toph."

"I did. I saw the end of a spar she was fighting, and she... well, she beat like twelve other earthbenders at the same time." she explained, shaking her head with fear, "That girl's bending is crazy. She can see with her feet, and then use it to attack her opponents without getting anywhere near them with the flick of a wrist." she explained, imitating what Sokka guessed was an earthbending form with her hands, "Oh, yeah, then I met the Freedom Fighters." she added, making Sokka raise a brow.

"Oh, yeah, how'd you like them?"

"They were less weird than what your story made them out to be." she crossed her arms, sounding annoyed with his story-telling.

"Hey, I didn't say it was completely accurate. I have to make it an enjoyable tale to listen to." he stressed, before gesturing toward her, "But seriously, were they asking about me?"

"Uh, kind of." she noted, "We told the story about when you got drunk to Toph, who found it pretty funny."

"You didn't get up to the Jet giving me a death threat part, did you?" he asked her, afraid that would have made the whole thing a whole lot more awkward, as well as bringing up Azula, who was to everyone beside Bumi, not connected to his girlfriend 'Saila', in any way whatsoever.

"Uh... briefly." she admitted, making Azula raise her head up.

"So, did that lead to talking about me... well, you know, not-Saila." she clarified, the Water Tribe girl nodding with a slight grimace.

"Uh, yeah. Toph didn't make the connection, don't worry." she assured her, before furrowing a brow, "But that doesn't mean that the Freedom Fighters won't."

"Yeah, I know." Sokka agreed with her, "I have a feeling that they'll figure it out, probably before she has to burn down this Fire Nation campsite."

Azula raised a brow at him, clearly confused by his statement, "I wasn't going to burn it down."

"Oh, I didn't mean intentionally." he raised a finger, before smiling at her, "You're just too good at firebending."

"Back-handed compliments are for Zhao, not for you, Sokka, remember that." she warned him, reminding Sokka of that specific trait that the Admiral held.

"Hmph- okay, I won't imitate Admiral Sideburns... or is it Admiral Faceburns?" he raised a finger to his chin, wondering which nickname was more suitable, given the fact that Zhao had an unmissable scar on his left eye.

"Wait, what about face-burns?" Aang raised a brow with a slight grimace, making Sokka's eyes widen, realising that Azula hadn't relayed the full story to Aang, at least when it came to the Admiral.

"Zhao, you know, the one who... uh- what did you tell him?" he asked his girlfriend, who nodded intently.

"Yes, I did." she clarified, "He's just making fun of Admiral Zhao because of the burn he has on his face, and his sideburns."

"Bushy hair on his cheeks?" the young Avatar asked in clarification, tapping the area on his face where sideburns would be if he could grow them.

"Yep." the Water Tribe warrior nodded, before his lips formed into a smug grin, "They look pretty stupid, if you ask me."

"I've seen someone with them before." he explained, before shaking his head with a grimace, "I don't know why anyone would put the effort into growing something that weird looking."

Sokka snorted with amusement, "Neither do I!" he beamed at him with his mouth wide open, slapping his own thigh to express his happiness; making fun of Zhao was something that would never get old for him, seeing that the Admiral definitely deserved all the shame that went his way.

"Uh... back to the point." Katara caught their attention, eyeing the Princess, "You really shouldn't... well, you know, go all crazy lightning and all." she suggested, making Azula snicker, obviously considering doing just what she was told not to do.

"I just might to spite you." she raised her chin up cockily, Sokka raising a finger.

"Now, don't do stupid things for the sake of pride, that's what Admiral Faceburns did, and his armada got destroyed." he reminded her, the Princess nodding with a slightly surprised look in her eye.

"You raise a good argument, Sokka... unlike your sister." she snidely noted, making Katara grasp the sides of her own head with frustration, leaning back as she sighed.

"You just wait until I can waterbend properly, then I won't give you a chance to be such an arse." she growled at her, Azula crossing her arms and nodding along, giving her one of the most genuine smiles Sokka had seen on her face.

"I look forward to it." she smiled, his sister's eyes shimmering with confusion as she looked at the other girl, her mouth slightly agape.

"You what?" she mumbled, obviously confused by her sudden approval.

"Well, if you do that, you'll be a far more useful asset to this team. I will be glad the day you can smack me in the face with a water whip. Not that I'd let you, but if you can at least try, that will be good enough." she simply explained her reasoning, which only seemed to annoy Katara, given the implicit meaning behind her words.

"So what, I'm useless because I can't fight as good as the rest of you?" she narrowed her eyes at the Princess, who shrugged her shoulders.

"I mean, you can actually make us food and know how to gather in the wilderness." she conceded, making the other girl's expressions soften; that didn't last, however, as she continued on, "Not that those skills would save us if the Fire Nation came down on us like a swarm of vulture-hawks, but that doesn't mean they're useless."

The Water Tribe girl crossed her arms, simply addressing her brother, "Your girlfriend is an arsehole, Sokka."

"Hey now, she's the one considering our strengths and weaknesses. That's not being mean... that's being smart." he suggested, before his girlfriend eyed her.

"Your lack of bending is a weakness." she noted, before smirking slightly, "But that means our enemies will underestimate you. Firebenders will attack without realising you can remove their bending with a jab, and paralyse them with a few more."

"Uh, thanks." he smiled at her, appreciative of her compliment, no matter how derisive her first few words were.

"What about me?" Aang raised his hand up, "What am I good at?"

"You're good at distracting the enemy. Your arrows are a good target, and you're faster than anyone you'll probably ever fight." she explained her thoughts, raising a finger to her chin, "I doubt you'd be very good in a head-on duel, but that's why we're making sure you can learn the elements. You can't beat the Fire Nation with just airbending."

"The elements complement each other." he mumbled with an idle glance, before his expression brightened, "But you're right. Once I master the other three elements, I'll be able to face anybody."

"Even the Fire Lord?" Sokka raised a brow, the Princess moving her finger to his mouth to hush him.

"Sokka, you dumbass, that's not who he should be worrying about. My brother's still a coward, don't you forget that."

"Then who should I be worrying about?" Aang asked her with an understandably nervous voice.

"Oh, I think you can guess. Remember who taught my brother the technique to defeat me?"

"Your... your uncle?" he mumbled, sounding unsure of himself, Azula nodding with a confident glare.

"Yes. He's the most powerful firebender alive, or at least the most powerful one you'll ever have to face."

"But he's not trying to capture or harm Aang. Why would he need to do that?" Katara quipped in return, the Princess narrowing her eyes at her.

"Peace, Katara. Peace." she simply told her, before whipping out the map that was curled up in a bag behind her; unrolling it out on the saddle, she gestured down to the Earth Kingdom, "For all we know, right now, my brother still controls the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom, which means that, if the Earth Kingdom was to reunite, he would be in control of territory they claim to be their own."

"That doesn't mean they're going to fight." Aang argued, obviously not wanting to believe it would be possible, "They couldn't after all that's happened. Why would they?"

"Now... I don't believe that my brother would intentionally restart the Hundred Year War, but he most certainly would defend the Fire Nation from attack. What if they start winning again, pushing the Earth Kingdom back? If that happens, then we'll have to pick a side- sorry, you, Aang, you'll have to pick a side, and stop the other. Trust me... I've seen what has happened to the Earth Kingdom, and they have no chance of winning if my brother is half the man my father... is." she explained further, making Sokka sigh; he knew his girlfriend was wrong, no matter how well reasoned her arguments were.

She was making conjecture to try and argue why he should be ready to fight Iroh, someone that even he couldn't stand to fight; that man, no matter what he had done in his past, was a good one, and he was the only reason Sokka wasn't rotting away in a Fire Nation prison at that very moment.

"Calm down... Saila." he referred to her by her pseudonym, something he hadn't gotten used to yet, placing a hand on her shoulder; she flinched slightly, looking at him with annoyance.

"I am calm." she retorted, "I just want him to understand what might happen."

"That won't happen." he assured her, the Princess raising a brow at him with confusion.

"Why wouldn't that happen- if everything keeps going the way it has, there's no way the Earth Kingdom won't try and retake land from my brother." she retorted, the Water Tribe teen raising a finger.

"I will raise a counter-argument." he suggested, before glancing toward Aang and Katara, "Don't worry about Iroh... or the Fire Nation at all... really, just don't. We need to make sure there's peace, and the only way to do that is to bring peace to the Earth Kingdom."

"But the Earth Kingdom is shattered." his sister told him with a sombre tone, "Even if this rebellion works, the rest of the country is still... Fire Nation, I guess."

"Not if we do the one thing we failed to properly achieve." he argued, the Princess raising a brow at him; she was obviously intrigued by whatever he had to say, and she instinctively understood that it was going to be a good idea.

"And what would that be, Sokka?" she licked her lips, before smiling at him smugly.

"Destroying the Dai Li, and bringing the Earth King back to his rightful place." he declared, before clearing his throat, "And before you ask how... we already have one army by our side, all we need is your one."

"My one?" she looked at him with surprise, before narrowing her eyes, "The army that probably doesn't exist anymore?"

"Well, I'm sure we can get some people on side... all you need is to get their attention."

"I have a very good idea of how to do that." she suggested, making Sokka raise a brow at her.

"What is it?" he asked her, with a slightly panicked voice, not knowing at all what his girlfriend intended; to reveal herself at the wrong time could be a potentially fatal mistake, no matter how great a firebender she was.

The smug look on her face, however, suggested that she was wholly confident with herself, and her intentions, something that brought a sense of calm to Sokka; he knew he could be the only person to trust and fear her actions at the same time.

"Oh, I don't want to ruin the surprise."

* * *

Adjusting the armour piece onto her chest, Azula grunted slightly as it was tightened; the armour was still too big for her, but they had compensated by tightening it around her waist and sides. She gasped out slightly, Sokka's eyes darted up to meet her own; he was afraid- she could already see it, so she decided to remain steadfast for him. As he placed the shoulder plates over each of her triceps, he fastened them in place, the Princess smiling approvingly at his quick handiwork; it seemed forcing him to wear the armour while they travelled together had given him some time to train in getting it on and off as quickly as possible. The last time he had worn it was the day he arrived back at his village, quickly exchanging it for Water Tribe furs, not wanting to intimidate the people of his village, who were obviously unnerved by a man wearing Fire Nation armour in their village, no matter if he was one of them. She remembered how dapper he looked in the armour, smirking slightly as she looked forward to the next time she could dress him up in it, hopefully once she had returned to a position of grace. Becoming worthy of her title would require some intimidation and a lot of hard work, work which she was willing to put in, but until then, she would just be the fugitive sister of the Fire Lord, feared by all for her reputed abilities.

"Is that all good?" Sokka asked her, the Princess rising to her feet, finding it odd to be wearing Fire Nation boots once more on unfamiliar soil.

"I miss wearing real shoes." she made a small smile, the Water Tribe teen chuckling, rolling his eyes at her rather odd comment.

"And I miss my grandmother's cooking." he added in return, before he grasped her shoulders, pushing the armour plates armour a little to make sure they were properly in place.

"Wow, you look like an actual Fire Nation soldier." Aang observed with wide eyes, before he raised a finger to his chin, "Is this what you looked like when you were Crown Princess?"

"I had cleaner hair and better armour than this." she declared, before turning her eyes to her boyfriend, "I didn't get you the fanciest kind. You would have stuck out like a sore thumb."

"Oh, I know. I preferred your goons to ignore me." he admitted honestly, Azula smirking, remembering the rather antagonistic relationship that he had held with the Captain, her most senior guard.

"You didn't try hard enough." she joked, making him sigh, obviously not happy with the circumstances he had been handed.

"It's not my fault I was stuck in the same room as the guy who tried to kill my dad." he retorted, making Katara gasp out with shock.

"Sorry, what?!" she exclaimed, Aang and Sokka both shushing her, knowing that they ought to be quiet; the Water Tribe girl snarled slightly, crossing her arms with disapproval, which only furthered the Princess's amusement.

Staying quiet was the most rational choice, given that they had landed not too far away from the Fire Nation camp. She had only gotten a brief glance of it from up in the air; it was hard to see much, given that it was the middle of the night, probably approaching dawn, if the dark blue hue on to their east was indicative of anything.

"I feel like you purposefully left that bit out of your story." the Water Tribe girl glared both her and her boyfriend down, Azula raising a finger.

"You knew who the Captain was... you just didn't know he nearly killed your father... which he wasn't going to do." she clarified the fact of the matter.

As much as she had despised the Water Tribe warriors at the time, she didn't have any intention of outright having her men murder them; perhaps put them in the galleys as punishment, but nothing like outright slaughter. Thinking she would have done that made Azula shudder slightly, realising how much she had changed, or rather, how her opinion on the Southern Water Tribe had.

"He was going to interrogate him so he could find out who had sent the warriors after me." she clarified, not easing Katara's annoyance by any measure.

"So what were you going to do with them, huh?" she growled at her, Sokka standing between both of them, raising a hand as his sister to hush her.

"Please, calm down. That was a long time ago. Do you really think Azula wants Dad dead? Or to hurt any of the warriors?"

Her eyes narrowed at the Princess for a moment before she slumped her shoulders down, "No..." she mumbled with a quiet, defeated voice, "I just think Azula ought to apologise. She did still put you in a room with a guy you thought was going to kill Dad." she stressed, the Water Tribe teen grimacing slightly, before turning his eyes to Azula.

"Don't worry, I don't need an apology. I already understand why I was put with the Captain."

"To become friends?" Aang guessed, making both Azula and her boyfriend snicker, equally amused by the proposition; they did eventually become somewhat friendly, at the very least, though there was still a lot of animosity between them the last time they saw each other.

"Well, you're not far from the truth, Aang." she acknowledged, making a small smirk at her boyfriend, "I trusted the Captain as my most senior guard to be my personal enforcer. I wanted to make sure the two of them trusted each other, as I believed that the threat, which at the time I didn't understand the scope of, would threaten all of us." she explained her thoughts on the matter, making an odd feeling come up in her stomach; she remembered what it was like to be a leader, and the desire she had to return to that position only grew stronger when she thought about her feats, "Becoming comfortable with each other worked out in the end, didn't it?" she asked Sokka with a smirk, remembering how the two of them had helped beat down the Dai Li when they had attempted to capture her.

"Oh, yeah, it did." he made a similar expression, "The look on Long Feng's face was worth being stuck in a room with Mister Serious-grumpy-pants." he joked, making her snort with amusement; if her subordinate was with her at that moment, he probably would have demanded to duel Sokka for his mockery, something she would have enjoyed to watch.

Azula stretched her arms out, checking that her armour was tightened properly, before she ran her fingers through her hair; she couldn't have one hair out of place, as even if she had been raised a commoner and fought as a foot-soldier, as being dishevelled would be a great disgrace her rank. She looked down at the small belt that crossed her waist, taking note of the glinting golden buckle; it signified the rank of the wearer, which she assumed was a Captain or Major. She didn't know exactly, as she hadn't been thinking about the ranks and uniforms of Fire Nation soldiers much for the past few months. She settled on Captain, knowing that it would be a little unusual for her to walk out, an seventeen year old girl, and claim that she was a Major, a rank she'd expect on a grizzled officer of a dozen years.

"Well, I'm ready to go." Azula simply acknowledged, Sokka glancing back her way with a glint of fear in his eye; he had no reason to fear, as she could easily take care of herself- she was going into the camp for only a short while, scouting around and asking about if she could, before returning with her intelligence.

"Good luck." he simply told her with a tense mumble, Azula nodding as he remained around an arm's distance away from her; she glanced over to Katara and Aang, who both looked down at her with serious looks on their faces, or at least, as serious as they could muster.

"We'll keep watch... and if anything bad happens, don't be afraid to shoot a massive fireball into the sky. We'll pick you up." Aang suggested with a hopeful look in his eye, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him; she was glad he knew what to do in the case of an emergency, despite the fact he was the youngest of the group.

"Thanks." she made a small smile, before instinctively straightening her expression; she knew she ought to act a little tougher in front of him, as one day, it would come upon her to train him in firebending, and she would need a dutiful and fearful pupil to do just that.

Azula shook her head, realising that she shouldn't be thinking about things like training the Avatar, but rather about the stealth operation she was about to undertake; she was unarmed, and intended to imitate a Fire Nation soldier coming back from patrol. She knew she could probably use her old fake name, Zaira without arousing suspicion, knowing that it sounded Fire Nation enough that any soldier would guess it to be a real, albeit rare, name. She turned her heels, noticing Sokka raising his hand, without a word, to wave her farewell as she walked off into the distance, weakening the flame she had been holding in her hand to light up their surroundings.

She didn't know if they were very safe where they had landed, behind a rock-formation between them and the valley in which the Fire Nation encampment was situated; it quickly came into view as she strode downhill, her eyes darting about to make sure there was no one on patrol nearby, snuffing out the flames in her right palm entirely. She took note of a few flames in the distance, indicative of a pair of soldiers on patrol, though they were far enough away that they likely wouldn't spot her; that only distracted her for a moment as she moved onward, eyeing the edge of the campsite, inside of which she could see faint light coming from inside tents, as well as most distant light, probably coming from whatever communal campfires the soldiers relied upon for warmth and to cook their meals. She straightened her back, trying to seem as normal a soldier as possible; she had tied her hair up all the way into a proper topknot instead of lining her face with bangs, which she thought might be a little too suspicious, given that her appearance was probably well known amongst those that had seen the wanted posters that Bumi had spoken of. She was slightly disappointed that she hadn't gotten to see one, wanting to see how well her likeness had been depicted; she pushed that thought to the recesses of her mind, knowing she ought to remain focused.

She glanced around at the tents she walked by, hearing the light humming of soldiers snoring; most of them would be asleep at that time of day, just before dawn, when any firebender would start waking up. That was the conventional time for soldiers to rise, anyway, which made the most sense when they had so many benders in their army. She kept her eyes focused ahead of her, taking note of the nearby like of a campfire; she guessed she could sit down and gather some intelligence from whatever soldiers were around. Azula was not the greatest conversationalist, but she knew that her skills were enough to pass by campfire talk. As she came over to the campfire, she took note of three soldiers sitting by it, all of them non-bending enlistees, from the look of their armour and the helmets they had down beside them; as soon as they saw her, they straightened themselves up, obviously assuming she was an officer.

"Uh, good morning, ma'am." one of them addressed her, the Princess keeping a stern expression as she approached the campfire itself, seating herself down across from them; she tried her hardest to ignore the flames, knowing that if her bending connected to the campfire, it would incriminate her in an instant.

"Is it really that time already?" she asked them, the soldiers nodding along.

"That's what Lung said. His firebending tells him when the sun's about to rise." one of the soldiers explained before straightening his back and coughing, obviously realising that he was being awfully informal in front of someone he assumed to be an officer, "Are you alright... uh..." he began to trail off, obviously not having an immediate grasp on her rank.

"Captain." she gave her rank, "I'm Captain Zaira." she introduced herself, the soldiers nodding along silently, "Are you all ready for tomorrow... or should I say, today?"

"Of course, ma'am." one of them nodded, "Our unit is going to set off just after sunrise. We'll have the dirt-eaters in our grasps, for sure." he told her, indicating that their unit was about to go fight earthbenders, though whether he was speaking of their fast approaching allies or some other enemy, she was unsure.

"That's the confidence I like to hear." she admitted before she hammered her fist down into her open palm, "You mustn't be afraid of what may come."

"That's a good proverb." one of the soldiers murmured, before raising a brow at her, "What are you doing up, ma'am?"

"I could ask you all the same thing." she quipped in return, before narrowing her eyes, "I'm nervous." she lied, making the soldiers look amongst each other with fearful expressions.

"Yeah... I feel like that's a common feeling these days." one of the soldiers mumbled, "I thought things were looking up... but you never know. These bastards are tricky, and the traitors, they're breathing down our necks."

"You mustn't worry about them. Only on what you can do for your country." she stressed to them, hoping that her 'advice' was believable, "Then you can put your fears aside."

"Damn... did you come out here to just give us that speech?" one of the soldiers joked, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Of course not. I'm going to go meet with the other officers to discuss our operations for the day... once they wake up, that is." she explained, the soldiers nodding along, one of them pulling up a water skin and taking a swig out of it.

"Could you ask 'em when we're getting our next batch of supplies?" one of them piped up, sounding somewhat exasperated, "Sometimes I feel like I'm made of komodo-rhino and rice."

"It's better to be made of that than nothing." she warned him, the soldier's eyes glimmering with fear through the flames that sat between them, "I can ask about the supplies. I'm not sure I'll be much help... there's not much any of us can do."

"Raiding villages won't feed us... not that there is any around here." another soldier spoke up, his gruff, gravelly voice indicating to her that he was a veteran, or at least, more experienced than the young soldiers she was speaking with, "We need to take some territory back."

"That's a dangerous proposition." she admitted, giving her honest opinion at that moment, "The... traitors, no matter how weak-willed they are... they've got the numbers and the supplies."

"We just need to steal some of theirs instead of trying to conquer their cities. That'll be a little easier. Less sieges and more time to recover." one of them suggested, before sighing, "But there's not much hope, is there, Captain?"

Azula tensed up, thinking about his words for a moment; she knew that there was a future for the men before her, and she just hoped it would be one of peace, and not of needless fighting. As much as she wanted the civil war to end, and for her nation to be reunited, she knew that Aang would be the only one capable of fixing something of that magnitude; she didn't plan to disappear for good, and let the world think she was dead, just so her brother could sit on the throne, self-assured in his own arrogance. There was a lesson she sought to teach her brother, the same that he had, probably unintentionally, taught her; that one's strength did not lie in one's fortitude or wits, but their ability to make others believe in that strength- power, like any form of belief, lay where people saw it, not where it actually was.

"There's hope for victory." she lied, knowing the victory the men before her sought and the one she offered were not the same, "The Fire Nation will never be defeated... I am sure of it." she furthered, her words not a lie in the slightest; her intention in returning from the South Pole was not to bring an end to her country and all it had done.

She simply wanted a compromise, one that would ensure that her country could prosper once more, and allow it to be what it was always intended to be- a great, benevolent guiding force for the world. She wanted to rule her country with absolute authority, but not for her own gain, but for the service itself; she was dedicated to it, to the idea of being the perfect ruler, who treated her subjects with a tempered hand, and did not destroy and attack needlessly- one that waited for the opportunities, and seized them when they arose, without question. She wanted to be the woman Sokka saw her as, not the one she might have become without his insights and wisdom; to call her boyfriend wise amused her, but she knew it was true- he had an understanding of the world that softened her own, and made it more fair- more noble.

"You sound... sure of yourself." one of the soldiers mumbled, catching her attention; he was a younger one, probably around her own age, and with an uneasy look in his eye.

"I am." she confirmed his assumption, "One should never say something simply because they want to, but because they know it to be true." she told him with a determined, cold tone, the same she loved to use when talking down to pretty much anyone when she had still been Crown Princess.

"And how are you so sure, Captain?" he asked her, his eyes moving up, "Our friends... they get captured, they get killed, and for what? We haven't won. If anything, everything's gone to shit." he explained, before dropping his eyes, "I-I'm sorry if that was out of line."

"Oh, it was." she assured him, before raising her chin up, "But you have a point. The war isn't what any of us want. We're here to win... to end it." she told him, before she rose up to her feet, feeling that she had talked enough with the Fire Nation soldiers.

It felt almost comforting to speak to them, knowing that even if she was against them, they were still like her, even if they had had radically different upbringings and pasts; in the end, they all wanted the same fundamental thing- to serve their country. She felt a tinge of guilt, knowing that she was to fight them, but she knew that it was just like Yu Dao; even if they served the same purpose, they did not desire the same Fire Nation she did, let alone understand the futility of their efforts.

"I need to do my duties, as do all of you. I wish you luck today." she simply addressed the soldiers, who nodded along, none of them saluting her.

They probably thought she was too low-ranking to deserve a salute, despite the fact she was actually the Crown Princess; if they knew who she was, they'd probably be on their knees, begging for mercy. She paced away from their small campfire, making her way through the camp; she knew she had to find out more about their operations, something that would require something a little more dangerous than small talk. She made her way down along past a number of tents, taking note that there was still little activity within the campsite; Azula glanced forward, taking note of some larger tents, ones that she assumed housed one of two things- the animals the soldiers rode upon, or the ranking officers of the army. When she got closer, and took note that the tents weren't open, nor smelling of dung, she came to the conclusion that the tents belonged to the officers. This made her smile, though she straightened her expression, darting her eyes about as she tried to figure out where the commanding tent would be. The army had to be led by a general, or at least, that was what Aang had said the interrogated soldier had referred to as his leader; she wondered who the General was, and if they were somebody she had met before. She had gone to a few war meetings with her father over the years, and had met a few interesting characters, though she was unsure how many of them remained under her brother's command.

She took note of a larger, ornate tent set apart from the rest, which she assumed was the general's tent; Azula pursed her lips upward, slowly making her approach, not wanting to arouse much suspicion by running up to investigate it. She guessed she could sneak in if the general was asleep, and otherwise, she would be able to pretend she bore information on the Earth Kingdom forces that were about to attack them; false information, of course, as deceiving the enemy while learning about their intentions at the same time would be the most effective use of her time. As she came to approach the tent, she heard the sound of voices inside the tent, assuming that there was a discussion going on; it was too far away for her to hear anything specific, only muffled words that were no good for her.

She needed solid, undeniable intelligence if she wanted her little expedition to be worth it; she dropped her eyes downward for a moment, thinking of an excuse to use. The rebel forces actually intended to attack from the south via sneaking underground, so she knew she had to make a lie that would dissuade against that truth; Azula took a deep breath, trying to think what a panicked soldier might do when confronted with the potential of an enemy coming after them. She then began to race toward the tent, exaggeratedly panting as if she had been running for a longer period of time, before she barged into the tent, catching the attention of those inside. There were three men sitting down in a circle, on chairs, one of which was behind a desk; she assumed that was the General, and upon examining his features, she recognised him. General Zhang was his name, a well-renowned general who had taken part in her father's campaign to conquer Ba Sing Se; afterwards, had been assigned the duty of pacifying the central Earth Kingdom, which happened to be the most sparsely populated, and thus, hardest to control region of the country.

His eyes widened with surprise, looking up to her, along with his subordinates, "What is the meaning of this?" he asked her, the Princess straightening her posture, trying to speak in as panicked a tone as possible.

"G-General, the rebels! They're moving right toward us from the west! I- we just got back from our scouting mission." she explained to him, before raising her hands up, "We have to do some- uh- anything!" she exclaimed, one of the other officers standing up to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Please, ma'am, calm down." he tried to make her act like anything less than a panicked fool; that was exactly what she had intended, and she was glad that she had already earned their sympathies.

"You know what those savages will do." she grit her teeth, "We have to respond, before they try anything." she tried to advise him, knowing that an afraid soldier would be more willing to step the boundaries of rank; the General standing up from his seat.

"I thank you for bringing this intelligence to me as quickly as possible... uh... sorry, I don't know you personally." he conceded the fact he didn't know her rank, indicating for her to introduce herself; she did just that, bowing to him as a sign of respect.

"Captain Zaira, sir." she told him, before taking a deep breath, looking at the officers with a grimace, "You'll do something, right?"

"We will, Captain." the General assured her, "I think you need to sit down... maybe drink some water. We'll handle this." he stressed with an almost chiding tone; he didn't think she was a threat, or anything less than a panicked soldier, which made her feel more confident than ever.

One of the officers gestured to the canvas flaps which she had run through, "Come on, Captain." he directed her, Azula not refusing his directions; she was just glad that General Zhang hadn't actually recognised her, knowing that there was a chance he would have seen past her more pulled back hair and soldier's attire to see her true identity.

She was led out by the officer, who gestured to a nearby rock that sat nearby, about the right size to sit on, "You can sit down there, Captain." he told her, "We'll go get you a drink so you can set your thoughts straight."

"Th-thank you, sir." she bowed slightly, purposefully stammering to make herself seem more shaken.

She walked over to the rock and sat herself down, shaking her left leg as she moved herself into the most comfortable position she could; she wanted to look as nervous as possible, and it worked, as the General approached her once more, having just spoken with another officer, who raced off into the campsite.

"What happened, Captain?"

"M-my unit was attacked." she lied, thinking of the best reason why she'd be so afraid, "I got separated from the others, and I had to run when their earthbenders came after me. I nearly got buried alive, but l-luckily, I'm- uh- fast." she murmured, before looking him in the eye, "You'll make sure my friends- you'll make sure they're safe, General?"

He looked at her with a pitying glance, before his eyes darted up to the west, where she said she had come from, "How far away were you?"

"Not too far. We were- uh- just around the other side of that ridge." she explained, pointing up to the rough peaks that lined the western horizon.

"I'll send out a few units as soon as the sun rises, and we'll make sure the enemy isn't planning anything tricky." he assured her, "You don't have to worry, Captain, you're safe."

"R-r-really?" she looked up at him with wide eyes, the same kind she'd give her mother when she wanted something out of her; it felt unusual to be doing that in front of a grown man when she was nearly an adult herself, but it worked like a charm.

"Of course. We look out for each other in the army." he assured her, patting her on the shoulder, "When Major Shou comes back with that water for you, we can take you back to your tent. I just need to go... handle this situation. I can't have the men getting too worried when we were just about to set out on our advance." he admitted, giving Azula the intelligence she so sorely desired.

"We can still win, sir." she told him, making her voice a little more confident sounding that before, "They're not as smart as us, anyway."

"No, they're not. You got away, which means they've failed to keep their activities secret." he acknowledged, proving that he was just as well-knowledged as her about strategy, which wasn't surprising, given the fact he was a General, even if he wasn't as aged and wisened as some she had seen on her father's war councils, "That fatal mistake will be their undoing, Captain. I am sure of it." he assured her, Azula trying her best to hold back laughter; the irony of his words were hilarious, given the fact that everything she had just told him and his men were lies to spook them.

"Th-thank you, sir." she made a smile at him to try and cover her growing amusement; he looked down at her with sympathetic eyes, though she saw a glint of awareness.

Whether he recognised her or not was beside the point; it was unlikely he'd believe that she was Princess Azula, given the fact her location had been unknown, and even if the Southern Raiders had spread word of her return, she doubted that it would make the man before her believe that she was really herself, given the fact that the Crown Princess was known for her elegance, ruthlessness and high-standards. The Azula of old never would have disguised herself as a common soldier just to gain an edge on her enemies- perhaps to overthrow her enemies, as she had in Yu Dao, but not to simply gain intelligence.

"Just stay here, Captain. I'm sure the Major will be back soon... I will handle this new threat, and ensure that these dirt-eaters never pose a threat to us again." he declared with a smirk, showing off the confidence she'd expect of someone of his rank; he turned his heels, leaving her by her lonesome once more; her eyes darted around, making sure the Major, as Zhang had referred to him as, hadn't returned.

The tent was right in front of her, and she'd only need a minute to scan through his documents before she fled the campsite. Unlike earthbenders, the Fire Nation soldiers she might have to face couldn't very easily ensnare her, meaning that as long as she could keep moving, there was little chance she'd be captured, unlike two nights prior, where they had been easily captured by Toph and the other earthbenders, whose abilities and stealth made them far more of threat, in her own eyes. Azula rose to her feet, stepping lightly on her toe-tips as she paced quickly over to the opening in the canvas, entering the tent and pulling the canvas back in place as soon as she was inside; she glanced around the dimly lit tent for a moment, taking note of two candles sitting on General Zhang's desk. She could see a few documents on the table, and immediately walked over to them and picked them up; scanning over the titles, she noted that they were intelligence reports, giving information on the nearby occupied city of Omashu, or as titled in the document, New Ozai. She picked up the paper, rolled it up and held it in her left hand while her right continued to trace along each of the documents. She took note of another document detailing news from the Fire Nation homeland, which made sense, given the fact that the rebels opposing her brother did intend to eventually overthrow him, though she knew they'd do little while stuck in the Earth Kingdom. She guessed that someone like Zhao could provide the rebels with boats to attack the homeland, though she guessed he was off doing his own thing, and that was if he hadn't been captured and summarily executed by her brother.

She took a few more pieces of paper into her left hand and rolled them all up as tightly as she could before she darted to the rear of the tent, pulling up the canvas and climbing underneath, allowing herself to get out of the tent without being spotted; standing between the command tent and a few other tents, she darted over toward the others, seeking to take cover between them. She took note of the sound of shouting, which she guessed was from the soldiers being awoken, given the information she had just given the General and his men; she knew her lies would perhaps disadvantage her allies slightly, given that they no longer had the advantage of surprise, but rather of misdirection. The Fire Nation forces were under the presupposition that the Earth Kingdom rebels were on the ridge to the west of them, when in fact they'd be attacking from the south, likely when their enemies were just about to set off to face them. Before then, she had to escape the camp, lest she be forced to reveal her identity to them, which she knew would not go down well, given a number of them might genuinely want to serve her, if they had been given the opportunity.

When she reached the gap between the tents, she unfurled the scrolls out and began to glance down them, wanting to know what her enemies were getting up to. She sparked a flame in her right hand, forming a small torch on her index finger to light up the paper, which would have been very hard to read otherwise, given that it was barely dawn. She immediately took note of the fact that the General had a number of spies in Omashu, who were soldiers that had been split from his army when the civil war began in earnest, which she assumed was when she had been defeated in her Agni Kai. This kind of force was something she knew she could abuse at a later time, knowing that if she could turn Zhang's forces, loyalists to her father, into a full on revolt against her brother, that would give the Earth Kingdom rebels the prime opportunity to retake the city and for King Bumi to reassert his authority.

Reading further down the document, she also realised how the situation was faring further afield; there were other rebel commanders working in concert with Zhang to try and secure as much of the Earth Kingdom for themselves. Anti-Zuko forces as far away as the southern tip of the Earth Kingdom and the former Northern Air Temple were talking to each other, and she was surprised to see one name on the list that she recognised- Admiral Zhao, who was certainly alive, at least as of when the document was written. It stated his role to be the Admiral of the Northern Fleet, which was stationed on the north-western coast of the Earth Kingdom, not too far from the core Fire Nation colonies; the document further stated that he was continuing his efforts against the Northern Water Tribe, though at a far lower intensity than he had been prior to the beginning of the civil war.

"The bastard lives. I guess I'm cursed to have him around for a little longer." she mumbled to herself, knowing that Zhao was a bridge she had to cross at some point.

His intentions for the North Pole were something she couldn't ignore, not when she wanted to make peace, even with the cowardly Northern Water Tribe, who until a few years prior, hadn't experienced much more than a few Fire Nation patrols through their waters. She knew however, that his authority over a large portion of the Fire Navy as well as his general strategic skills were something that could still be utilised, especially given the fact she was in short supply of allies, at least those that she could trust to help her occupy the Fire Nation colonies and not 'liberate' them back to the Earth Kingdom.

She pulled out another document, one which detailed information from the homeland, which was surprisingly detailed; the most glaring detail that caught her eye was the one concerning her own father, the former Fire Lord Ozai. The document stated that he was in purportedly good health and had recovered from his past injuries received in his duel with Zuko; that was a sign that if her father intended to make any kind of move, he was probably going to do so soon. She didn't know if he could break out of prison, let alone escape the capital without being hunted down and properly finished off by her brother or uncle, both of which would certainly oppose him reaching to his supporters alive, despite their weak-willed and sometimes untenable views about duty and honour. She glanced further down and saw something that made her jaw drop; it sounded like a joke she might make herself, but it was really before her, jarringly sitting on a page that would have otherwise looked like a serious military document.

"Fire Lord Zuko is to wed Lady Mai in two months." she read it aloud, just to reassure herself that it wasn't a joke, before snickering, finding herself amused by such a suggestion; she knew that they were going to eventually elope, although it wasn't much of an elopement if he was the Fire Lord of all people.

She glanced further down the description of that specific bit of information, reading out something seemed a little more important in her own eyes, "The ceremonies are to be of prime importance to our allies in the homeland."

She pursed her lips into a smirk, wondering what their 'allies' intended to do; she had always thought that her brother was a hard boy to break, but she knew for certain that he could still be killed. When she thought of it, she was disappointed, knowing that if she wanted to see Zuko dead, it would be by her own hand; she wouldn't have someone steal the honour from her, though there was little she could do about it. She thought of her brother's big day being ruined by the chaos that the rebels intended to set off, and she couldn't help but giggle. It was the karma he deserved after what he did to her; to have something that was meant to be perfect and magnificent ruined.

"That will teach you, your majesty." she smirked deviously, before she rolled the pieces of paper back up; she momentarily raised her head up, checking about for soldiers that might have been roused from their slumber before looking over toward where Appa was- she had to get back, and do so without warning the enemy, "Now, I just need to get out of here without setting everything on fire." she acknowledged, before chuckling, realising how often it was that ended up being the case when it came to her fights.

"I'm always up for a challenge."

* * *

Waiting on Appa's saddle patiently, Katara felt nervous about what might be happening in the campsite below; she knew that Azula would do a good job at fooling the Fire Nation soldiers, but was worried that if she got found out, it might ruin their plans, and maybe even endanger their allies. She wanted to make sure, just like everyone else, that the Fire Nation forces that were looking for New Omashu never had a chance to reach it. Looking down into the dimly lit campsite, she could only hope that the darkness of dawn was enough to keep them obscured. It had been two full days since they left the city, and she knew for a fact that their allies were approaching; she and Aang had flown over not too long before to spot them out, distinguished by the few torches they held to guide them along as they travelled through the night. Her brother was peering over the saddle beside her, his own expression, barely visible, showing that he was nervous about whatever was going down in the camp.

"What if she got captured... Katara, what should we do?" he spoke up, the fear in his voice understandable.

She looked at him sympathetically, knowing that his worry was indicative of the love he held toward his girlfriend, even if he didn't usually speak about it openly to her, "We'll go break her out... though honestly, Sokka, I doubt they'd be able to."

"I mean, how could they?" Aang piped up, "You saw what she did on Kyoshi Island. She beat the Southern Raiders all by herself. These guys can't be much worse."

"There's a whole lot more of them, Aang." Sokka stressed, pointing down into the camp, "This is a whole army, and they're looking for New Omashu. I'm pretty sure somebody here's going to be able to face Azula."

"You're just being paranoid." Katara chided her brother, "Azula can kick all our butts, and all their butts, probably at the same time."

"I really should I have been the one to go use the disguise." he mumbled, playing with his fingers for a few moments before he rose up from his crouched position, moving toward the other side of the saddle, "I really..." he trailed off, the Water Tribe girl looking toward her brother with a sense of fear; his fear might get the better of him, and that wasn't going to be very helpful if they ended up getting attacked.

"Sokka." she addressed him, reaching into the bag beside her, pulling out a bit of jerky, "Just eat some jerky and sit down. We'll wait for Azula, and then we'll see how we'll deal with these Fire Nation goons."

He glanced back at the jerky, licking his lips before he forced himself to sit down again, "Bribing me, Katara... how delicious!" he grinned, taking the jerky from her hands and biting into it; his sudden positivity lasted until he swallowed his first bite, after which he glanced over toward the campsite once more, "She has to be back soon... she has to."

"Don't worry, Sokka." she assured her, placing a hand on his shoulder as she traced her eyes along the sight of the sprawling Fire Nation encampment, "She'll be back soon enough... or... well, I guess the rebels will give her a chance to get back."

"Oh..." her brother mumbled, before his eyes widened with fear, "They're not going to make a massive entrance, are they?" he questioned her with a look of dread on his face, turning to Aang as well, hoping that either of them had an answer.

She didn't have any to give her brother, not really knowing what tactics earthbenders would employ to start a fight; she had never been in a battle with them before, not counting when they had ensnared them all when they had been trying to sleep. She considered whether it would be any similar to that, but was honestly without any kind of foresight on the matter.

"I have no idea." Aang mumbled, "But if Bumi's what these guys are like... then it's going to be crazy."

"Like crazy tactics or crazy big rocks being thrown around?" the elder Water Tribe teen asked of him, the Air Nomad furrowing a brow with thought.

"Um... big rocks... but maybe they're good at strategy too. I dunno." he shrugged his shoulders, before he raised his head up, "Wait- is that Azula?" he pointed down to the campsite, gesturing to the eastern edge of it; Katara focused her eyes on it, taking note that there was a figure leaving the camp, though they weren't heading directly towards them, but rather just away from the camp.

"Maybe that's her." Sokka mumbled, before turning his eyes to the Avatar, "Maybe we should pick her up."

"I think we should stay put, Sokka." his sister suggested otherwise, "If we fly up on Appa to get her, the Fire Nation might see us. It's starting to get light out... the sun rises a lot quicker here than it does at the South Pole."

"Y-yeah... you're right." he agreed with her, grimacing slightly before he grasped his boomerang, pulling it out of its sheath, "We should be ready to go. I'm guessing the others will be here any minute."

"We are." Aang assured him, before grasping his staff off of the saddle, "We just have to wait for the... uh... whatever they're doing." he mumbled, looking uncertain as to what exactly their allies had planned; Katara knew that they were intending to strike the camp fast and overwhelm the forces as quickly as they could, as to ensure their enemies were either captured or forced to flee.

"I'm sure they'll make themselves known, Aang." Katara noted, before she turned her eyes back toward the distant figure who was almost certainly Azula; she was making her way toward the slope of the ridge they were perched on, although some distance along from their position.

She suddenly felt a slight rumbling underneath her, and for a moment she thought it might have been earthbending from a distance, though Aang chuckles suggested otherwise, "Appa? Are you hungry, buddy?" he asked the sky-bison, leaning over the edge of the saddle to look his furry friend in the eye.

Momo chittered loudly a few moments after that, his ears pointing up as he climbed up onto Sokka's back, pulling at his tunic; her brother cried out with surprise, attempting to move his arms around to pick the lemur off of his back. Though she was amused by the sight of her brother nearly squealing, she realised quickly enough that there must have been a reason behind the lemur reacting how he did. She turned her eyes over toward the campsite, taking note of fissures in the ground that were forming; she smirked, realising that was the signal she had been waiting for. Grasping her brother by the shoulder, she gestured toward the cracks in the ground as they grew bigger, spurts of dust coming out of the ground, which shook, even where they were, up on top of the ridge.

"This has to be it." her brother murmured, his expression changing to one of shock as the ground suddenly started to rise up, the fissures becoming even larger; within a few seconds, the ground began to move in a wave, almost like water, as the soil was ripped up, quickly approaching the edge of the camp.

"Okay, now would be a good time to get flying, Aang!" Sokka called on the young Avatar, who nodded, still glancing at the earthbending with awe, all of them witnessing as the camp was thrown into utter disarray, the sounds of screams and cries as the ground was ripped up from underneath the feet of those inside.

The young Air Nomad grasped the reins of the sky-bison, whipping them and calling out the signature line, "Yip! Yip!" before Appa groaned, quickly rising up into the air.

Aang steered him to make sure he flew in the direction of where Azula had been running to, all while Katara kept her eyes focused on the campsite as it was ripped up by the wave of earth; she glanced down toward the source of the attack, and took note of a line of earthbenders, backed up by non-bending soldiers in tow- the battle had only just begun, and they had every intention of winning it. Pillars of earth were formed out of the ground, and within moments, they were already being fired into the camp, destroying tents and forcing the soldiers present, who had probably until a few moments later, been soundly sleeping, to run for their lives.

"Earthbending is scarily powerful." her brother murmured, his voice nearly silenced by the wind as they flew through the air.

"I hope I can become that powerful... then we can all kick a ton of butts together." she smirked at him, Sokka's expression, which had until then been quite fearful, shifted to one of humour.

"Oh, I bet we will." he told her confidently, before his expression darkened, "There's a lot of people that Azula's going to fight."

She didn't question his words, rather drawing her attention down to the Princess herself as they approached her, still running toward them, "Hey!" she called out, her voice muffled by the distance, but still distinguished from the sound of the ground being turned into a stew of tents and soil not too far from where they were.

As soon as they reached Azula, she used her bending to blast herself up onto the saddle, looking at them with a surprised, slightly exasperated expression, "That's what they call a surprise attack?! I nearly got killed by a wave of dirt!" she grit her teeth, clearly expressing her annoyance at the circumstances.

"Did you find out anything?" Katara asked her, the Princess shooting her a spiteful glare, though she was unsure as to exactly what she'd done wrong.

"The rebels have spies everywhere, my father's definitely alive, and my brother's getting married." she explained, the expressions visibly changing from shock, to worry, and then to humour on Sokka's face.

"You're joking." he mumbled, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"I don't joke." she growled, before gesturing toward the campsite, "Now, we need to beat up these Fire Nation soldiers before they run away like a bunch of dishonourable cowards." she growled, the young Avatar who had received said command gulping with fear, abiding without question as he whipped Appa's reins once more.

They rose back up into the air as fast as they had landed, and quickly turned around to fly right toward the campsite, approaching the part of it that had not been hit by the earth wave, Aang already getting his staff ready in hand. The other three looked out toward the Earth Kingdom assault, which was led by a charge of determined earthbenders, who Katara guessed were being led by Toph; she gasped in shock as she saw another, smaller wave appear throwing soldiers down and destroying what remained of the tents in the area. As they neared the ground, the Avatar jumped up into the air, opening up his glider to fly down and deal with the threat himself; even if his fighting still was still reserved, he was more than willing to take down the Fire Nation after what he had seen them do. Katara turned to face Sokka, who looked at her with a serious expression, grasping a spear from the back of the saddle and throwing it into her hands; she caught it, tightening her grip and standing up tall, ready to fight alongside him in the battle that was growing in intensity all around them.

"Now, we win." her brother declared with a steely glare, making her instinctively think back to what their village, and the Southern Water Tribe had suffered throughout the years; what they were to do that morning, was to achieve victory against the people who desired to continue the war and the suffering that it entailed.

He glanced over to Azula, who silently nodded at him, pulling a piece of blue fabric out from one of the bags, a piece that Katara probably would have used to mend a hole in her brother's pants, and tied it around her scalp, as to distinguish herself from other Fire Nation soldiers they would be facing. She immediately jumped down from the saddle, the two Water Tribe siblings following in tow; there were a few Fire Nation soldiers racing toward them, their expressions changing to ones of confusion.

"The Water Tribe?" one of the soldiers exclaimed with confusion, "What are these snow savages doing here?!" he growled, his tone growing more annoyed; Katara pointed her spear toward him with a glare, gravely offended his words.

"Oh, you're gonna get it." she assured him, before Azula stepped forward.

"Enough posturing." she demanded, before turning her eyes to Sokka, "Take them down!" she commanded her boyfriend, who immediately threw his boomerang out, flying out past a few of the soldiers, who flinched to duck under it; he then drew out his machete, ready to deal with the soldiers the more conventional way, lest his trick fail.

When the boomerang came flying back around, it stuck one of the enemy soldiers in the neck, making the others yelp out with fear, giving the trio the opportunity to charge forward and attack them. Katara rushed at one of the soldiers, throwing her spear out to jab him in the shoulder, flinging him backward; she smirked as she was able to duck under a fireball that was thrown her way, turning around to strike the deliverer of said attack in the gut with the blunt end of her spear. Azula stepped up beside her, kicking the soldier in the head with a swift blow, before turning around and blocking a fireball that would have otherwise hit the Water Tribe girl. She smiled appreciatively at her efforts before turning around to stab one of the soldiers in the arm with her spear, making him cry out; she twisted the weapon around to further hurt him, before drawing it out, whacking him in the helmet with her pole. Though it didn't knock him out, she took advantage of his disoriented state and tripped him, which indeed knocked him out cold when he fell face first into the ground.

"Excuse me!" she heard her brother call out, Katara ducking down, her brother's club being swung out above her to hit a soldier who was aiming to tackle her.

She rose back up to her full height, kicking the soldier down when he tried to recover, before turning her attention to the growing number of Fire Nation soldiers coming their way; she grimaced, realising that it would be a challenge to take them all down, given that Azula was relenting to use her bending, probably out of fear that they might target her, being an extremely useful hostage to any Fire Nation rebels. She was relieved though to see Aang landing down between them and the approaching soldiers, spinning his staff around to create a powerful wind gust that pushed them back.

"Thanks, Aang!" Sokka grinned at him, before charging forward, throwing his boomerang once more, the weapon arcing around away from the Avatar's powerful use of airbending.

All four of them charged forward, ready to take on the enemy, who counterattacked by sending numerous fire streams their way, all standing in formation; Aang's airbending was powerful enough to hold off the attack, and Katara almost laughed when she heard the sound of one of them being hit by her brother's boomerang. Azula raced forward past the young Avatar, skidding under the fire streams to directly attack their opponents, breaking their formation, and thus giving the other three of them a chance to move in and attack.

The Water Tribe siblings charged forward together, Katara wielding her spear and Sokka his club, each of them striking at a soldier each, almost in synchronisation, before they spun around, switching opponents. She jabbed her spear into shoulder guards, struck their extremities and forced them off their feet, all while weaving around their panicked attacks, which mostly consisted of small, pitiful looking fireballs aimed at her torso. She whacked one soldier's helmet off with the blunt end of her spear, before he was knocked out cold by her brother's club hitting him in the head.

She felt the ground suddenly shaking underneath her once more, a lot more powerful than it had been over on the ridge, which made her instinctively run out of the way of what she guessed was another earthbending attack; she almost squealed as the ground was ripped up in front of her, jumping out of the way as the Fire Nation soldiers were flung off of their feet with little warning. She rolled on the ground, grunting with pain as she tried to reorient herself; Katara's eyes widened as she saw a soldier with his hands full of flames, ready to strike her. She lunged out of the way of his fire blast, and was saved by the ungraceful wall of earth that was thrown in their direction, forcing the soldier to the ground.

She readied the spear once more, not knowing where the next attack would come from; the other three were giving their opponents a quick beatdown, all while she only had her spear to deal with the fleeing enemy forces, who seemed to be still confident enough to try and fight them. She was suddenly forced off her feet by a fireball striking her in the back, making her cry out with pain as her skin was singed, the flames quickly burning through her tunic. She rolled onto her back to put out the flames, instinctively thrusting her spear forward; the head of the weapon found itself in the gut of her opponent, making him cringe with pain, his stance faltering. She realised what she had just done by stabbing him, but tried to push that thought out of her mind, drawing her weapon back as she retook a fighting stance, taking note of more soldiers coming in their direction.

With no hesitation, Sokka threw his boomerang out once more, hitting one of them square in the head, before he sprinted forward right past her, using his club to trip one of the approaching enemies over. Katara went in after her brother, using her spear to ward off their opponents as they came closer, her brother using his club to knock the Fire Nation soldiers out. Suddenly, his weapon was thrown out of his hands by a fireball, but this didn't lessen his resolve; instead he jabbed one of his opponents in the gut, not even chi-blocking them, before using them as a shield against the next fireball that came his way. The soldier cried out with pain as his chest was singed, though he was thrown forward as Katara and her brother readied themselves against three more soldiers who came their way, all non-benders.

"Come and get some!" her brother prodded them with a cocky grin, only furthering the enemies resolve as they charged in toward them.

She used her own spear to block another that came her way, forcing the weapon back before jabbing the blunt end of her own into the enemy's knee; they cried out with pain, and she didn't relent to kick him in his crotch, before blocking the next soldier's attack. He tried to stab her with his spear head, but she was able to hold it off for long enough that her brother could disable him with a few quick jabs to his torso. The enemy soldier stumbled back with fear, realising that his arms didn't work, before Katara tripped him over, making him fall back rather humorously. She and Sokka shared a laugh for a moment before their attention was drawn by a firebender, who bent a fire stream at her brother, who was flung off of his feet, groaning with pain as she was left practically defenceless against their attacker.

"Sokka!" she cried out, fearing the worst, before she grit her teeth, knowing she had to muster her own resolve; when the firebender turned to attack her, she ducked under the fireball he sent out of his palm, before she sent her spear head into the underside of his arm, ripping through his sleeve and into his actual arm.

He grit his teeth with pain, but Katara didn't give him a chance to react as she frenziedly threw her left hand out to hit him in the throat, making him cough and stumble back, unable to breathe. She knew that breathing was the source of firebending, so it wasn't very hard to use the pole of her spear to knock the firebender unconscious, now unable to defend himself. She turned back to face her brother, Katara's arms shivering, not because of the cold, but because of the fear she held as she saw him grasping at his singed tunic with a pained look on his face.

"Sokka!" she called out his name once again, her brother looking up to her with the best smile he could muster.

"Don't worry about me Katara... you gotta watch out!" his voice rose to a near scream, the Water Tribe girl ducking down, her brother's words having saved her from the fire stream that was sent her way.

As she fell on the ground beside her brother, she felt his hand grasping her own for a moment; she thought that he might have been trying to reassure her, but she glanced back at the firebender who was about to attack her again, she felt the hilt of Sokka's machete.

"Do it." he demanded of her, softly enough that it was almost as if he were begging her.

She knew exactly what he meant, and she didn't relent, knowing that protecting her brother came before any moral code she held; she wasn't Aang- she wasn't a pacifist who would die for the sake of their morals. She grit her teeth as she somersaulted backwards, dodging the next fireball that came her way, though only barely, before she lunged at the firebender who was attacking her. She grasped his left hand, which sent out another fire stream, though it was weakened by her tight grip on his wrist; before he could attack her with his right, she swung the machete down, slashing right through his wrist. Though she didn't cut off his hand or anything of the likes, it squirted out blood and freaked out her opponent; before he could try and resist she hammered the machete blade down into his thigh, making him scream out with pain.

"Argh!" he cried out, before his scream was muffled by Katara's hand grasping his face, allowing her to throw him back to the ground; though he was defeated, when she looked back to Sokka's fearful eyes, she could already tell that was not the end of it.

Her expression became panicked as she saw two other firebenders approaching, already taking forms, ready to attack her and her brother, who was at that moment trying to crawl over to retrieve his boomerang, which lay next to one of the unconscious soldiers they had already beaten. She leaned over to grasp the spear she had dropped on the ground, ready to javelin it into one of their chests if that would keep them away and keep her brother safe. She didn't know what to do at that point other than look out the other way, where she could see earthbenders fighting other remaining Fire Nation soldiers.

"Help!" she pleaded, but to no avail; she snarled slightly, knowing that she hated what she was required to do, but did it anyway.

The Fire Nation had to be defeated, she told herself, even if that required her to get her hands dirty, to save New Omashu, and every other place like it. She raced forward to meet the two firebenders, ducking under the first fireball sent her way, before she thrust the spear forward, striking one of them in the shoulder. He grunted with pain, making her expression widen with fear as she realised she hadn't made much more than a scrape across his shoulder. With no other options, she dove toward the other firebender, which allowed her to narrowly dodge his flame covered fists; her machete jammed right into his gut, making him cry out with pain- a real hit, the kind she would need to ensure the enemy was defeated. She couldn't chi-block, she couldn't waterbend properly- all she had was a machete in her hand. As she drew out the blade, she readied herself to strike him again, to either knock him out to do something worse, but didn't have the chance. At that moment, she found herself grabbed by the shoulder, pulled back, and immediately punched in the abdomen; this made her bite down on her own tongue, which in and of itself made her scream out in pain.

"Fuck you!" she cried out, not having any other word to express the pain she felt as she was thrown down to the ground.

"You're going to pay for that, savage." the soldier she had stabbed growled, his facial expressions masked by the skull-like face plate he wore on his helmet; he readied a fireball in his hand, charging it up to the point at which it lit up the area around them, forcing Katara to cover her eyes from the glare.

She feared the worst, but suddenly, the light was cut off, and she heard a thumping noise along with it; a moment later, she heard Sokka calling out mockingly to their opponents, with a cockiness she couldn't hope to match, "Eat shit, ash-maker!"

When she moved her hand away from her eyes, she saw that the injured firebender had been knocked unconscious by her brother's boomerang, which had probably struck him in the back of the neck or something of the like; that didn't, however, stop the other soldier from grasping her by the collar, filling his hand with flames as he stared her down.

"How about you eat shit?" he mockingly told her, even though her brother had been the one to mock them; as he was about to move his hand toward her, Katara's field of view was completely obscured by a flash of bright white light, and along with it, a deafening loud boom.

When the light disappeared, Katara still found that she couldn't hear a thing, other than a ringing noise in her ears, though she did see the man who was about to burn her, flung some distance away, his chest singed black and his helmet thrown off. Her eyes widened with shock, unsure what had just happened, until she turned her eyes around to see Azula, standing in what she guessed was a firebending form; she put two and two together, concluding that she must have just witnessed lightning generation, right in front of her face.

The Princess's face was cold and determined, though that expression quickly faltered as she ran over to her boyfriend's side, offering a hand to help him up, "Sokka!" she heard her call out his name, though it was hard to distinguish from the ringing noise in her ears.

"Don't worry..." she could hear her brother's voice muffled in the distance, Katara trying to get back to her feet, still pained from having been thrown around by the Fire Nation soldiers; Azula's eyes turned to her, openly showing her own fear in that moment.

"Katara, are you okay?" she asked her, sounding genuinely concerned for her, though her expression quickly shifted as she grit her teeth, sending out a fire stream right past her to strike a soldier who had been approaching her from behind.

She stiffened up with fear for a moment, before turning back to face the Fire Nation girl, "I'm alive." she simply told her, before she glanced back over to her spear, which was lying on the ground nearby the man that she presumed the Princess had just killed.

"Get my club." she heard Sokka growl, "I need to beat some more of these arseholes before I pass out."

"Stay there." Azula demanded of her boyfriend, before she took a firebending stance, "Get your spear. We're going to make sure your brother stays safe."

She looked at her weapon with a sense of regained confidence, before turning back to face the Princess, "Let's do this."

Katara didn't relent to rush forward and grasp the weapon off of the ground, looking ahead to see a few Fire Nation soldiers heading their way, although they looked more so to be fleeing; when they arrived, they saw Azula, and were obviously confused, though that didn't stop the Princess creating two fire whips in her hands, snarling at them with a rage that was hard to find with her. She was usually cold and calculating, not infuriated, wild and ready to kill.

"You're on their side?!" one of them pointed to Azula accusingly.

"Take one more step and I will fucking kill you." she declared with a snarl, before Katara tightened the grip on her spear; though she wasn't as angry as the Princess, she was certainly just as willing to protect her brother.

"Bl-blue fire!" one of them pointed to the Princess, before shaking their head, "Fuck this. She's gonna actually kill us." he simply declared, before darting in another direction, getting away from her as fast he could.

"Looks like one of you has at least half a brain." she snarled, before she threw her fire whips forward, striking one of them in the side and making them grunt with pain.

The remaining three soldiers took firebending forms to ready themselves, Katara and Azula both readying themselves for what was to come next; she glanced around, taking note of Sokka's boomerang, which lay about half-way between them and their opponents, who weren't approaching.

"This is a really stupid idea." she muttered under her breath, confusing Azula, whose expression changed to one of surprise as she darted forward to reach her brother's prized weapon before the enemy could attack her.

Her friend provided her with an ample amount of cover by sending two fire streams out toward their enemies, which Katara was able to lunge under before reaching the boomerang. She rolled on the ground for a moment as she grasped it, before tossing it right at her opponents, striking one of them in the side of their helmet, throwing them down to the ground. She then charged forward, right between Azula's two fire streams, thrusting her spear at the arms of one of the firebenders, before pulling the machete off of her belt and using it to slash up one of their arms. One sent a fireball at her head, but she was agile enough to duck under it and lunge at him, stabbing him in the leg; he cried out with pain as she tackled him, the Water Tribe girl jumping over the enemy, allowing him to serve as an ample shield against his comrade's attack. It only took a moment for Azula to then knock him out by throwing him into the air with her own powerful jets of blue fire. She grasped the boomerang off of the ground, ready to use it to incapacitate any approaching soldiers, though she realised she didn't need to as she felt a powerful wind gust pushing at her face. She turned to face the Princess, whose expression turned to one of surprise as both of them looked in the direction of the gust, witnessing Aang then rising into the air, his tattoos glowing. Katara couldn't think of anything to say, only gasping in awe of his power, and remembering that the twelve-year-old boy she thought to be so immature at times was truly one of the most powerful people alive.

"They're nothing... compared to that." she simply acknowledged the fact of the matter, Azula chuckling at her words as she looked down to Sokka, who was struggling to get back to his feet.

"And what are we?" she quipped to her boyfriend, who raised his hand into the air, clenched into a fist as he confidently declared his belief.

"We're the most kick-arse team in the world, that's what!"


	9. Chapter 9

Toph thought there was one glaringly obvious benefit of being blind, beyond the fact she didn't need to see everyone's faces, staring at her or not, and that was that she couldn't be blinded; the flames that surrounded her at that moment were so hot that she could only guess how bright they would be. Not that she had ever seen anything bright in her life, but like any other rebel she was fighting alongside, she had felt fire, and this fire, it was painfully hot. So much so that touching her feet on the ground would make her feet ache, which didn't help her seismic sense, which unlike her other senses, did require some concentration to wield. She could sense her comrades around her, all using their bending best to defend against the efforts the enemy were putting up against them; she had thought the fight was going to be won in a heartbeat when they immediately scared the enemy off, but had been sorely disappointed in the end. By the time they were half-way through the campsite, their defensive efforts were actually becoming a problem, as it seemed enough men who could throw fire out of their hands could eventually stop their formidable element, and perhaps even overwhelm it. She kept up a wall of rock in front of her, punching forward as quickly as she could to send out boulders at the firebenders who were attacking her; she was disadvantaged by the simple fact that they were far enough away and her feet hurt enough that she couldn't sense their locations precisely.

"Crush 'em!" she heard one of the other rebels call out, Toph following his words, along with the other earthbenders, thrusting her hands forward to rip the ground out in the form of three pillars, pushing them forward and hurling them toward the enemy.

Their combined efforts seemed to work, as the heat of the flames was dimmed for a moment, allowing Toph to move forward and regain her bearings; she sensed around, taking note that the soldiers weren't just fighting them from the front, but were being attacked from behind, given how they were standing. She couldn't see the attacker, but that didn't concern her as she reached her arms forward, grasping the earth in front of her and raising it up to form a new defensive shield for her and her comrades. Stepping forward, she cringed from the heat of the dirt beneath her feet, something that was relieved by her ripping the soil apart with her bending, forming solid shoes of rock to protect her feet. She felt the heat of flames above her once more, but that didn't deter Toph, who sensed beyond her defences to target the soldiers who were attacking her. Pulling her hand down, she sunk their legs down into the ground, hearing their fearful cries in the distance; she smirked, knowing that she was once again in the position of power, forming smaller pillars with a flick of her wrist, whacking each of the firebenders in the chest to knock them out.

"Wh-what is that?!" she heard one of the rebels beside her cry out with fear, Toph trying to sense ahead to find what they were referring to, to no avail; she could hear the sound of the wind, which wasn't unusual, though she did realise that there hadn't been much wind until they started fighting.

"Everybody, get back!" she heard the familiar voice of Yung commanding them; she still had no idea what was happening, but followed his words, stepping back slowly, still feeling the heat of the ground through her stone boots.

She sensed the Fire Nation soldiers frantically moving in front of her, and noted that the warmth of the flames that had been annoying her had faded to nothing; she deduced that they must have been attacking whatever everyone was so afraid of. Toph suddenly felt the ground underneath her shaking, making her sense around, trying to find the source of the movement; purely by the unusual motions, she figured it was earthbending, but it was more powerful than anything any single person in their fighting force could muster, even considering herself.

"That's the Avatar!" she heard another rebel call out, Toph still trying to sense around, unable to find Aang, if that was really what was causing the shaking she felt.

She realised that he must be in the air, which would explain all the wind that she felt whipping through the air, though that didn't explain the fact she could feel earthbending; to the best of her knowledge, he hadn't even learned waterbending, let alone her own element. Sensing ahead, she gasped with surprise as she saw him achieve what she herself had failed to, and ensnared all of the firebenders, by sinking them down into the ground, all at once. She was unable to comprehend how he could do it, and quickly enough, the wind began to die down, Toph only hearing out the mixture of cries of fear from their enemy and cheers of joy from her fellow rebels.

"We won!" one of them cried out, "The Avatar did it!"

Toph smirked, just as glad as anyone else that they had beaten their enemies, but was still confused as to how Aang had even achieved what he had; she sensed around, taking note that there were still a few stragglers running off in the opposite direction.

Pointing where she sensed the enemies, she called on her comrades, "There's still a few of them trying to run!"

She raced forward as fast as her feet could take her, dispelling of the defences she had initially made to protect herself from their opponents, before she raced toward them, still all ensnared by the Avatar's powerful earthbending attack. She sensed them trying to attack her, and to defend herself, she grasped out at the dirt and debris around them, dragging them in, as to swamp the trapped Fire Nation soldiers, who could do nothing but try and keep their heads out of the dirt. Toph charged forward, sensing someone's feet touching the ground ahead of her, taking note that it was Aang; she could sense his heart beat, and she realised how weak it was. She barely knew him, but she knew to be worried about him if he had somehow mustered the energy to do the bending feats just witnessed.

"Aang, are you alright?" she asked him, the young Avatar groaning as she approached him, slumping down to the ground.

She raced over toward him, grasping him by the shoulders to stop him falling down flat on his face; he mumbled something, though she wasn't able to understand it, simply trying to keep him upright while he came to his senses.

"Urgh... did we win?" he mumbled, making her snort with amusement.

"Oh, we won alright." she assured him, "Whatever you just did then, that stopped them. Though, some are trying to run away." she explained the young Avatar, groaning slightly before making an affirmative nod.

"You better... go get them." he acknowledged, the earthbender clenching her right fist as she helped Aang lie on the ground, sensing around to check how the trapped soldiers were faring; they didn't seem to be focused on Aang, but rather towards the other rebels who were quickly approaching, ready to knock them out and take them captive.

"Aang!" she heard Katara's voice cry out, fearful in her tone, her footsteps light as she sprinted over toward them, "Are you hurt?"

"N-no..." he mumbled, his head turning to face the Water Tribe girl, "The others... getting away." he pointed in the direction that Toph had been heading before she ran into him.

"You heard him!" she heard the voice of Saila pipe up, "We need to deal with them before they have a chance to regroup." she declared, essentially ordering them, although the earthbender was unsure if her command applied to her specifically.

"That was my idea." she retorted, before thrusting her fist forward to create a pillar, firing it toward the withdrawing soldiers, whose footsteps became more panicked when they noticed the hunk of earth being thrown their way.

"You do that." she heard Sokka's voice, sounding pained and exasperated, "We'll keep Aang safe for now."

"I will." Saila declared confidently, before she charged forward, Toph following behind her, not giving another second to think about whether Aang was alright; she had to focus on fighting the enemy, which was her job, not to coddle a twelve-year-old with extreme powers.

As they raced after the Fire Nation soldiers, she sensed over the other girl's form, noticing that she was wearing the Fire Nation armour that they had spoken about, which made it rather odd, given that the only thing that distinguished her from the other soldiers was her heartbeat. She also took note of the fact she lacked a weapon, which confused her- non-benders would need weapons to beat firebenders, seeing how dangerous they were in close-quarters.

"Are you planning to beat these guys with your fists?" she quipped, the other girl grumbling with annoyance as she readied a fighting stance.

"Are you really that dim?" she retorted, making her raise a brow, actually unsure what she was referring to; it was as she was meant to have known her secret tactic, which she did not, but given her previous statements about strategy, she guessed it would be pretty complex.

"Don't let the ash-makers get away!" she heard one of the rebels call out behind her, sensing a rock being pulled out of the ground, and heard it fly past her toward the enemy.

She sensed the boulder striking one soldier right off his feet, throwing him into the remains of a tent. By that point the enemy soldiers had already turned around, taking defensive stances, or at least the closest thing that a firebender could get to a defensive stance. The non-bending soldiers, those wielding jian swords and spears, were still running, obviously not feeling confident enough to face off a group of earthbenders and one exceptionally confident non-bender. Toph took her own stance, thrusting her hand forward to destabilise the ground beneath her enemy's feet; she succeeded in breaking their root, something that would make them a lot easier to knock down with boulders or pillars, but was surprised to see the Saila didn't stand by her, continuing to charge forward at the enemy. She wanted to try and warn her, but instead, sensed her quick moves to block their attempts to firebend at her, before she knocked a number of them down with quick punches and kicks. The only thing Toph got a chance to do was bend the enemy soldiers in place once they hit the ground, to ensure that they didn't get away; when she got over to the other girl, she couldn't help but ask.

"Okay, where'd you learn to do that?" she asked Saila, who glanced back her way, before taking a stance, seeing that there were more soldiers ready to fight them.

"Somewhere." she told her tersely, before she ducked downward, Toph copying her to ensure that she missed what she guessed was a fire stream flying over their heads.

She thrust her hands out to strike the firebender in front of her off of his feet by hitting him in the abdomen with a boulder, before she turned her hands inward to pull the ground from underneath the feet of the other soldiers surrounding them. Suddenly she felt Saila stepping in front of her, blocking what seemed to be another attack; she realised at that moment, as the heat dissipated from the air, that there was reason Saila was so good at fighting, and why she could dissipate flames- Princess Azula wasn't dead, she was the girl standing right in front of her.

"W-wait-" she began to question her, before she was cut off by the sounds of her fellow rebels making war cries as they charged forward, their haphazard use of earthbending warding off their enemies, forcing them to flee.

Toph sensed around and pulled her hands down to ensnare those that had already been knocked down, before she turned her eyes to face the other girl, almost completely certain she'd figured out who she really was.

"You're Azula, aren't you?" she asked her, the girl's head turning to face her, before she raised her chin.

"Your little lie detector trick won't work on me." she warned her, before leaning forward, "So, you'll just have to keep that little idea to yourself."

She chuckled, realising that even if she hadn't had to lie, the implications of her words proved Toph's assumption correct, "I'll take that as a yes."

"Watch out, Blind Bandit." she warned her, before turning around to look toward their fleeing opponents, "You might be a great earthbender, but do you know who you're talking about?"

"Somebody who was supposed to be Fire Lord." she simply retorted, giving her the best of her knowledge about the person she assumed her to be.

"Not the answer I was looking for." she conceded, before turning around and gesturing to one of the trapped soldiers, "But I could use your help."

"Why should I?" she argued, knowing that if she really was the Princess, then she couldn't trust her.

"I want to interrogate them, idiot." she clarified with a snarky voice, "I'm here to make sure your little city's safe."

"I was going to do that anyway." she quipped in return, raising her left hand up to pull one of the soldiers up from the ground.

"Argh!" he cried out with terror as he tried to move himself around, to no avail.

Toph raised a finger to hush him as she approached, "Shut up, I just want some answers." she demanded, the soldier's heart rate rising in pace.

"A-a-answers to what?" he stammered fearfully, the earthbender sensing the girl beside her, and decided to test whether she was Azula or Saila.

"Have you seen any wanted posters lately?" she asked, the soldier remaining silent for a moment, Toph clenching her fists to tighten the rock binds she had over him, which made him cry out, his heartbeat rising once more.

"Argh! Yes! Yes, I have!" he assured her, his heartbeat telling her that he was being truthful.

She then pointed to the face of the girl beside her, "Is this face on one of them?"

The soldier's heartbeat lulled for a moment, before it picked up dramatically, the soldier squirming with fear, "Oh fuck!" he cried out, "That's Princess Azula! Please, your majesty! Don't kill me!"

"Oh, you're smarter than I thought, dirt-eater." Azula congratulated her with a mocking clap, glancing around, "I wonder how many people heard that?"

"A few." she smirked, "Now, you're found out, what are you going to do?"

"Fight you, if you want me imprisoned." she simply responded, Toph raising a finger to her chin.

"Well, I haven't decided on that yet." she admitted, before stepping closer to the other girl, pointing toward her, "So, what are you going to do, your highness?"

"Pretend this conversation never happened." she retorted with a cold, commanding tone, leaning down closer toward Toph, who guessed she was staring her down, "You best choose your next actions wisely. Do you know what I can do?"

"Not really." she acknowledged honestly, before stepping back, "I'll keep my mouth shut... for the moment."

"It seems you do have at least half a brain in there." she pointed her on the forehead, making her clench her fists; she certainly didn't like getting poked at, and shook the ground beneath Azula on purpose.

"I'm no pushover." she warned her, before gesturing in the direction of Aang and the others, "Do you want to make sure the others are alright, or are you going to go after your fellow patriots?" she quipped at the other girl, whose heartbeat increased, before she began to pace in the direction.

"I need to make sure my boyfriend's alright." she snarled at her, Toph making quick strides behind her, immediately thinking of something to quip back at her.

"So, did you brainwash him into following you around like a dog or something?" she asked her with a mocking tone, betraying the fact she was genuinely interested how the former Crown Princess of the Fire Nation could have fallen for a Water Tribesman.

"No. He brainwashed me into betraying my country." she retorted, and as with everything she said, her heartbeat told her nothing; just taking her words at face value, they made sense, but given how confident and cocky she seemed, it seemed to be too simple an explanation.

She pursed her lips upward, keeping her pace behind the Fire Nation Princess, "And why'd you agree to that?"

"Personal ambition." she told her nonchalantly, something that was far more believable an explanation than her boyfriend brainwashing her.

"Ah yeah, that'd do it." she noted, scrunching her lips up as she tried to think of something else to ask; she wasn't used to a more conventional interrogation method, though her questioning wasn't exactly forceful- she didn't know what the other girl would do to her if she really pushed her, "Why help the Avatar?"

"Did you mishear me, or are you deaf as well as blind?" the Princess snarkily responded, making her raise a finger at her, appreciative of her mocking responses, even if they were somewhat offensive.

"Oh, I'd really like to have a proper argument with you... but right now, I just wanna figure out..." she began to trail off, before gesturing her hands towards the form of her body as she sensed it, "this whole thing."

"Me." she corrected her, "I am an interesting person, I won't deny that, but my story, I'm not at liberty to tell it."

"Hmph..." she crossed her arms, realising that she was taking the wrong method, "What'd you do to Sokka when you found out he nearly got kidnapped when he was drunk?"

"Berated him and forced him to read a bunch of boring documents to my benefit." she recalled, before she turned her head toward the earthbender, "You asked that on purpose. Who told you about that anyway?"

"Katara." she gave her the truth, which made the other girl cackle, before she face-palmed.

"Oh... she's really been pushing it, hasn't she?" she mumbled to herself, a rhetorical question Toph decided to not try and answer, knowing that her tone suggested a greater animosity between the two.

"Hey, did you deal with the runners?" she heard Katara ask out, making Toph realise that the group was right ahead of them; she smirked, realising that it would give her an opportunity to understand more about Azula before she ultimately decided what to do with her knowledge of her identity.

"They weren't too much trouble. Some non-benders ran off... but I doubt they'll pose much of a threat with no supplies." the Princess acknowledged, before she gestured down to her boyfriend, who was sitting beside Aang; Toph realised that he must have been injured in the fighting, knowing that he would have probably gone with his girlfriend instead of sitting by the passed out Avatar.

After a few moments of silence, she sensed the Water Tribe boy's eyes turning to her, "What were you getting so smug about?"

"Oh, nothing much." she lied, knowing that he didn't have the same kind of ability as her, "Is the Avatar alright? I couldn't see what he was doing... but it seemed intense."

"He activated the Avatar State." the Water Tribe girl answered, "I think he was being attacked by a lot of firebenders, and got scared."

"So it's like magical rage?" she asked her, both Katara and her brother snickering at her description.

"You know what, that's not a bad way of putting it." he commended her, before his tone became more serious, "Something to do with his past lives. It means he can fight with the power of the Avatar Spirit, whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Something something spirits?" she quipped in response, glancing toward the Princess, "You don't happen to have a better explanation, do you?"

"No. He said it. The power of the Avatar Spirit." she explained with an unenthusiastic tone; this didn't surprise Toph, though it immediately caught her boyfriend's attention.

"Uh... okay, somebody pissed you off." he admitted, before narrowing his eyes at Toph, "What'd you say? Did you make fun of her?"

"I haven't got a nickname for her... yet." she acknowledged with a smirk, the Princess shaking her head with an exasperated sigh.

"Oh no..." he mumbled, his heartbeat rising, before he began to climb to his feet, grunting with pain as he stretched his torso, "The lie detector worked a little too well... didn't it?"

"You could say that." Azula acknowledged nonchalantly, her boyfriend remaining silent for a moment, his heartbeat steadily rising, while his sister glanced around with confusion.

"What are you guys talking about? The lie detector?" she mumbled with a confused tone, before she addressed Toph, "What'd you do?"

"Scare your brother, at least that's right now." she acknowledged, before Sokka sighed, his hand rising to cover his face.

"Give me one reason to not chi-block you right now." he warned her with a surprisingly intimidating and cold voice, actually creeping her out a little more than Azula, given that she could feel from his heartbeat that he was becoming calmer.

"Because I can be fair about this. I'm not the kind of person to hate-" she began, before Sokka's left hand jumped forward, jabbing her in the shoulder; as her arm fell limp, she snarled slightly, realising that he had just blocked her chi, "What was-" she once again spoke, raising her voice, before Sokka's finger tugged on her chin, pulling her head up to face his own, which wasn't really necessary, given that she couldn't see.

"Shut the fuck up." he told her with a demanding voice, "Do you know what you're doing? Huh?!" he snarled at her, Katara standing up behind him, obviously concerned about his behaviour; when she moved to address her brother, he pointed his left hand toward her, "No. Don't you start either." he demanded of her.

"I haven't done anything." Toph quipped, making Azula snort, crossing her arms as she shook her head.

"Oh, you have." she suggested, her warning being about her boyfriend's reaction; even if he was a non-bender, she didn't think he was a complete push-over, given his refuted abilities.

"I am going to make this very clear." he released his grip of her chin, before holding his hand in front of her face, "I want to keep my friends safe... and more than that, I want to keep my girlfriend safe, from both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. If you put her in danger by blabbering, people are going to die." he told her with a dead serious voice; she felt his heartbeat, and she gulped, realising that he wasn't lying- there was nothing in his heartbeat to suggest he wasn't telling her the cold truth.

"Are you... are you going to kill somebody?" she asked him, now concerned that he was actually suggesting he would kill them to keep his girlfriend safe.

"Of course not. I'm no murderer..." he assured her with a serious tone, before he almost laughed, but relented, gesturing to Azula, "but my girlfriend here, she'd probably kill half the people here to keep us safe, and Aang, you just saw what he did. Do you think he'll choose your rebels, or his friend?"

Toph remained dead silent for a few moments, considering his words, before she pursed her lips up, thinking that he had given her good reason to follow his demands, "To think you'd make a better argument than she did... count me impressed, Sokka."

The Water Tribe teen leaned away from her, his cold expression not faltering, as he turned to look at his sister, "Are you going to argue in our favour?"

"I don't want to fight." Katara simply told them, before stepping closer to Toph, "Do you really want to put all these peoples lives at stake just for that single truth?"

She shook her head, turning to face Azula, "I'm sorry for saying what I did, I didn't realise you were... so worried." she admitted, before her eyes widened, remembering all the raised heartbeats she had realised were associated with the name 'Saila', "So, this is what you were all panicking about?"

"Obviously." Azula sighed, before clearing her throat, "Not that I panic. I'd never panic. I just consider the potential scenarios that I might find myself in."

"I'll keep quiet for now. But trust me, people are going to find out, sooner or later." she warned her with as serious a tone she could muster, "They always do."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sokka questioned her, obviously suspicious of what she intended to do.

"I've been in a similar situation before." she simply told him, before she gestured toward Azula, "Not as dangerous as this one, but still serious." she told them, remembering back to when she had had to lie about her own identity.

Lying about her identity was something that Toph had grown strangely comfortable with back in Gaoling, seeing that her parents would have had a fit if they had seen what she did at the Earth Rumble. She just wanted to spend her spare time beating the crap out of less capable earthbenders, and when the Fire Nation shut it all down, she was forced to make more drastic measures, taking it upon herself to sneak out during the middle of night to work on her bending. It was the most sensible option, seeing that she had the advantage of her seismic sense to get in and out of her home undetected. Eventually, she had slipped up, and her father forced her to stay in her room for a whole week, outside of their family meals. She didn't stand for it, and that was the impetus for her leaving home and going off on her own; she hadn't originally intended to join King Bumi's rebels, but that was what happened in the end, with her skills being well applied in for a cause she could believe in.

"Oh, so you're a skilled liar and a skilled lie detector." Azula raised a finger to her chin with a humoured, somewhat condescending tone.

"I'm good at what I do." she crossed her arms, not holding back a smug grin; her cocky expression faltered when she remembered what she ought not to do, and she cleared her throat to catch the attention of the group, "I won't mention anything, not yet, but I'm warning you... these people aren't stupid. They're going to catch on sooner or later."

"That's an outcome we're prepared to face." the Princess assured her, before Katara shook her head, responding with a dismayed voice.

"You're prepared. I'm pretty sure Sokka and Aang can't do anything at the moment."

Her brother's head tilted up, his heartbeat rising up as he growled with an indignant tone, "Hey, I'm perfectly capable of fighting." he declared, pulling his boomerang out of its sleeve and standing in form, "If somebody wants a piece of me, they can come and get some."

"Oh, so you want to spar?" Toph pursed her lips upward, the Water Tribe teen stopping in his tracks as his form faltered.

"Uh... I need breakfast... and probably some bandages on my chest." he excused himself, making her snicker; she was torn whether to settle on the belief he was all talk or not, given that his prior threats had seemed very real.

"Okay, okay, I see who's the talker in the group now." she stated her deductions aloud, which seemed to annoy the Water Tribe boy, who raised a finger toward her accusingly.

"Don't even try it." he snarled at her, before turning to his girlfriend, "Can we go back to Appa? Aang could rest on the saddle instead of down here... surrounded by all these knocked out soldiers." he gestured around, Toph noting that the soldiers Aang had ensnared had all been knocked out by that point, their bodies lying about, though she could clearly tell they were alive, given the large number of beating hearts she felt.

"You can do that." Azula noted with a shrug, making Katara glance over her way.

She asked her, sounding slightly worried, "What are you going to do?"

"If these prisoners end up in the hands of the other Fire Nation, I want to be sure I get a little message to Zuzu." she explained, making Toph raise a brow, guessing that the nickname she had just used referred to the current Fire Lord, of all people.

"Fire Lord Zuzu?" she joked, making the Princess snicker, patting Toph on the shoulder.

"If anyone called him that to his face, I'm pretty sure he'd try to kill them." she warned her, the earthbender smirking slightly.

"Is that your message?" she asked her, intrigued whether that was her actual intention, "Are you just going to make fun of him, and announce you're alive?"

The Princess's head turned back to glance her way, the words falling off her tongue so naturally, she was sure she had said them before, to the very brother she spoke of.

"I'm going to remind Zuzu of his place."

* * *

Looking upon a line of chained up Fire Nation soldiers, Azula was rather amused by their condition; she realised that the Earth Kingdom rebels hadn't actually brought any chains with them, and deduced they had used some in the stores of the Fire Nation camp they had just destroyed. She did not feel distraught for the fate of her fellow countrymen, knowing that they had willingly decided to go against their most logical choice, which would be to support her brother, even if that in and of itself was against her own self-interest. She didn't feel in the mood to berate the enemy for being disloyal to her brother, knowing that it would benefit her in the long run to have as many people dissatisfied with her brother as possible, as when she was to finally make her move to defeat him, she would need as many supporters as possible. Not that she wanted the support of the specific men before her, but rather, to inform the rest of the Fire Nation, loyal to Zuko or not, of her intentions. She knew that the prisoners before her probably wouldn't be held by Bumi's rebels for long, knowing that her brother's forces would take the opportunity to exchange the soldiers for Earth Kingdom ones, seeing that it bolstered the less threatening of their two rivals, that being those in support of her father, and those in support restoring the Earth Kingdom's sovereignty.

The rebels constantly eyed her, which made sense, given her Fire Nation armour, which was a disguise, rather than a method to insinuate her identity; she didn't want them to know who she was, even if she thought it would be best for her enemies to do so. She stepped closer to the Fire nation soldiers, some of which had been gagged, probably to prevent them from breathing fire, something that she knew was a versatile skill the soldiers might have picked up. They looked at her with confusion, and she simply glanced along at their faces, looking for someone that she might recognise from her little investigation into the encampment less than an hour, before any of the fighting had begun.

She pursed her lips upward she spotted someone she indeed did recognise, that being General Zhang himself; she wondered whether he was cowardly enough to be captured, though the bruise he had on his face suggested he had not been a coward, but rather a clumsy idiot. His eyes widened as they met her own, and she pulled the gag off of his mouth at once, wanting to get some more intelligence out of him.

"Wh-what... I thought..." he mumbled, his eyes darting around, obviously confused by why she was before him, especially when she had appeared before him earlier that day, impersonating a Fire Nation soldier.

"Oh, if you didn't realise, I tricked you." she smirked at him, leaning in closer, "And I thought a General of all people would have better memory than that."

"P-Princess Azula." he muttered her actual name, to which she raised her chin, thinking that she ought to get some more respect from someone who actually knew who she was.

"Crown Princess Azula." she corrected him, "No matter who you think ought to be Fire Lord, by the way." she stressed, acknowledging the fact that if one considered either her brother or father as the ruler of the Fire Nation, she was still the heir of both, given her brother was still technically banished under her father's rulings.

"What are... why are you here?"

"To earn favour for my allies, the Southern Water Tribe." she told him the honest truth, making the General's jaw drop, before he broke down laughing; he obviously thought it was hilarious that she was working with the nation that was commonly believed by those in the Fire Nation to be the weakest and most pitiful of those remaining.

She pulled her finger under his chin, forcing it upward and making him bite down on his own tongue, which made the General cry out with pain, "Now, now, there's no need to mock me, General, unless you'd rather die here and now."

Zhang's eyes widened with fear as he tried to hold in the pain he felt from biting his own tongue; with one eye closed, he snarled slightly at her, "Why?"

"Because my brother nearly killed me. My allies betrayed me, and those that didn't squandered their strength." she explained the fact of the matter, "I had no choice, and I did what I could with my circumstances... it seems you squandered your own."

"Wh-what do you mean?" he snarled slightly at her, his eyes looking up at her as his head slumped down.

"You could have taken your men and sworn allegiance to my brother. Why didn't you, might I ask?"

"Because he wants to destroy our nation. He's a coward and a pacifistic weakling." he declared confidently, making Azula snicker.

"Ah, so we agree on something." she acknowledged, smugly smirking at him as she looked down at his pitiful condition.

The General twisted his neck slightly, groaning with pain before looking up at him, "But why would you attack me? Don't we want the same thing?"

"No." she shook her head, kneeling down in front of the General, "You desire to keep your power, which comes from the fact you need to lead an army somewhere and kill some people. That would be fine, if it were necessary." she acknowledged, "You seek to destroy the Earth Kingdom, who will keep resisting you, and everyone like you, until they start winning. And then you'll run back to the homeland, and be executed for treason." she warned him, the Princess raising a brow in thought, "Though, I guess that wasn't your intention, was it?"

"We're going to win." he declared with dagger eyes, "Whether you are with us or not doesn't change that."

"Oh, it really does, actually." she warned him, raising her finger toward his face, as if she were about to burn him with a blowtorch of hot blue flames, though nothing came out of her finger but a light warmth, enough to make him visibly uncomfortable, "You're relying on the belief my father will become Fire Lord again. Now, I don't believe he couldn't regain support, that's not an issue... it's rather who'd he'd have to kill to get there that's the problem."

"Your brother?"

"Oh, I'm not worried about Zuzu." she smirked, "Did you so quickly forget who ought to be sitting on the throne right now, if it weren't for the death of Prince Lu Ten?"

"The Dragon of the West..." he mumbled the title of her uncle, before he narrowed his eyes, "That old man, he was once the best of us... now he's as much a traitor as your brother."

"Oh, he's more than that. He's one who masterminded it all." she furthered his own claim, "I recommend you worry about him... probably as much as you might worry about me once you're in prison."

"I'm going to get my men out. Whatever it takes." he declared confidently, "I believe in them, and I believe we can bring glory to our nation."

"Oh, well, all it takes is a little patience." she suggested, before rising up to her feet, "You'll likely be traded for some Earth Kingdom prisoners in Omashu. When you get there, I'd like you to give a message to the Governor."

"That traitor? He got his position from the Fire Lord himself, yet he remains loyal to your bastard brother." he snarled, making her smirk, remembering the fact that Mai's father was once one of her father's most loyal supporters, but had changed his mind when he received the opportunity to become the Fire Lord's father-in-law.

"He's a fool, no doubt, but we're not here to trade jabs at incompetent members of the Fire Nation government." she realigned the conversation, leaning down toward him, "I want you to tell him to write a message to the Fire Lord, from me."

"A message? What, you want to ask him for forgiveness so you can be as much of a traitor as him?"

"Are you mocking me?" she asked him, her hand grasping his cheek and becoming covered with flames, small enough that the nearby rebels guarding the captive soldiers couldn't see; he cried out with pain before she flung his head to the side, the General groaning with pain.

"Now, now, don't cry. I want you to remember this message. It's important."

"Tell the Fire Lord that his love of mercy is his greatest weakness." she declared, the General looking up at her with one eye open, his left cheek twitching after she singed it, "Oh, and to go fuck himself."

"S-s-seriously?" he mumbled at her with a tone of disbelief, before she shook her finger at him chidingly.

"I am not one for jokes. I do think he ought to fuck himself." she stressed, before glancing around at his fellow soldiers, before her eyes turned back to him, "Good luck with the assassination attempt and all that, I'm sure you and the other loyalists will need it."

"H-how'd you..." he almost gasped, though his voice was so quiet and raspy that she couldn't call it so.

"You still fell for it." she smirked at him, seeing that he had just confirmed her otherwise unproven assumptions, "Thanks for the intelligence, though I'm not going to try and stop you... honestly, that's your issue. I'm concerned with greater things." she declared confidently, the General looking up at her with despising eyes.

"Helping your savage friends build something better than a shitty house made of ice?" he mocked her, something that enticed her to hit him again, though she didn't fall for it; keeping her cool was something she needed to do if she wanted to maintain any kind of visage of authority.

"They're called igloos." she clarified his rather ignorant insult, "And no, that comes after I take every man who swore allegiance to me back under my command and burn Pohuai Fortress to the ground."

"General Shinu?" he asked her, obviously already knowing about what he had done; he double crossed her after she had failed in her Agni Kai, which had essentially forced her to agree to Sokka's proposition, even if she had desired to continue fighting.

"That man's double-crossing is something I will not forgive... but I will accept his walled monstrosity as a suitable sacrifice to appease my taste for revenge." she acknowledged, before turning her eyes back down to General Zhang, "If it's any consolation, there's nothing personal about this. You're simply in my way." she admitted, cracking her knuckles as she thought of burning Pohuai Fortress to the ground just to spite the General, "But, that issue, that is very personal."

She then turned her heels, beginning to walk away, considering that she had gotten enough out of the General; there was certainly an assassination plot against her brother brewing, though she didn't exactly care to stop it- she knew that the more chaos that came his way, the better a chance she'd have of eventually instating herself as Fire Lord, and achieving her dreams for both her nation and the world. She wasn't Aang, or really anything like him, but she at least had a similar goal; they both wanted peace, a future for the world where the needless suffering that occured because of ignorance and lies could be snuffed out. She would truly spread prosperity, in the way she guessed her ancestor might have originally envisaged it, and make that future real for those who had known nothing but grief and poverty, both inside the Fire Nation and outside of it.

"They're going... they're going to kill you." the General's voice rose up, her eyes turning back to him momentarily.

"Oh, they can try... they've tried before." she told him, unsure if the General had any comprehension of what she had had to deal with on her trip to Ba Sing Se, which had ultimately ended with an Agni Kai against her traitor brother.

She didn't incite much of a response from him, and she turned around, momentarily looking at the Earth Kingdom rebels who were guarding the prisoners; their eyes darted away from her, and she felt a sense of unease, knowing there were many possible things that could have been running through their heads. If they had overheard her identity being mentioned, they likely wouldn't do anything yet, probably out of fear; if there was anything she was advantaged by, it was six months of propaganda-filled wanted posters filtering throughout the Earth Kingdom, which probably talked her up as the most dangerous firebender alive- she still hadn't gotten her hands on one, and had every intention of getting one from Bumi before they moved on from New Omashu.

Pacing away from the makeshift prison, she began to make her way through what remained of the division's encampment, which had been torn to pieces by the earthbenders' impressive abilities; she didn't exactly admire the skill, but now that she had seen it used for something other than simplistic fighting or attempting to overthrow the Fire Nation government of Ba Sing Se, she could admit that the bending art was respectable in its pure power and strength. Even as a master firebender she couldn't hope to match up to the pure power that the earthbenders wielded; they were being able to manipulate their environment, although their bending art obviously lacked the same level of precision and lethality as her own. Of course, one could crush another with earthbending or drown them in earth, but Azula could kill someone with lightning-bending or vaporise their defences with a few well-aimed and sufficiently charged fireballs. She knew that if she had to actually face off against the rebels, she would be in a lot of trouble, though she knew that using her firebending to fly and quickly flee would the most practical option; fire-bending powered flight was extremely exhausting, and she had only ever applied it in her training, rather than in a combat situation, but she guessed that she could use it for a short period to flee, if need be.

She shook her head, knowing that she shouldn't ought to concern herself with something that unlikely, knowing that getting back to Aang, Katara and Sokka was her main priority; she had to check if the Avatar had recovered, knowing that his use of the Avatar State, however effective, must have been extremely strenuous for his body, and thus weakened him for the moment. That was not in her favour, especially if the unlikely did come to bare, and she was forced to fight the people who were meant to be their allies. She glanced around the remains of the campsite, checking if there was anyone following or spying on her; she didn't desire to be paranoid, but she knew she ought to be careful. She had already spoken too much about things that incriminated herself, and even if she did so to ensure that she gained as much knowledge as possible about the intentions of the anti-Zuko forces that she assumed were rampant across the Earth Kingdom. When she finally caught sight of Appa, who was resting beside a tent she assumed Katara had propped up, she made a small smile, although it quickly faded as she tried to maintain her serious composure; if she wanted to entice the rebels to not turn on her, she at the very least wanted to seem intimidating. As she approached, her boyfriend rose up, rather unexpectedly, from the top of Appa's saddle, where he had been laying down shirtless; she took note that his chest was covered with a bandage over the burn he had received in the fight.

"Oh, hi." he smiled at her, before he narrowed his eyes at her, his expression flipping to one that she could describe as his 'strategy' face, "So, were you... sending your message?"

She nodded, remembering back to what she had said to Zhang, "I did." she confirmed, before cocking a smirk, "I believe it consisted of: my brother is a fool for giving people mercy." she began, her boyfriend nodding along, scratching at his short goatee with thought.

"I mean, he kinda is... though that's a good thing for us." he noted, the Princess cringing; her father being alive, no matter how she felt about him, was not exactly helpful to her cause to become the Fire Lord, though her brother's merciful bent had been what had saved her from her own lightning-bending back at Yu Dao.

"Not exactly." she disagreed, "There's a little issue called the line of succession. As long as my father is in a position to reclaim the throne, it makes it a lot harder for my claim to seem legitimate over his own." she clarified, the Water Tribe teen making a begrudged glare, shaking his head with disappointment.

"Yeah, that is a problem." he noted, before his expression became more curious rather than frustrated, "So, was there anything else you told them to tell him?"

"Oh, yes." she held back a laugh, making her face as stern as possible as she repeated her own words, "And that he ought to go fuck himself."

"Hmph." Sokka mumbled, scrunching his lips as their eyes locked, not even laughing, which surprised her, "But wouldn't he be getting it on all the time with that Mai girl?"

She snorted, realising he raised a very good point, "That is true... but that makes it all the more insulting."

"Fair enough." he agreed with her sentiment, smiling back at her brightly, "All's well if we get to laugh at him."

She turned her head toward the tent that had been propped up beside Appa, "Is he in there?"

"Yeah, he's still passed out, I think." Sokka noted with a slight grimace, "I don't know how long he'll be out for. Katara's getting... well, Katara over it."

"I can understand why." she simply stated her thoughts, before clearing her throat, "I'll... go check on him."

Her boyfriend nodded at her, lying back down as she approached the tent, pushing the canvas out of the way; she made sight of Katara sitting down beside Aang, who was lying soundly asleep on top of a sleeping roll. The Water Tribe girl's eyes darted up to meet her own, seemingly surprised that she had shown up.

She decided to speak before the Princess, "What did you end up doing?" her voice suggesting she was worried about what she might have done while away from the group.

"I scared a captured Fire Nation General." she stated nonchalantly before she knelt down beside the young Avatar.

"For any particular reason?" the other girl raised a brow at her skeptically, making her shake her head.

"No, not really, I just wanted to figure out what the scope of the coalition against my brother was... and I did."

The Water Tribe girl cleared her throat, obviously unnerved by such a serious topic, "Is it bad?"

"For him or for me?" she quipped in return, the Water Tribe girl sighing, glancing down toward the Avatar that lay between them; he looked to be peacefully sleeping, though she guessed that having a bunch of dead people possess him at once would be a rather traumatic experience.

"Is he... okay? I don't really know much about what the Avatar State might do to his body." she asked her, trying her best to not seem overly worried about Aang. 

She wasn't that concerned, given that after he had gone into the Avatar State at the Southern Air Temple, he had recovered quite quickly, although in that situation, he had not exerted the bending prowess of his past lives. That didn't mean, however, that she wasn't thinking about the gravity Aang would hold with the rebels, and how important it was for him personally to gain their respect and admiration; if he was to achieve what he was destined to, he would need as much of that as he could find, and she guessed admiration for the Avatar would be short supply from one of the remaining three nations, seeing that from a young age, Fire Nation citizens were taught of the threat the Avatar posed to the progress of their nation and the things they had already achieved.

"I don't really know. He mumbled a few things earlier, but then he went back to sleep." Katara relayed her knowledge, before her eyes moved up to meet her own, "Do you think this is going to make a difference?"

"You mean fighting these Fire Nation forces?" she asked her, the Water Tribe girl nodding in confirmation, "Not really, at least in terms of the war effort. It's a statement. We want the world to see that Aang is back, and he's real. That he's not just any airbender, he's the Avatar."

"He's the only airbender." she replied an obvious fact, looking down at him solemnly, "Will he be the last one?"

"If he doesn't have any children, then most likely, yes." she stated her own belief, before chuckling, "Though, he's only twelve. I doubt he's even thinking about that."

"No, he probably isn't." the other girl agreed with her, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's Sokka and Aang we should be worrying about. Your brother's chest got burnt badly, and the bandages might stop the bleeding, but we'll need to get some medicine for him if we want to keep the wound uninfected."

"Medicine, huh?" she raised a brow, before her expression brightened, "Wait, you're a firebender, right? You would have had something to cover burns you got when you trained." she deduced, Azula nodding with a slight smirk, realising what she was getting on.

"There might be some burn ointment in this camp, but I'm pretty sure it could have been destroyed when the earthbenders ripped up the campsite." she noted, Katara's expression faltering.

"Oh..." her tone became sombre, "Well, I guess I could at least look. I'm sure Sokka would appreciate that."

"And our allies." she added, "They're probably burned as well, though maybe not as bad as what happened to Sokka."

"That's a good way to earn their respect and trust." Katara noted, her eyes meeting those of the Princess, "You think that'll stop Toph from saying anything?"

"I think Sokka scared her enough." she reminded her, "Which, I must say, I was impressed by. She's a hard girl to intimidate."

"What, were you trying to intimidate her earlier?" she asked her with an amused tone.

"More or less." she acknowledged, before glancing over toward the opening in the canvas, "I should go look for that medicine."

"No." Katara spoke up, "I'll do it. You can stay with Sokka, I'm sure he'd prefer your company over mine."

"That's... true." she noted, although by the slight shift in Katara's expression, she realised she might have offended her; she was the one to bring it up, so Azula didn't feel much guilt.

She was about to say something else when the canvas was suddenly opened up, Sokka's face peering in, "Uh, we've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Azula prodded him, annoyed by his vague wording.

"A Yung and a bunch of men waiting outside this tent kind of problem." he clarified, making Katara grimace at her; she sighed with frustration, before rising to her feet.

"I guess we'll have to deal with the truth now." she simply acknowledged, before narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend, "Did Toph show up with them?"

"Nope. She's not here. I would have boomeranged her in the head if she had come with a suspiciously uneasy group of earthbending soldiers." he retorted, which made his sister snort with amusement, though her expression became shocked as she realised her brother wasn't joking.

"Sokka, you do realise she's a master earthbender, right? I'm pretty sure that wouldn't end well."

"It's not about the ends, it's about proving a point." he raised a finger to her, making Azula chuckle, patting him on the shoulder.

"As is our entire reason for being here." she reminded him, the Water Tribe teen silently nodding, before she stepped out through the canvas.

She eyed the new arrivals waiting outside, which consisted of five soldiers, whom she could tell from their attire to be earthbenders, led by Yung, who was the commander of the rebel fighting force. He stared her down, and she did the same, and for a few moments, all that stood between them was a little raised dust and dead silence.

He decided to speak first, his expression showing that he wasn't happy, though not necessarily angry, "I think you know why I'm here."

"I only have one question." she raised a finger, glancing momentarily back toward her boyfriend, who was standing behind her with a clearly worried look on his face, "Did Toph tell you, or was this a case of people overhearing things?"

"The latter." he confirmed her suspicions; she was sure the blind earthbender wasn't dull enough in the head to earn her ire, even if she hadn't seen her bending abilities on display.

"I'm glad that she's no snitch." she observed, smirking slightly, "Perhaps a future addition to my team." she raised a finger to her chin in thought.

"Your team?" he asked her, stepping closer, now with a slightly more concerned look on his face, "I'm not the kind of guy to be political, but what exactly is the daughter of the man who conquered our country doing leading a team of Water Tribesmen and the fucking Avatar?" he told her, his voice rising at the last part; she tried to hold back her amusement at his reaction, maintaining her suave and serious composure.

"It's a long story, but I know that everyone here isn't exactly into talking and more into throwing rocks, so I'll make it simple for you." she told them, placing her left hand on her hip while she raised her other one into the air to gesture, "I seek to ensure that peace comes to this country, and the world as a whole, and more than that, I want to make sure that I properly repay the Southern Water Tribe for their generosity."

His expression twitched somewhat from her insulting description of their character, but Yung maintained his own composure, simply repeating her own words as question, "Repay them?" he raised a brow at her, sounding slightly confused as to her actual intentions.

She gestured back toward Sokka casually, "My boyfriend here and his village have housed me for the past six months, which is why everyone keeps thinking I'm dead... which I am not." she stressed that same point once more, annoyed that had to keep telling people that she was definitely alive.

"No, I got that." he assured her, before clearing his throat, "So, I think you realise that this is a problem."

"A problem that can be solved." she retorted, before chuckling, "If I didn't think this problem could be solved, I would have fled the moment that little shit found out about my identity."

"What, so you want us to trust you?" he asked her, almost disbelieving that she'd suggest that; her boyfriend stepped forward, puffing his chest up as his cleared his throat.

"Ahem, you don't have to trust her. You have to trust Aang." he argued, pointing to Yung and the other soldiers, "Do you think he'd be friends with the Fire Nation Princess if she's as 'evil' as you think she is?"

"I mean... he does have a good point, Yung." one of the soldiers spoke with a rather loud whisper to his superior, which annoyed the leader, making him face-palm; whether he was embarrassed or just annoyed by the situation as a whole, she couldn't discern, but his next words proved enough to her about his feelings.

"Do you know who you are, woman?" he growled at her, "We ought to send you to your brother in chains for what it's worth."

"You could do that, that's true." she raised a hand to object, keeping her tone calm and steady, "But I propose another choice."

"What?" he narrowed his eyes at her, which suggested he mightn't even believe her; however, that didn't mean she wasn't going to tell him what she wanted to do.

"We have one desire in common, and even if you don't believe me, I want to bring peace to the Earth Kingdom." she declared, stating no lies; she could lie to Yung, but that would just work out worse in the long term, so she thought it would be easier to just straight up tell him her intentions.

"Wait, A-" Sokka began to speak up, forcing her to raise a hand to shut him up.

"Peace? What kind of idea of peace do you have?"

"Peace requires order... but I've seen enough of what your country used to be to know that it needs a new order. I want to make sure something gets done, something you and... well... probably every commoner in the Earth Kingdom could agree to." she acknowledged, Yung and his men looking at each other with understandable confusion.

"Okay... now I'm just confused. What would we all agree to... that you of all people want to do." he asked her, sounding genuinely concerned they could actually have some common ground.

"Overthrowing the Dai Li, the Earth King and every other moron who thinks that Ba Sing Se is the centre of the fucking universe." she explained, earning a few surprised glances from the soldiers; she then pulled a devious smirk, remembering something she had read in Ba Sing Se that fit quite well with describing her intentions.

"Or to phrase it a little better, I want Aang to fix all the absolutely terrible decisions made by Avatar Kyoshi."

* * *

Aang's eyelids fluttered for a few moments as he realised he was conscious once again; he was relieved that he was lying in a tent, which suggested whatever happened when he went into the Avatar state didn't end absolutely terribly. He was dreading to hear what had happened, but he felt reassured in seeing Katara by his side that everything was okay. Her blank expression brightened as she saw that he was awake and she placed a hand on his forehead, which he guessed was so she could feel his temperature.

"Are you okay, Aang?" she asked her, her soothing voice making him want to smile, but he relented, still concerned about what had happened before he passed out.

"Did I hurt anyone?" he asked her with a skittish voice; he wanted to sound confident in himself, but he was honestly terrified by what he could have done to those Fire Nation soldiers he had been fighting.

"I mean... you weren't the one doing the hurting." she assured him, "You trapped the soldiers with earthbending."

"I was earthbending?" his eyes widened, thinking back to the fact that he only could consciously bend air, but in fact, with the Avatar State, he could probably already use all four elements.

"Yep." she nodded, her expression becoming more surprised, "It was... cool. I was afraid for a bit, but I realised that you only activated your powers to stop them from fighting, and not to... well, you know."

"Yeah." he rubbed the back of his scalp nervously, not wanting to think about the idea of him actually killing Fire Nation soldiers, "Are you okay?" he asked her, scanning along her figure to note that she had some bandages covering her palms.

"I'm a little bruised in some places, but I'm okay." she assured him with a caring smile, showing him her right hand, "I accidentally got my palms burnt at one point, but it wasn't that bad. Sokka's the one who actually got hurt."

Aang's eyes widened with fear, "S-Sokka? Is he okay?" he glanced around the small tent he was lying in, realising that her brother wasn't with them.

"He's recovering." she explained the situation rather simply, before gesturing toward the opening in the canvas, "He's outside right now with Azula talking with Yung and some rebels... I think they're talking about her."

"Oh... oh no." he mumbled, Aang glancing around for his staff, "Do we need to fight? Do we need to get on Appa?" he asked her with a panicked voice, Katara placing a hand on his bare chest, hushing him with a finger on her lips.

"Don't panic." she stressed, "They're dealing with it... but you might need to help."

"I'm the Avatar." he narrowed his eyes at her, grasping his tunic, which had been lying beside him; as he shook the dust off of it, he spoke once more, "I need to make sure there's peace. Even if it's just between her and these rebels."

"I know you do." she smiled at her confidently, before rising up slightly, "Your staff is on Appa. He's sitting right next to us. I didn't want to put the tent far away in case we needed to leave quickly."

He nodded with a nervous expression, "I get why." he mumbled, before he pulled his tunic back over his chest, rising up to his feet, "Was it Toph?"

"Maybe." she whispered, sounding completely clueless to whether he was right or not, "She did figure it out... but Sokka scared her off."

"Sokka? I thought Azula was the one who was good at scaring people." he noted, making the Water Tribe girl giggle.

"She is, but Sokka... well, let's just say he's a very protective boyfriend." she tried to explain herself, Aang nodding; it would make sense that if he cared for her, that he'd want to keep her safe.

That was what people who loved each other did for each other, and the thought of that made him ache with sorrow, remembering how he had abandoned Monk Gyatso, and that he had died without knowing what had happened to him.

"That's good." he tried to smile at her, but straightened his expression, wanting to be as serious as possible when going to speak with the rebels, "I'll... I'll go talk to them now."

"I'll come too." she placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly; even if he hadn't said anything, it was as if she understood what he might have been feeling.

His emotions were a muddle at that moment, and he wanted to straighten them out; he had to make sure their Fire Nation friend was safe, because he owed her that at the very least. As he parted the canvas, he set his eyes on Yung and his rebels, in front of which stood the other two of their group, who he heard speaking as he walked toward them.

"So, do you understand?" the Princess asked the leader of the rebel force, whose attention was immediately drawn toward the dazed Air Nomad, which made Azula and Sokka both turn around, the latter grinning at the sight of the Avatar.

"Aang, you're okay!" he beamed at him, "Are you feeling better?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay." he assured him with a slightly nervous thumbs up; the Princess kept her eyes on him for a moment, and they silently understood each other- she needed his help, and he would give it.

He stepped closer, standing beside her as he looked at Yung, "Sorry, I just woke up. What have you guys been talking about?" he inquired, the soldier clearing his throat, his eyes scanning across both Sokka and Azula for a moment before returning to him.

"The Princess was just arguing as to why we ought to trust her." he explained, before narrowing his eyes at the young Avatar, "Did you know about this whole Dai Li thing?"

He raised a brow with confusion, "What Dai Li thing?"

"We're going to kick their arses again. Wanna join in?" Sokka asked him, the young Avatar scrunching his lips up.

"If that's gonna help the people of the Earth Kingdom... then yeah, I will." he agreed, the Princess smirking confidently, gesturing to Yung with gusto.

"Well, that settles it then. You heard it. We're going to do it, and are you going to stop me?"

Yung crossed his arms, glaring her down for a few moments, before he sighed, "I... I don't think I will."

"We won't." one of the other rebels spoke up, "Those guys have been asking for it for a long time."

"I'm glad we could come to a consensus on something." the Princess smiled at them, before turning to Aang, "Well, I guess you didn't need to bargain, Aang."

"I was going to bargain?"

"You're a pretty important guy." Sokka raised a finger toward him, "If need be, you can demand they treat Azula with respect, otherwise, we can just leave."

"Well... uh... could you treat Azula with respect?" he asked Yung awkwardly, the soldier bowing without any question.

"I can, if only to ensure there is no ill will between us."

"Bumi already knew, by the way." he raised a finger, making the soldier's eyes widen with shock.

"Wh-what? The King knew and said nothing?"

"Well, he probably guessed you guys would freak out." Aang concluded, crossing his arms, "He's a smart guy."

"That's not far from the truth." Yung admitted with a grimace, before he glanced toward the Princess, "So... were you bluffing or are you actually going to do it?"

"I wasn't bluffing." she narrowed her eyes at him, Aang still surprised that she had actually wanted to go overthrow the Dai Li again, given what had happened last time; he didn't know much, but he knew enough, and with that, he guessed that it was an experience neither she or Sokka wanted to relive.

"We can't do much until I've mastered earthbending." he conceded, before raising a hand, "But I will... I have to do something. The Earth Kingdom needs to become whole again."

"I am glad you think that way, Avatar." Yung bowed to him with respect, before he narrowed his eyes at both him and Azula, "So, what are you going to do about the Fire Nation?"

"That depends on what happens with these rebels." the Princess sighed with an annoyed voice, "It isn't just this division of soldiers, there's rebels all across the Earth Kingdom, and others silently waiting in the homeland to strike against my brother."

"The Fire Lord." Yung stated the connection between the two, stressing the importance she had in the whole conflict the Fire Nation was having with itself and the wider world, "Is he going to come after you?"

"Maybe. I doubt he'd do it himself... but there'll be people who want the bounty on my head." she explained her own opinion, before Sokka stepped forward.

"But we're gonna make sure that doesn't happen." he stressed, glancing back toward Aang, "Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, it is." he agreed, making as confident a smile he could, which made Azula's expression lighten from the slight snarl she had had prior, "We're going to fix the world together."

"Well, good luck and all, but I'm unsure everyone's going to feel the same way." Yung warned him, "Especially about you." he gestured to the Princess, who shrugged her shoulders, raising her hand up dismissively.

"You think I care?" she scoffed, before turning around, Sokka placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort, without saying a word; Katara stepped forward to stand beside Aang, looking at the soldiers with a worried look.

"I'm not so sure we should stay here any longer, Aang." she suggested, Azula raising a hand.

"No, we need to stay a little longer." she argued, the Water Tribe girl looking at her with confusion.

"Why?" she asked her, sounding annoyed enough that the Princess caught on; she obviously didn't approve of her second-guessing her, given the conversation she had just had.

"I need to find that burn ointment for Sokka." she simply told her with a cold, serious expression, before glancing toward the soldiers, "If that's alright?" she asked them, though Aang couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"I won't stop you from raiding their supplies." Yung simply told her, before looking at his comrades, "I think we'll go now. I'm confident that you're not going to pose a threat to us."

"Yeah, no shit." Sokka snarled at them, before he tried to follow after Azula, who placed her palm on his chest.

"Stop, you can rest with Aang and Katara. I won't be long." she stressed, the Water Tribe boy almost pouting as his girlfriend strode away.

Katara placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry." she whispered to him, before he turned around, Aang trying to give him an affirmative smile.

"Did you want to eat or something?" he asked him, the Water Tribe boy shaking his head.

"I already had breakfast." he simply told him, before sighing, "I'm just going to rest on Appa's saddle."

He nodded, grimacing slightly at his down mood; Sokka was usually the most confident and chirpy of the group, but that morning, he seemed to be completely out of it. First, he was worried about Azula when she went to the camp alone, and now he was all down, and probably just as worried, even if he wasn't showing it.

The young Air Nomad turned to face the other Water Tribe teen, who was looking at her brother with an uneasy look, "I guess we'll just eat our breakfast alone then."

"What did we have to eat?" he asked her, his voice rising a little, at least looking forward to having something to eat after his exhausting use of the Avatar State.

"Rice crackers." she acknowledged with a sombre tone, "Yeah, I know it's not the most enticing thing to eat."

"It's okay." he assured her, "Anything that fills my stomach." he patted his belly jokingly, making her giggle, before he began to pace over toward the tent; she stopped him by tapping him on the shoulder, Aang raising a brow with slight confusion.

"What is it?" he asked her innocently, unsure what she wanted.

"The food's in Appa's saddle bag." she clarified, Aang's mouth widening for a moment as he realised his slight mistake; he thought for a moment that she wanted him to go get it, but Sokka's voice called out from above.

"The food bag? Here!" he addressed them, the Water Tribe girl turning around to catch the bag as it was thrown down to them.

"Thanks, Sokka." she smiled at him before turning back to face the tent, Aang noticed that Momo was sitting on the ground in front of them, eagerly looking at the bag.

"Now, now, Momo. You can't have too much, okay?" he warned the flying lemur, who chittered for a moment, before Aang reached into the bag, pulling out a few nuts, "Have some of these." he told him with a bright smile, the lemur grabbing the small parcel of food as soon as it was within his reach.

Katara giggled at the sight of their little friend gnawing on the nuts, before he ran off to eat them; the young Avatar continued walking over to the tent, pulling the canvas out of the way and sitting himself down on the sleeping roll inside. The Water Tribe girl sat down beside him, reaching into the bag and pulling out two rice crackers each for them, handing him some, which he accepted with a bright grin; he took a bite, finding the bland, dry taste not to be to his liking, though he chewed it down, knowing that it would give him the energy he needed to recover.

"This is dry." he simply observed, Katara nodding with a slight grimace, sticking her tongue out.

"Urgh... yep." she agreed, before taking another bite, "But it doesn't taste too bad."

"Better than eating meat." he piped up, before taking another bite.

Her eyes narrowed in thought, "I think Sokka would like to argue against that."

"Hmph, that's a dumb argument to have." he raised his chin up, confident that he'd never give up vegetarianism.

"Exactly." she agreed with a small smile, before taking another bite, grimacing once more, "But- uh- we could all agree that we need to find something a little nicer to eat while we're travelling to the North Pole."

"Maybe I should ask Bumi for some coins." he mumbled, the Water Tribe girl's eyes widening before she nodded.

"I mean, you should. Dad didn't give us that much, and even if Sokka and I can hunt and fish, that's something we're used to doing in the South Pole."

"He and Azula survived in a forest though, didn't they?"

"For three days. Not for a few weeks." she argued, before shaking her head, "The point is, we should ask for some money. I'm sure he'd understand why we need it."

"I hope we get there quickly." he admitted with a slight grimace, thinking back to what he already knew had happened in the world while he had been frozen, "We need to learn waterbending... I need to learn all the elements."

"I think it'll take a while." she admitted, before smiling, "Luckily, you don't have a time limit. You could take a few years, but that wouldn't be the end of the world."

"But if the Hundred Year War starts again, then I'll have to do it quicker." he admitted with an uneasy glance her way; he knew from Azula what he'd have to do in such a situation, and he wasn't looking forward to it- he'd have to fight the Fire Nation, and not just a single division, but the entire country, as well as her brother.

"Let's just not think about that." she suggested, "You're only twelve. You shouldn't have to be thinking about fighting the Fire Nation for real."

"No... I should." he admitted honestly, remembering that the mindset Katara was talking about was the one that caused him to flee the Southern Air Temple, which might have inadvertently doomed his fellow Air Nomads; despite that, he wasn't going to presume that he could have actually defeated the invading Fire Nation forces, especially if Sozin's Comet was as powerful as Azula claimed it was.

"Aang, I'm sure we'll be okay. We're all looking out for each other, and that means that we'll keep each other safe from whatever comes our way." she placed a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him that their group was something that couldn't just be broken apart; they were going to do what they had to fix the world, even if they didn't all agree what that would entail.

"Yeah." he mumbled, before taking a bite from his second rice-cracker; as he chewed it down, he thought back to what Azula had told him back at the Air Sanctuary.

"I need to find my past lives. If I'm going to be the Avatar, I need to learn from them." he concluded, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Of course. Didn't Azula say something about a temple dedicated to Avatar Roku? Maybe we should try and find it?" she suggested, Aang smiling at her.

"I'd like to do that... but I don't know if it'll be safe. I think it's in the Fire Nation." he explained, Katara's lips pursing downward into a small pout.

"Well, we should at least try. That would help you a lot... to have somebody to guide you."

"Y-yeah, it would." he smiled at her, thinking about his relationship with Monk Gyatso and how much he missed him; it always made him want to cry, but he knew there was no point in doing so.

He turned away, not wanting to get all pouty in front of her; he wanted to be a strong Avatar, not a weak one. He wasn't someone like Azula who thought that pacifism was weak, but he certainly knew that becoming overwhelmed by his feelings would be dangerous. He knew the first time he had activated the Avatar State, back at the Southern Air Temple, it had been precisely because of that.

"Are you okay, Aang?" she asked him, the young Avatar taking another bite from his rice-cracker.

After he chewed the piece of cracker down, he glanced back toward her, giving her a reassuring nod, "I'm okay." he tried to smile, "I just hope everything goes alright. I don't want what happened today to happen again."

"I understand. The Avatar State is something powerful, but maybe... maybe you'll find a way to control it."

"But I have no idea how to." he mumbled, the Water Tribe girl placing a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"Well, that's just something else we'll have to figure out. But we'll do it together." she smiled at him, the young Avatar mirroring her with his own small smile, appreciative of the care she gave to him; he glanced back toward the canvas opening, thinking back to the other person he thought might need some help.

"Is Sokka going to be okay? He seemed really worried about Azula today."

"I think he's really like that all the time, and today is just when he showed it." she conceded, her expression becoming more sombre, "He knows the danger that she's in, and he doesn't like it."

"Maybe we should try and avoid people from now on. So, she'll be safe... so we can all be safe." he suggested, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head.

"We can't avoid people entirely. You're the one who's going to save the world, so, you'll have to deal with a lot of people." she explained, the young Avatar sighing.

"I feel like that's gonna be boring and annoying." he pouted, making her chuckle, pointing to him with a humoured grin.

"Oh, it might be, but that's what we have to do." she acknowledged, the young Avatar making a small smile in return.

"Yeah, but we're going to do it together." he told her, knowing that he had the reassurance of having friends by his side while he had to do his duties as the Avatar.

"That's right, Aang." she agreed with him, taking a bite from her own rice-cracker, before she swallowed it, giving him a reassuring look, "There's nothing to worry about while we're got each other's backs."

He nodded, before lying back on the sleeping roll, "I wonder who we're going to meet next... where we're going to go." he mumbled, Katara raising a brow with interest.

"I don't know." she admitted her own thoughts, before smiling at him, "But if you want to go try and talk to Avatar Roku, we can do that."

"I don't know where this island is. Maybe Azula can give us some directions on the map." he noted, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"I bet she can when she gets back." she raised a finger, Aang pouting slightly.

"Oh, yeah, she went to go get Sokka some medicine." he reminded himself, "Maybe we should go hang out with him. He could use the company."

"I think that's a great idea." she smiled at him, rising to her feet, taking another bite from her rice cracker, "Maybe that'll stop him being such a downer."

"I sure hope it does." he grinned at her, before he pulled himself back up to stand up; he followed her out of the tent, the Water Tribe girl's attention drawn away from Appa, where Sokka was sitting.

It wasn't until he got out of the tent that he realised that there was somebody, or rather, two people pacing toward their tent; Jet was walking toward them with a serious glare on his face, being tailed by Toph, who had a far more worried look on her face.

"Stop being an idiot!" she demanded of the Freedom Fighter, "You think you can make anything happen by trying to piss them off!"

He glanced back toward the blind earthbender with a scowl, drawing out his hook swords, "Fuck off, Toph. You don't scare me." he declared, Toph sighing with frustration, before she turned her head their way.

"Sorry about him. He's just an arsehole." she admitted, before taking an earthbending stance, "Do you want me to knock him out?"

Katara stepped forward, raising a hand to suggest her to stop, "No, Toph." she disagreed, "Are you here for Azula, Jet?" she addressed the fuming Freedom Fighter, who snarled at her, pointing his hook sword toward her, although he was a fair distance away, so it didn't worry Aang yet.

"No. I'm here to speak to Sokka." he demanded, before he glanced around, "Where is he? Where did he go?"

"It's not like we'd tell you." Aang argued, "You look like you're ready to start slicing him up."

"That's exactly what I thought, Twinkletoes." the frustrated earthbender agreed, making him roll his eyes at her nickname, though his attention was quickly shifted to the Freedom Fighter, who approached him with a determined look.

"Don't shit around. I want to hear it from him. Why he betrayed everything he ought to be." he declared, Katara raising a brow at him, clearly offended, although she didn't look ready to punch the arrogant teenager in the face just yet.

"My brother didn't betray our tribe, Jet." she stressed to him with a serious, commanding tone, "Just because you don't like her doesn't mean that makes my brother a bad person."

"Do you know what he was doing in Ba Sing Se?" he retorted, "Do you?"

"Of course I do." she rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips, "You do realise I've heard the whole story. Your whole plot to overthrow the Fire Nation... the Dai Li trying to murder you... yeah, Sokka didn't leave out any details." she explained before looking at him accusingly, with the most angry expression Aang had seen yet far on her face; unlike her little spats with Azula, she was genuinely offended by the Freedom Fighters words, "You think you know him? Why he did what he did?"

"Do you?" he quipped in return, the Water Tribe girl's eyes darting away from him.

"I don't agree with all of it... but he did what he thought was right." she explained, her voice growing more confident as she went along.

The aggrieved teen's eyes darted up, which told them he had gotten distracted; Aang glanced back to take note of Sokka standing tall on Appa's saddle, still only wearing his pants and boots, with a bandage strapped across his torso. He could see the look in Sokka's eyes, and unlike Jet, who was filled with a blind rage, he was certainly concentrated, the cold look in his eyes far more serious than he had ever seen him before.

"How about you let him speak for himself?" the Freedom Fighter argued, before Toph stepped closer to him, pointing him accusingly.

"You're going to regret this." she warned him, "You better walk away while you still can." she told him with a serious tone, before she turned her heels, suggesting that she had given up trying to dissuade him from his efforts.

Her words seemed to have little effect on Jet, who turned back to look at Sokka, "Well, come on! Tell me!" he demanded, pointing his sword toward him.

"Please, stop." Aang requested of him, the Freedom Fighter glancing his way with a snarl, "You aren't going to feel any better fighting Sokka."

"No, I will." he declared, before turning to face the Water Tribe teen once more, "Are you mute now? Is that it?!" he asked him, his voice rising to shout.

Sokka's silence did not break, and he climbed down from Appa's saddle, unarmed and walking with a casual stride toward the Freedom Fighter; Katara raised her hand toward Sokka, as if to dissuade him from getting any closer, but he put his own hand up. She didn't speak, and Aang didn't either; they both understood the conflict was between Jet and Sokka, and could be resolved by them alone.

* * *

Staring the clearly angry Freedom Fighter down, Sokka felt a sense of frustration; he didn't want to have to deal with someone like Jet, not when he was so concerned about Azula's safety. He knew, however, that he had to deal with him, and even though he'd prefer to do so with his words, he knew he would end up doing so with his fists. He settled on a combination of the two, and waited for Jet's inevitable prodding words, which came quickly enough, given how impatient he was.

"Don't you have anything to say?! Huh?!" he asked him once more, the Water Tribesman raising his right hand up to warn him.

"Shut the fuck up." he told him with quiet, but commanding voice.

"Sorry, what?" the Freedom Fighter tilted his head mockingly, as if he wanted him to scream at him.

Sokka stepped a little closer, clearing his throat, "Shut the fuck up, Jet."

"Oh, so now you're speaking." the other boy cocked a smirk, pointing one of his hook swords toward him, "Why'd you do it... huh? Was the desire of fucking a Fire Nation wench a little too much for you?" he asked him, the Water Tribe teen trying not to laugh at his words; he was obviously trying to rile him up, but he could barely take his words seriously.

"How exactly is she responsible for every little bad thing the Fire Nation has done?" he retorted, which only further infuriated the Freedom Fighter, who slashed his blades into the dirt beneath their feet, spraying it up into the air.

"You're a coward! She's a monster, just like the rest of them!" he shouted at him, the Water Tribe teen sighing, raising his hand to his forehead.

"Come on, do you really believe that... like I know you're traumatised from something, but that's a bad excuse to call her evil. She didn't do any of that." he simply deduced, Katara and Aang's expressions becoming clearly uneased by his words; he was being blunt, but bluntness seemed to be the best tool to use against the aggrieved Freedom Fighter.

"Y-you..." he snarled, before screaming out in anger, charging toward him with his swords behind him, ready to swing them right at the unarmed Water Tribe warrior, "You bastard!" he shouted at him, swinging his blades down at Sokka, who somersaulted out of the way before kicking Jet in the lower back, not even trying to chi-block him yet; he grunted with pain and Sokka shook his head with disappointment.

"Sorry, what? I'm a bastard? I'm pretty sure my mother and father were married." he mocked his words, the Freedom Fighter flaring his teeth as he looked back his way; he swung one of his hook swords around, Sokka leaning back to dodge the end of the blade, before he dodged a jab.

His opponent continued to send a flurry of swings and jabs his way, each of them easy enough to dodge, as he kept pulling his arms too far back when he readied his attacks; that indicated that he was actually trying to hit him, though Sokka was pretty sure he wasn't going to get hit, even if his chest still hurt, and ached worse than before because of all the moving he was doing.

"You know, maybe you should talk to somebody about all this anger. Looks like a serious issue." Sokka suggested, which made the Freedom Fighter scream at him, lunging forward to stab him; he jumped backward, before he stepped to the side, grasping Jet's right arm to stop him from swinging it at him.

His eyes widened with fear for an instant, before his expression turned back to a snarl, pulling his arm down to wring it free; the Water Tribe teen simply let go, before jabbing him in the shoulder, paralysing his arm instantly. He dropped his sword, stepping back with fear, obviously not realising the skill he wielded.

"Oh, sorry, were you going to use that arm?" he mocked him, the Freedom Fighter snarling at him, charging forward with his left-hand blade, swinging it right at the Water Tribesman's head.

He fell back to the ground, Jet missing as he lunged forward; Sokka immediately kicked his left leg up, striking the Freedom Fighter right in the abdomen, winding him profusely. He began coughing, gasping for air as he stumbled to the side.

"Why are you such a snake?" he growled at the Water Tribe boy, who slowly rose back to his feet, watching his opponent try to recover.

"I'm a human being, thank you." he corrected him, "And why don't you think the Fire Nation aren't also human beings? Last time I checked, they weren't covered with scales and literally poisonous." he suggested; he heard Aang snickering at his joke, though Jet's attention obviously wasn't on his mockery.

"They're all the same. She corrupted you! She made you a slave!" he accused, making Sokka cackle; Jet was so wrong he couldn't help but laugh at him, knowing that he was so far from being a slave it was absurd to even suggest it.

"A slave?" he repeated his insult back to him, "Huh, since when was having friends slavery?"

"Yeah, that's not a thing." Aang backed him up, even Katara nodding along, although she was obviously worried about them fighting.

The Freedom Fighter readied his sword once more, "You're blind. You don't even see how she's manipulating you!" he declared, the Water Tribe teen rolling his eyes.

"Wow, that's some pretty great manipulation she did. What, coming with me to the South Pole instead of going to fight and kill her brother for the throne?" he mocked his attempt to paint Azula as some kind of mastermind; she was certainly the smartest person he knew, but that didn't mean that every single action she took was with malicious intent.

Jet charged at him in fury, his stance all over the place as he tried to swing his blade down at Sokka's shoulder; the Water Tribe warrior was more than ready for his attack, weaving to the side before chi blocking him by jabbing him in the lower back, paralysing his legs.

"What did Toph say about not being able to walk?" he pursed his lips into a smirk, the Freedom Fighter grunting as he fell face first on the ground, only just realising that his legs couldn't hold his weight up.

Sokka knelt down beside him, appreciating his flustered expression, which quickly shifted to one of anger once again, "Fuck you." he growled under his breath, the Water Tribe teen rising back up and taking a step back, not wanting the Freedom Fighter to grab his legs and throw him to the ground.

"Now, do you understand where you stuffed up, Jet?" he mockingly questioned him, the Freedom Fighter struggling to pull himself off of the ground with only one hand; he rolled himself over, lying on his back, staring the Water Tribesman down with dagger eyes.

"Do you?" he retorted, as if to suggest that his mistakes were in any way relevant to their fight; he had certainly made some along the way, but he had always done what he thought was right by the world and the people he cared for.

"You're an idiot." he rolled his eyes, raising his hands into the air, "You're getting so angry about me doing something. What, would you prefer me to have stayed at the South Pole while the Dai Li murdered you and your friends?"

"They weren't going to do that." he argued, raising himself to a seated position, trying to keep his eyes on Sokka, "We beat them."

"What, you beat one, two guys?" he retorted, "You were the one who took my advice. And look, you're alive and well, instead of being captured and brainwashed by the Dai Li." he gestured to Jet, who snarled, his eyes darting away; that suggested that he was right, and that was what he wanted to see- he knew the Freedom Fighter was just acting like a fool, he just didn't know it.

"Shut up." he demanded, before grasping the hilt of his left-hand blade, "You act all high and mighty, but you don't even know the consequences of what you've done."

"Oh, I know what I've done. I saved a girl's life. I saved Ba Sing Se from tearing itself apart. Yeah, it wasn't all me, but I didn't stand idly by." he declared, stepping closer, pointing at him accusingly, "Azula's trying to fix the world, and you blame her for being born in the Fire Nation. She didn't choose that, but she chose us over them." he told him, his voice becoming darker, which obviously intimidated the Freedom Fighter.

"I- how can you trust them? You know what they've done." he asked him, now sounding more confused than angry.

"Because I believe the best of people... and sometimes, when you do that hard enough, they think a little better of themselves." he declared his thoughts on the matter, knowing that without his belief in Azula, he was unsure she could have taken the leaps she had to move out of her father's shadow.

He sighed, feeling that he was starting to grow uneasy and worry about her once again; so, he turned his heels, glancing toward Aang and Katara, "You two take care of him, and if he thinks about coming after me, please, for his own safety, knock him out. I'd prefer him unconscious than Azula killing him."

"Uh... okay." his sister accepted his request, the young Avatar simply nodding along, uneasily looking at the sight of Jet.

"Also..." Sokka turned back around to face the downed Freedom Fighter, "You should go apologise to Toph when you can move your legs again." he suggested, the Freedom Fighter's eyes turning away, though he couldn't tell if it was in shame or because he was too disappointed to meet him in the eye.

"Where are you going?" his sister asked him, the Water Tribe teen turning his eyes away, not wanting to show how much fear he was feeling; even if he was expressing his own confidence in both himself and Azula to Jet, that didn't mean he wasn't scared shitless about her safety.

"I need to speak with her." he simply told her, before raising a hand to stress, "Alone."

"Okay." Katara nodded, before she turned to face the paralysed teen, "Don't you dare try anything, or you're going to wish I could waterbend better." she narrowed her eyes at him; Sokka raised his chin up, almost wanting to applaud his sister for her intimidation, but decided to leave her be, pacing off in the direction his girlfriend had taken to go find him some burn ointment.

Despite the fact he didn't want to deal with the Freedom Fighter alone, he didn't want her to be around when he was having his rant, knowing that she would have gotten offended, and perhaps started a fight, the kind that would end badly for them, especially in the long run. They needed their allies, that was sure, not just for Aang, but for his tribe; that didn't mean, however, that they ought to put themselves in danger- he was prepared to take Azula by the hand, pack up the tent himself and fly on Appa out of there with no assistance if that was what it took. No matter what Yung had said to them, that didn't change that they were in danger; not everyone would agree with his practical minded conclusions, Jet being a clear example of that, albeit an extreme one.

He kept his pace up, not looking back to check if Jet was still down; that wasn't his concern, and he could trust Katara and Aang to handle that. His eyes darted around, checking the few tents that still resembled of being just that; most of them were damaged beyond repair, reminding him of what had happened to his own tent back when they had been attacked on the road to Yu Dao a few months prior. He thought back to that fight, and how exhausted he had been, which was quite contrastive to his experience that morning; though he had gotten himself burned badly, he was still fully conscious and capable of fighting, though he was in a fair amount of pain. He hadn't been worrying about Azula, or the other people he had been travelling with, unlike his current self, who was pacing around the ruins of a Fire Nation encampment, hoping that nobody had confronted his girlfriend while she was alone. He didn't want her to put herself in danger, even if she was fully capable of defending herself; none of them could face off a dozen earthbenders at once, not without an earthbender on their own side.

He took note of a few rebel soldiers, who were walking together; they looked at him for a moment, but didn't seem suspicious of him in the slightest, and their rather calm expressions suggested that they weren't worried. That was the best sign he could receive; if people were getting angry and worried about Azula's presence, they sure weren't showing it. He also knew that some mightn't have been informed yet, which made sense, but he knew that word would spread fast, especially given that everyone was gathering back together after the fight, having captured a large number of prisoners and searched the camp from top to bottom.

They walked past with no issue, and Sokka turned his attention forward, realising that he had reached the northern end of the campsite, which was for the most part unscathed from the damage the rest had received from the earthbenders ripping the ground apart. A few tents were ripped apart by boulders, but other than that, it seemed like any other kind of encampment. He glanced around, hearing the sound of rustling; he assumed some people were sneaking about, stealing what supplies they could from the undamaged tents, which made good sense to Sokka. He wouldn't even call it stealing, seeing that the Fire Nation were their enemies, and the supplies would likely just go to waste if the rebels just left them sitting there after they withdrew back to New Omashu.

He glanced into one of the tents, the soldier inside looking back at him with surprise, "Uh, is somethin' wrong?" he asked him, the Water Tribesman shaking his head and leaving him be, continuing forward into the campsite; he took note of a larger tent, inside of which he could see a few boxes and beyond which, he could hear more rustling noises.

As he approached, he sighed with relief as he realised it was Azula inside, distinguished by her Fire Nation armour, and the makeshift bandana of blue fabric she had been wearing. She turned around, obviously hearing his footsteps, and her face immediately shifted to a frown.

"What did I tell you? You need to rest." she told him with a disgruntled voice, before he raised his own hand.

"I'm sorry." he simply apologised, "I was... but, then somebody paid us a visit."

"Oh, let me guess: Jet?" she raised a brow at him, the Water Tribe teen nodding, before he made an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah. He yammering on about all my 'misdeeds' or whatever, so I chi-blocked him and cracked a few jokes." he explained simply, the Princess raising her chin up, her smirk approving, rather than the usual mocking kind she would give him.

"I'd expect no less from Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe." she declared, before crossing her arms, "But why'd you have to come all the way over here to find me? Did Katara decide we're going to leave already?"

"No." he shook his head, "I did."

"You? Are you really afraid of Jet of all people."

"Of course not. He can't bend, and he's angry- angry people are a lot easier to beat than calm ones." he explained before narrowing his eyes into a more serious glare, "I am afraid of you getting crushed by a bunch of earthbenders, however."

"They could try." she scoffed, Sokka face-palming with frustration.

"Yeah, they damn well could!" he growled, gesturing into the tent, "Let's get that burn ointment, and then we're leaving. I want to get the rest of our things from New Omashu, and then I want to leave these rebels behind us."

"I couldn't agree more." she smirked at him once more, waving her hand toward the tent, "Come on, you have a pretty keen eye, don't you?"

"I guess I do." he agreed with her with an aloof shrug of his shoulders, pacing forward to step into the storage tent, glancing around at the numerous boxes that littered it, stacked nearly as tall as him; the pure number of boxes frustrated him, suggesting that it might take them a little longer than he would have hoped.

He knelt over, looking at the writing he could see on the crates, which only consisted of a few small markings; they didn't tell him much, only stating the fragility or danger of the boxes. He could see a few warnings about combustible contents, suggesting that some of the boxes were explosives, and then could see a few others stating that they had fragile contents. Sokka grasped one of the boxes that lay on the top of the stack that had 'fragile' marked on it, and cracked it open by jamming the top edge onto the corner of another box. He pulled the wooden lid off, glancing inside to see a set of cups, plates and bowls, which amused him.

"Ah, a tea set." he mumbled, trying to imagine the soldiers cracking open the box and using its contents to have some tea and snacks.

He placed the box to the side, pulling out another fragile box, and shook it lightly to try and discern its contents; it made a sound he would usually associate with ceramics or glass, Sokka guessing that the box had a similar kind of contents to the one he had just opened. He sighed, taking out another box, shaking it and hearing a similar sound.

"How many plates and cups does an army need?" he mumbled, his girlfriend answering his rhetorical question.

"Oh, well, they probably aren't for being used. They might try and sell them to get more supplies. They might have stolen them from somewhere." she suggested, the Water Tribe teen sighing, before he returned back to examining each fragile box, one by one, sure that one of them would contain the ointment.

"Aha!" he heard Azula's voice rise up, almost sounding chirpy, "I found it." she assured him.

He turned his head around to face her, taking note of the box she was holding in her hand; glancing inside, he saw a few small glass jars of a green paste.

"That's it?" he asked her, the Princess nodding at him, clearly in a better mood than he was.

"Indeed. It's made with herbs, I think." she explained, before pulling one of them out, throwing it toward Sokka; he gasped, reaching forward to grab it in both his hands.

He sighed with relief as he opened it, narrowing his eyes at his girlfriend, "Ddi you really need to throw it?"

"No, but you need to be as alert as possible if you want to become a better fighter."

"I'm pretty alert." he claimed with as confident a tone he could muster, before dipping his fingers into the jar, putting a bit of the paste on his fingers, "So... what do I do?" he asked her, Azula rolling her eyes, placing the box down on the ground in front of her before walking over to him.

She grabbed the jar out of his hand, and placed her own fingers into it, "I'll show you, but after this, I expect you to do it yourself." she warned him, Sokka nodding to reassure her; he wasn't completely incompetent, and if anything, he was sure he could learn how to properly apply it with one observation.

He unwound the bandages he had covering his chest, which protected his still raw burn from the elements; it felt sensitive to the touch of the dust that was being whipped up into the air, which wasn't surprising after all the earthbending the rebels had done in destroying the encampment. He didn't think that the injury was any worse than the burns he had received from Azula when they sparred after first arriving in Ba Sing Se, though that time he had had access to burn ointment immediately after, though the aches were enough to drive him to drink himself to a stupor. When her fingers touched the burn, covered with the ointment, he shuddered, realising how cold the paste was, despite the fact she was always so warm. She chuckled at his reaction, but didn't relent to spread it over the wound, her fingers moving lightly, not unlike as if she were painting something onto his chest. She grasped the unwound bandage, which he had flung over his shoulder, and slowly wrapped it back over the burn, winding it around his torso as she did so.

"Simple enough, wasn't it?" she raised one her eyebrows at him, the Water Tribe warrior blushing as he realised how close she was to his face; to his disappointment, she didn't kiss him, simply leaning back before she glanced back the direction they had come, "So, are you still eager to get out of here?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, confused as to why she thought he might have changed his mind, "What's that supposed to..." he trailed off, his mouth agape as he realised what she was suggesting, "I- uh- appreciate the offer... but I do really want to get as far away from here as quickly as I can."

"Oh, you're no fun." she pursed her lips upward into a playful smirk, tapping his right shoulder, which wasn't covered by a bandage, "Who would have thought there'd be a day where you'd be more responsible than I, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation?"

"Uh, that day's long past. Remember when you attacked those soldiers the day after you nearly died?" he questioned her, the Princess's lips scrunching up as he stared her down.

"I was protecting us." she argued, the Water Tribesman shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm pretty sure I could have chi-blocked them." he noted, before he raised a finger, "Not that I was going to. I wanted to get that boat into the water as quickly as possible."

"Of course, preserving your injured girlfriend over actually having a spine." she mocked him, making him sigh loudly, leaning back on a stack of crates.

"Sheesh, I don't know how I fell for you if you're always so mean." he suggested, making her chuckle.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm the prettiest and smartest girl you've ever met." she flicked her bangs up cockily, the Water Tribesman failing to hold a straight face.

"Okay, you got me." he raised his hands up to signal defeat, "You definitely are the prettiest and smartest girl I've ever met."

"How dare you declare defeat? What has become of your fighting spirit?" she pointed at him accusingly; Sokka was genuinely unsure whether she was joking or whether she truly wanted him to argue his own reason.

"Uh... well, I also liked you because you're really good at insults. I thought I was good, but then... well, I certainly learned a lot."

"What, that picking apart someone's reasons and place in the world is far more effective than calling them names?" she raised her index finger to her chin.

"Are you going to chide me for wanting to agree with you again?" he asked her, the Princess remaining silent for a few moments before she shook her head, the smugness not falling from her face.

"I'll let it slide, savage." she simply told him, before she leaned over, picking up the box of burn ointment, "I have a feeling we'll be needing more of this." she smirked slightly as she raised the box up.

He grimaced, realising the implication of her tone, "You say that like it's a good thing."

"Beating my enemies is a good thing." Azula declared without a speck of doubt in her voice; Sokka, however, didn't think she was exactly sound in her argument.

"But we'd only need the burn ointment if somebody's getting burned... which means we wouldn't be winning."

"I never said anything about winning unscathed." she retorted, trying to sure up her own words, "What, would you rather me not bring it along?"

"No, no." he raised his hands to stress, "I know we'll need it... it's just that can't possibly be a good thing."

"We're getting things done, Sokka." she declared, before raising a finger to her lips, "Speaking of getting things done, I realise that we might benefit from having more good fighters by our side."

"What, do you want to recruit Toph or something?" he raised his left eyebrow, his skeptical tone not making his girlfriend any less sure of herself.

She shook her head, "No, that will come later. She can still do things here with her abilities." before she grinned at him, "I have somebody else in mind."

He looked at her with confusion, unsure exactly who she was referring to, "Uh, who?"

"Well, it's someone I've been meaning to see for quite a while now. I ought to thank her for giving me the knowledge to make you the most skilled non-bending fighter alive."

"I wouldn't go as far to claim that." he raised a hand, not feeling anywhere near cocky enough to claim he was the most skilled fighter in the world, "Maybe in my village, but even then, there's warriors just as good as me." he explained his reasoning, before he mumbled, realising that he had completely ignored her clues; the skill that he wielded, chi-blocking, had been taught to him by Azula, though she had learned the basics herself from her friend, Ty Lee, whom she hadn't seen for years, "Ty Lee."

"That's her name." she nodded, before crossing her arms, "Though, I'm having second thoughts. Knowing her, she's going to start hitting on you the moment she sees you."

He pursed his lips upward, realising that such a scenario would give him a golden opportunity to scare Ty Lee, "Wanna prank her?"

"Oh, I'm listening." she smirked at him, the Water Tribe teen clearing his throat as he stepped forward.

"Let's head back to Appa, and I'll tell you along the way." he suggested, the Princess glancing momentarily at the box in her arms before shrugging, her giddy expression not fading.

"You better not disappoint me. I haven't seen her in nearly three years, and if you're going to joke around, it better be worth it." she warned him, though her expression was playful enough to tell him that she wasn't really that worried.

"The look on her face... oh, it will be priceless."

* * *

"Katara."

She blinked twice, hearing the familiar sound of her name on her brother's tongue, her head rising up from Appa's saddle; she glanced around, taking note that the sky had shifted colour from a light blue to an darker hue, the horizon painted a blood orange colour, which reflected off the clouds that lay on the western horizon. Katara was sure she had just fallen asleep for a short nap, though the sudden change in colours suggested she might slept for longer than she had intended to; she took note of Aang sitting by the front of the saddle, while Sokka sat in front of her, his eyes staring into her own, the light on the horizon shimmering into his blue irises.

"Katara, are you alright?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head; she glanced to her right, taking note of Azula, who was curled up by the edge of the saddle, though whether she was asleep or not, she couldn't tell.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." she assured her brother, who gestured ahead of them.

"We're about to arrive back in New Omashu. We can get the rest of our stuff, and then we'll get moving."

"Shouldn't we just stay the night?" she mumbled, Aang glancing back her way, a grimace on his face.

"Azula might be in danger if we do. Even if Bumi is okay with her, all the people in the city, they might be just as bad as Jet." he told her, the Water Tribe girl grimacing as she thought back to the Freedom Fighter's verbal and physical attacks on her brother.

"I hope they aren't. He was just acting crazy." she acknowledged, hearing Azula scoff a moment later, confirming that she was awake.

"Says the person who spited me for six whole months." she growled with an annoyed voice, Sokka raising a hand to try and appease her.

"Now, now, nobody's spiting anybody now. We're all friends." he assured her, the Princess flaring her nostrils slightly, snidely glaring the Water Tribe girl's way before she turned around once more.

Though she didn't want to apologise, she knew that she ought to for the greater good of ensuring harmony on the small confines of Appa's saddle, "I didn't mean to offend you, Azula."

"No, you didn't... that doesn't make you not a hypocrite, though." she raised a finger at her, the Water Tribe girl sighing, realising that there was a lot of commonality between her and Jet.

Both of them had lost family to the Fire Nation, and like him, she didn't trust them in the slightest- she could only trust the Princess because of the good things she had seen her do, both for her brother and for the Southern Water Tribe as a whole.

"Come on, do you really have to argue, right now? We're meant to be getting our game faces on." Sokka argued with a frustrated voice, Katara raising a finger to stop her brother.

"N-no, no, she has a point." she admitted, which made Azula smirk cockily; though she wanted to punch the shit-eating grin off of her face, she knew that the Princess was well and truly in the right, "I've been just like Jet... I'm probably still like him. I don't like the Fire Nation, and I don't think I ever will, but... I trust you, Azula."

"Oh, thank you, I'm really touched by those sweet words." she sarcastically replied, the Water Tribe girl rolling her eyes.

"I'm being serious. Can you not be an arse for just one second?" she growled, the Princess shaking her head.

"Your apology is pending. We'll see how it pans out in future. If you continue to be a suspicious arsehole to Fire Nation people in general, then I'm not accepting your apology. Not a chance." she warned her, before raising a finger to her chin, "Though, we'll soon find out if you're being genuine."

"What, because we're going to find your Ty Lee friend... so you can trick her?" she raised a brow, unsure in her words; she remembered how Sokka and Azula had returned giggling about their intentions, which they kept purposefully vague, just to keep up the suspense, it seemed.

"Well, not just that." Sokka clarified, "We're going to recruit her."

"What, just like that?" she snapped her finger, "Get somebody to come help us train Aang." she asked him with a tone of disbelief; she couldn't see how anyone would just pack up and join them at a whim.

"Ty Lee's the kind of girl always scratching for adventure. That's why she left the capital in the first place." Azula explained, pursing her lips upward, "She will come around."

"How can you be so sure?" she narrowed her eyes at the Princess, who simply shrugged her shoulders, her confident smirk unfazed.

"I know her." she stressed, before glancing over the side of the saddle, "When are we going to drop down, Aang?" she asked the boy leading the flying bison along, who raised a hand over his brow as he glanced around.

"Huh... now that you mention it, I don't really know. All these mountains look the same." he admitted, before gesturing ahead of them to smokestacks in the distance, "But that's definitely Old Omashu over there, which means that the mountain New Omashu's under should be right here."

"There's the creek," Sokka gestured to their left, "where we camped out a few days ago." before he pointed to their right, "Drop right now! Before some Fire Nation patrols spot us!" he warned the young Avatar with a panicked rise in his voice, making Katara chuckle.

"What exactly are they going to do, huh?" she asked him rhetorically, "Oh no, there's a big ball of fur in the sky. The Commander's never gonna believe us!" she imitated what she best guessed a FIre Nation soldier might sound like, earning a snort from Azula.

"Pfft, that's nowhere near close. They would report the location and trajectory, and that's about it. It's not like they could figure out Appa's a sky-bison from this far away anyway."

Aang glanced back to face the Princess with a skeptical look, "Don't Fire Nation soldiers know about that kind of stuff? I thought the Air Nomads were your enemies." her asked her, to which she shook her head, seeming rather uncaring about the threat.

"All the other Air Nomads have been gone for a hundred years. Appa's what you would find in history books, not in training manuals." she explained, before pointing ahead of them, toward the mountain slope, "The bottom entrance was just down here."

"Yeah, it was." Aang nodded, "I remember now." he mumbled, before his voice rose to a chirpy shout, "Slow down, buddy!" he told him, the sky-bison groaning as he quickly decelerated.

Momo chittered with fear as he grabbed onto Sokka's leg, as if he were about to be flung off the sky-bison; their descent was rather rough, and Katara had to grasp the saddle to make sure she didn't get flung to the side and into Azula, who certainly wouldn't have appreciated her head-butting her in the shoulder. When the sky-bison touched down on the ground, she was forced forward, raising her hands to stop herself from head-butting the saddle.

"That was a little rough." she mumbled, Aang giving her a cringed smile.

"Oh, sorry guys, I thought if Sokka was so worried, we should get down quicker." he acknowledged, the aforementioned Water Tribesman growling with offence.

"Hey, I never said to try and throw us off the saddle, Aang!" he pointed at him accusingly, "I'd rather be spotted by the Fire Nation than fall to my death."

"I agree with Sokka. Maybe try and be a little more careful. We're not all airbenders." Katara added, realising that falling off Appa's saddle was something that was quite likely, especially if they ever had to do evasive maneuvers up in the sky.

"That's true." Azula agreed, before pursing her lips upward into a smirk, "though, I'm pretty sure I can fly with my firebending, so I wasn't worried."

"You can what?!" Aang turned to look at her with a fearful look, "Is that normal?"

"Uh..." she raised a finger to her chin; whether she was actually unsure of herself, or simply didn't want Aang to worry, she took her time to respond, "I would say it's rare, but given enough training and good enough stamina, any firebender could achieve it."

"That's just one more thing we might have to worry about." Sokka conceded, rising up from the saddle as he glanced over in the direction of the 'entrance' to New Omashu, which was really just a pile of rocks that could be opened up at will to reveal the tunnels into the depths of the underground city, "Luckily for us, we have the greatest firebender alive with us, so I wouldn't worry about some soldiers trying to firebend fly after her." he gestured toward his girlfriend, who smugly raised her chin, obviously liking his comments on her skill.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to it."

The Water Tribe girl raised a brow, realising what she was saying, "You want to fight a bunch of firebenders mid-air?"

"I don't want to, I will." she declared confidently, Katara grimacing, shaking her head with disappointment.

"Was she always looking for danger?" she asked her brother, who raised a hand up to gesture that she was half-correct.

"Well, I think it's more the other way around. Danger's attracted to us like flies are to rotting meat."

Rising up to her feet, Azula crossed her arms, looking toward her boyfriend with a cocky smirk, "And just like rotting meat, we'll poison anyone who gets a taste of us."

"That's a... did you just make that up?" Aang looked at her with interest, the Princess nodding.

"I did." she confirmed, before her eyes darted down to Sokka's leg, which Katara just noticed Momo was grasping onto for dear life, "Uh, Sokka, you've got a lemur on your leg."

"Momo." he sighed, "If you want me to carry you, you've got to find a better place to sit."

The flying lemur chittered, before letting go of his leg, jumping into the air and gliding away from the saddle; he began circling around the entrance, which suddenly opened up. Katara guessed that Appa's landing was loud enough that the guards inside probably realised they were back. When the dust cleared, she could see three earthbenders, all standing in formation with rocks floating in front of them, ready to attack; their stances fell as they realised that they were looking at the Avatar and his friends.

"Oh... it's just you guys." one of them mumbled, dropping his rock down, which shattered into dust and rubble, "We thought the Fire Nation had just come scouting around again."

"No, no, don't worry. We took care of them." Sokka raised a hand toward them, the soldiers looking at each other with understandable surprise.

"Wait... seriously?" one of them spoke up, obviously skeptical that they had already done what they had set out to do, that being to stop the Fire Nation from reaching New Omashu.

"Yep." Aang grinned at them, "We won. So... we're back. We'd like to get our things, and I'd like to go see Bumi. We're going to the North Pole." he told them, which Katara thought was a pretty good lie, or at the very least, an omission of the truth.

They were trying to get ahead of the news of Azula's identity, and they weren't heading for the North Pole immediately, but rather going on a detour to find Azula's childhood friend, who she claimed was in a travelling circus somewhere in the western Earth Kingdom.

"Oh... uh... you mean the King?" one of them asked, probably not used to someone referring to his leader so casually.

"Uh, yeah... sorry, old habits." the young Air Nomad scratched the back of his scalp, the soldiers nodding before moving out of the way.

"Go right ahead. Just make sure your... uh... big friend here fits." one of the soldiers advised, Aang nodding along.

"Oh, we had that problem last time. I'll just keep him in the main tunnels." he assured him, before whipping Appa's reins, "Come on buddy. I know you don't like caves, but we've got to go get our stuff."

As the sky-bison began to slowly walk into the tunnel, Momo landed back on the saddle, shaking the dust off of his fur; Azula cringed, covering her face, as did Katara, Sokka chuckling at their misfortune. When both of them shot him a cold glare at the same time, his lips straightened into a flat line, his eyes nervously darting away from their own.

He glanced back down the length of the dimly lit tunnel, making a sigh of relief, "Thanks, Appa." he patted his fur from the edge of the saddle, "I'm not walking all the way to that apartment to get a few bags of food and some clothes." Sokka commented, as if to assure the group he was planning on doing nothing but idling on Appa's saddle while they travelled through the tunnels.

"So, nobody's going to do any walking?" Katara asked them, everyone nodding.

"I'd rather not." Azula argued, before stretching her legs out, "I think I sprained my ankle when we were fighting."

"That's a Sokka-level excuse right there." she narrowed her eyes at the Princess, who sighed.

"Hmph, I guess I'll need to think of a better way of lying." she noted, the Water Tribe girl frowning as she crossed her arms.

"There's no need to lie." she grumbled under her breath.

"Unless it's about her you know what." Aang raised a finger to remind her, "Then lying's a good thing."

"But making stupid excuses not to exercise is bad." she argued, her brother narrowing her eyes at her.

"Yeah, like we didn't get enough exercise whooping some Fire Nation butts earlier today."

"You do raise a good argument, Katara. Exercise will ensure we're better prepared for fighting in the future." Azula acknowledged, much to her surprise, "But we're not exercising when it's nearly nightfall and most of us are injured and tired."

"Uh... thanks again." she mumbled, remembering back to the vicious fighting she had partook in, "You saved me and Sokka this morning." she repeated the fact outloud, wanting to at least acknowledge the valiant effort of the Fire Nation Princess, especially given the conflict she had probably felt over fighting her own people.

"I did my duty. I'd expect you to do the same." she simply acknowledged, dismissing her words with little care; the Water Tribe girl didn't press it, appreciating what she did more than she was annoyed by her denial of ever doing anything good or kind.

"Yeah..." she mumbled, turning her eyes toward the front of the saddle; the dimly lit tunnel made her feel uneasy, though she knew that it was safe.

The tunnel reminded her of what she had seen that morning, and she knew she would probably never forget it; Katara hadn't feared earthbending, not until she witnessed what they were truly capable of. Until then she had only heard stories from her father and brother; now that she had really seen what earthbending could do, she was more shocked that the Great War had gone the way it had. She knew that the Fire Nation must have been rich and crazy enough to attack the rest of the world and actually win, but the idea of someone, perhaps thousands of people, facing off what those Fire Nation soldiers had sent a chill down her spine.

She didn't usually sympathise with them, but at that moment, she realised that they were just as doomed as anyone else; it was just their insane ideas that kept them fighting. Someone like Azula was not born, she was made, and the country that made it was something that was still alive and kicking. She didn't know much about Fire Lord Zuko, but she hoped, from the bottom of her heart, that he was actually a kind and aspiring leader who might take the Fire Nation away from the insanity it had put itself in; she didn't trust them, not yet, but she could at least hope they could become better.

"If only." she mumbled under her breath, which caught her brother's attention.

"What?" he asked her, obviously missing what she said.

She shook her head, glancing back toward Momo, who was still scratching the dust off of his fur, "It's nothing." she simply told him, before petting the flying lemur, who grasped at her hand preemptively; she chuckled before letting go, allowing him to return back to his self-cleaning.

"Can he walk any quicker?" Sokka addressed Aang, who turned back their way, shaking his head.

"Not really. Appa's got six legs, but that doesn't make him fast on land." he acknowledged, his voice sounding his own frustration on the matter; he obviously wanted to see his friend one last time and get out, just as the rest of them did.

"What is fast on land? Are ostrich-horses any better than good old Appa?" he asked the Air Nomad, who narrowed his eyes, shaking his head.

"You couldn't carry anything on an ostrich-horse." he argued, "They're nice guys, just not that good for travelling."

"Ever used one?" Azula asked him, the Air Nomad shaking his head.

"Um, no. Once I met some traders who took them, and I realised how slow it was for non-airbenders to travel." he explained himself, the Princess raising a brow tih interest.

"Well, things have changed now. Steamships mean you can cross the world in a month." she smirked, before raising a brow, "I wonder if War Minister Qin ended up getting any more inventions that might help with that."

"Oh, something from that Mechanist guy? The one Aang had a freak out about?" Sokka asked with an amused tone, his girlfriend cocking her chin up.

"Yes. Building weapons for the Fire Nation and defiling an Air Temple. That ought to get Aang right into his Avatar State." she joked, the Avatar crossing his arms.

"They really shouldn't be doing that. If we ever go there, I'm going to tell them why they should respect the Air Temples. They're sacred places." Aang declared, before she cleared her throat.

"Well, I mean, everyone might be able to get the speed of transportation only the Air Nomads were allowed, because of all those inventions that man's been making." she suggested, the Avatar's expression shifting slightly, not as worried as he was before.

"I guess that's... nice. I'm sure that would help those poor merchants." he noted, the Princess nodding; seeing Aang and Azula agreeing over something was rather eerie for Katara, given how different their world-views were.

"Indeed it would." she agreed, before lying back down on the saddle, "Wake me up when we get to the apartment."

"Napping sounds like a good idea, but I've got a better one." Sokka argued, making his sister skeptically raise a brow.

"Oh, this ought to be good." she sarcastically quipped, earning a few giggles from everyone except her brother, who shot her a snarl, though it quickly shifted to a smirk.

"Yes, it will be." he assured her, as if her words weren't sarcasm, which they pretty clearly were, given how Azula had nearly laughed a few moments earlier, "How about we play a game?"

"A game?" Aang raised a brow, grinning at him, "I love games. What kind of game? Pai Sho? What no... we don't have a board."

"If you had one I would have burnt it." Azula growled, making Katara laugh.

"A bit of an overreaction?" she asked her, the Princess sighing as she rubbed her fingers on her nose bridge.

"Think of the most nostalgic memory you have. Think of how it makes you feel." she asked her, before raising her fingers away from her face, "That damn game gives me the exact opposite feeling."

"Good. We're talking about emotions already." Sokka clapsed his hands together, "That's pretty close to my idea."

"I'm not looking for a shoulder to cry on." Azula snarled at her boyfriend, crossing her arms and turning away.

"You didn't even let me explain it. You get to make people feel uncomfortable! How about that?"

Azula remained silent for a moment, before she cleared her throat, turning her head slightly, "I'm listening." she responded with a quiet tone, to mask the obvious enthusiasm she had; Katara rolled her eyes, obviously disappointed that the Fire Nation Princess could derive pleasure from making other people feel uncomfortable.

"We each ask a question to the others on the saddle, and you have to put your hand up if your answer is yes." he simply explained his idea, Aang looking at him with confusion.

"That's not really a game. You just wanna hear everyone's secrets." he deduced, making the other teen scrunch up his lips; from his reaction, it seemed that the Avatar had guessed correctly, though that didn't seem to change Sokka's intentions.

"I'm pretty sure that I know everyone's secrets... other than yours. I'll get to them soon enough." he declared as he stared down the young Air Nomad, which understandably made him nervous.

"Uh... okay." he mumbled, before looking at Katara, "Does this idea sound good to you?"

"Oh, I guess. If I can make Azula feel uncomfortable maybe she'll regret wanting to play." she suggested with a smirk, the Princess hammering her hand down onto the saddle with a devious look in her eyes.

"Oh, you're on, snowbender." she grinned, the Water Tribe girl trying her best to ignore her insult.

"Who's going first, then?" Aang asked, the Water Tribesman gesturing toward him.

"Go ahead, Aang." he smiled at him, though Katara immediately knew that Sokka was just trying to get him feeling even more nervous; she wanted to chide her brother, though she relented, knowing that she was more curious about what Aang had to ask.

"Hmph..." he raised a finger to his chin, making an exaggerated 'thinking pose'; she tried not to laugh, and patiently awaited his question, which came quickly enough, "Have... have you ever stolen somebody else's food?"

Sokka put his hand up immediately, which didn't surprise her, but Azula only raised her hand up slightly, before turning to face Katara, "Now, Katara, if I've stolen, you've stolen."

"What do you mean?" she narrowed her eyes at her, the Princess rolling her eyes at her as if she was supremely ignorant.

"Uh, the Southern Raiders, dummy. Remember when you and the tribesmen ransacked their kitchen, and you made me that subpar spicy komodo rhino rice?"

"Subpar?" she almost gasped, offended that Azula would say something so damning after she had given the meal to her as a gift.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault. Navy pre-packaged rations are never good." she directed the blame away from the Water Tribe girl, which relieved her somewhat; she realised however, that Azula was right- even if the Southern Raiders were practically evil incarnate, she still stole from them.

She raised her hand up, "Yeah... okay, I've done it." before she turned to face her brother, "So who did you steal from?"

"Uh... Pohuai Fortress. That was after Azula and I escaped Yu Dao." he clarified, making her cringe slightly.

"Surely that's not really stealing." she suggested, Azula raising a finger.

"If we stole, he stole." she simply assured her, before turning her eyes to Aang, "So, Mister Pacifistic Avatar, have you done it?"

"Uh... well, this one time I was in the Fire Nation with my friend Kuzon. We really wanted to get some fire flakes, but we didn't have any money... I hadn't tried them before, so I used my airbending to snatch some while he haggled with the guy at the stall." he explained, making Azula shake her head.

"Did you like them, at least?" she asked him, as if she knew how he was going to answer.

Aang shrugged his shoulders with a cringed smile, "Too spicy."

"Weakling." she snidely remarked, before glancing around, "So, am I next?"

"If you want to." Sokka shrugged his shoulders, "I'm afraid of your question."

"You should be." she smirked at her boyfriend, before glancing Katara's way, "Did you ever see something you really," raising her finger to stress, "and I mean really, shouldn't have?"

Katara's jaw dropped, realising that her brother was right to be afraid; both of them looked at each other, and it seemed from the look in his eye, that he definitely knew that was a really bad question to ask. She knew there was one thing that she wished she hadn't seen; she didn't see her mother die, and she was glad she hadn't, but she'd seen the next worse thing. She watched as she sacrificed herself for her own sake, and it sickened her to think of it; at the time, she hadn't understood it well enough, but as time went on, she realised what her mother had done, and it only made her feel more hate toward the Southern Raiders. The fact they had been willing to kill an unarmed woman just because she claimed she was the last waterbender was disgusting, and stretched her notions of what cruelty people were even capable of. She raised her hand, but took note that Aang had his own hand up; Sokka was the only one who didn't, but obviously he was more worried about her own feelings than whatever things he might have seen.

"I don't even need to ask you." Azula raised her chin, before narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend, "So... is that why? Because you didn't even get a chance to stop it from happening?"

"Y-yeah... pretty much." he nodded with a grimace; Katara's eyes widened, realising what Azula was actually saying.

The whole reason Sokka had gone to fight the Fire Nation, and had even met his future girlfriend in the first place, was because he wanted to make up for the fact he couldn't save their mother, who he hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to. Katara had, at the very least, shared that poignant moment with her, even if she hadn't understood it at the time; she had that, while her brother had nothing, only a funeral and a father who left to fight those responsible, as well as a duty to protect his people when he didn't know if he even could.

"What about you?" Azula turned to Aang, whose eyes turned down with shame.

"Monk Gyatso..." he mumbled, "He was trying to argue... I think he was trying to tell them why I ought to stay at the Southern Air temple. But I missed most of the conversation- they were going to split us apart, and... that's why I left. That's why... everything happened. The war. The Southern Raiders. Azula and her brother nearly killing each other. Because I was afraid of a few old guys." he almost began to sob, though he stopped himself; he was obviously too frustrated with himself to cry about it.

Sokka placed a hand on his shoulder, "Maybe I should have got the next question instead of Azula."

"Yeah, no shit, Sokka." Katara growled at her brother, thinking that his idea had only caused them anguish so far.

"Well, Aang, I wouldn't attribute my sibling rivalry completely to your disappearance and the war... it certainly helped, but that wasn't what started it." she argued, before narrowing her eyes, Katara turning to face her, realising there might be something that she wanted to say.

"Then what did you see?" she dared to ask, the Princess chuckling.

"Oh, I too saw an old man bickering with another man, though he certainly wasn't as old as him." she vaguely worded her experience, smirking slightly, "I realise now... that was what probably set it all off."

"You and Zuko?" Aang raised a brow at her, obviously intrigued by what she was saying.

"No, not that specifically." she admitted, "My father became the Fire Lord. He was never meant to be the Fire Lord, my Uncle Iroh was, as the eldest son."

"How'd he manage to ou-" Sokka began to ask, before his jaw dropped, obviously realising something, "He killed your grandfather?!" he deduced, the Princess shaking her head.

"Good guess, but no. My father obviously benefited from his death, but I think there was a far more amusing reason."

"I have a feeling this isn't Sokka's kind of amusing." Katara commented, which made the Princess smirk.

"You like irony, don't you?" she asked of her boyfriend, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean, yeah... it can be funny." he acknowledged, Azula clapping her hands together.

"You see, my father wanted to become Crown Prince, because he had heirs and my Uncle Iroh didn't. His son had just died in battle against the Fire Nation, and my Aunt... I have no idea how long she'd been dead for. Since before I was born." she explained, making the Water Tribe girl feel a pang of sympathy for the supposedly hated 'Uncle Iroh' that the Princess seemed to despise, "So, he asked my grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon. He really liked Uncle for some reason- love, respect- I don't really know, but he didn't like the younger brother trying to usurp his birthright. So he demanded that my father kill Zuko, to make him feel the experience of losing a firstborn child."

"Sorry... what the fuck?" Katara mumbled with utter shock, her brother clearing his throat.

"This is the guy who created the Southern Raiders... remember?" he clarified, as if his words would lessen the horror of what Azula had said.

"No, I already guessed that..." she acknowledged, before she snarled, already feeling a reasonable amount of hatred toward Azula's deceased grandfather, "But seriously? How could anyone order his son to kill his grandson?"

"I don't think he expected my father to go through with it. If he wanted to become Crown Prince, he'd have to do it, and I'm pretty sure... I'm pretty sure he was going to go through with it." she admitted, her small, but noticeable grimace suggesting that she disagreed with the idea.

"Your family just went from fucked up to absolutely insane." Sokka observed, his sister shaking her head, feeling sick from what she had just heard.

"I- I understand." she simply mumbled, Azula shooting her a surprised glance.

"You understand what? Why did my grandfather do what he did?"

"Fuck no." she turned away with disgust, before sighing, "I know why you're... well, why you are who you are."

"Where was the funny part in all of this?" Sokka asked his girlfriend with a grimace, the Princess raising a finger.

"You see... my father didn't kill my brother, and the next day, my grandfather had supposedly passed away in his sleep, though not after declaring my father his heir." she explained, Katara raising a brow.

"You said your father didn't kill him." she remembered how she had prefaced her entire story, "Then what happened?"

"Father probably forged some documents, and Mother, she probably killed the Fire Lord." she explained, before smirking, "She overheard me making fun of Zuko about the whole demand to kill him, so she must have taken matters into her own hands."

"So, your mother killed the Fire Lord?" Sokka raised a brow, "Damn, if you didn't hate her so much, I'd probably try and go thank her for the good work." he conceded, before clearing his throat, "I mean no offence."

"Oh, my grandfather was an old fool." she shook her head, "And honestly, he was probably going to die sooner or later, and Father would have still tried to take the throne. So, she actually prevented a civil war."

"And caused one." he corrected her, the Princess sighing.

"Urgh, I don't think... actually, no, anyone with half a brain probably could have realised Zuko was going to turn against our father. I just didn't expect him to win." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "That's the funny part actually. Mother, in trying to protect her 'precious Zuzu', ended up making my father Fire Lord... who then proceeded to burn and banish my brother for speaking out of turn."

"So, you're saying the funny bit was Zuko was doomed no matter what?" Katara raised a brow, the Princess nodding, to which she snarled, finding herself sickened by the other girl's sorry excuse for a joke, "Yeah, that's not funny, at all."

"Unlike you, I find fate to be amusing when it's not fucking with me." she crossed her arms, before glancing forward, "Oh, we're actually nearly in the city proper. Look." she gestured ahead of them; the Water Tribe girl turned her head to notice the 'gates' of the city, which were less gates and more so a few pillars and some earthbending guards blocking entrance to the city.

"Well, ain't that perfect timing." Sokka beamed at them, "I was not looking forward to another round of depressing or disturbing tales."

"Me too." Aang agreed, turning around to face the guards that they were approaching, "Hey! Can you let us through?!" he called out to them, the guards glancing at each other for a moment before they took earthbending forms, shifting the pillars into the ground, giving Appa a clear path into the city.

"Now, straight to the apartment, where we can get our crap and get right out of here." the Water Tribe warrior sighed with relief, before laying back slightly on the saddle, "So, uh, I am sorry for making you guys do that. I think it got a little too... out there."

"I think Azula's a little too honest." Katara simply stated, the Princess scoffing at her words, giving her a mocking look of surprise.

"Too honest? I'm the most skilled liar I know and you're grumpy that I was actually being honest?" she asked her; she considered making a counter-argument, but she realised that Azula was in the right.

Even if she didn't want to hear it, what she had just been told was something she had had to live through; she acknowledged that finding it amusing was probably her way of dealing with it.

"No... I prefer honesty." she conceded, before turning back toward Aang, "I'm sorry that you had to listen to all that. You're still a kid."

He shook his head, "Um..." he mumbled before his eyes turned to Azula, "How old were you when this happened?"

"Nine." she told him, his eyes widening with shock, before he nodded, looking genuinely saddened in realisation of what she had experienced at such a young age.

"I'm sorry." he turned his eyes down, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one with the, as Sokka put it, 'insane family'." she simply noted the fact of the matter, which unnerved Katara; she knew that the other girl wasn't giving her true feelings on the matter.

"I mean I'm sorry your family is so bad." the Avatar corrected himself, "Nobody should have a family that bad."

"They exist." she shrugged her shoulders, before her eyes widened slightly, her expression showing a small sense of relief, "Not like I've had to deal with them lately, anyway."

"I am also happy that Zuko hasn't tried hunting us down yet." Sokka added his own opinion, earning a chuckle from the Princess.

"Now, now, that'd really be funny. If Zuko was going after me, while I'm with the Avatar, then he'd be doing his old quest- serving our father's bidding, all while he's in jail."

"That would be kinda funny." he conceded, before turning to face his sister, "Come on, even you can agree that it's funny."

"I don't want the Fire Lord coming after us." she argued, before narrowing her eyes at him, "Even if he's working with these White Lotus guys, that doesn't mean that he's going to be friendly toward Aang."

"Good point." Azula nodded, "Uncle's the one who's part of that organisation, but I have a feeling Zuko won't be serving their bidding... which may or may not help us."

"So what, you don't want to face a Zuko who's actually a half-competent and free-thinking Fire Lord?" Sokka prodded her with a humoured voice.

"That's my worst nightmare." she simply sighed, before looking at the Water Tribe girl, "That wasn't a joke, by the way."

"Yeah... after all you've said about him, I'm not surprised." she acknowledged, the Princess narrowing her eyes at her for a moment, before she almost chuckled, though she relented.

"I am also not surprised you despised me as much as you did after what happened to your mother." she noted, Katara cringing at the thought of what she was saying; it was true, in a way, as her own hatred of the Fire Nation had gone straight onto her presumptions of Azula- it didn't help that the Princess was a very argumentative and, at least at face value, amoral person.

Aang cleared his throat, catching all of their attention, the young Air Nomad gesturing down a tunnel to their left, "The apartment's just down there."

"Brilliant." the Princess rose up from her casual position, immediately vaulting over the side of the saddle and landing on the ground; after a small cloud of dust spurt up from her impact, she brushed her tunic down to get rid of the dirt, "Well, are you all going to sit there or are we getting our things?" she asked him, the young Air Nomad gesturing down along the main tunnel, which led to Bumi's throne room.

"I want to go see Bumi before we leave." he explained, Katara rising up, deciding that her brother could be afforded some alone time with his girlfriend.

"How about I go with you to see Bumi, and then when we come back, we'll get the last of our things from the apartment?" she suggested to the young Avatar, who nodded along intently.

"That's a great idea!" he grinned, before turning to face Azula, "Is that okay?"

"It's fine." she crossed her arms, before tilting her chin upward, staring her boyfriend down, "Come on, Sokka, you're not lazing about any more." she demanded of him.

The Water Tribe warrior made an exasperated sigh, before pulling himself off of Appa's saddle, "Yep, yep, let's go." he agreed to her rather blunt commands, before turning his eyes up to meet those of his sister, "Will you two be alright?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine." she assured him; suddenly, however, she heard the sound of chittering behind her, Momo jumping past and landing on Sokka's shoulder, "Oh, it looks like somebody wants to come with."

"He just wants to steal the food we're going to pack." he narrowed his eyes accusingly at the lemur, who poked his cheek without any care for his words, "I'll be watching you."

"Come on, Katara." Aang gestured to her with a wave, picking his staff up as he jumped off of Appa, "We can walk to the throne room, it isn't too far."

"Oh course. I'm not hurt or anything." she acknowledged, knowing that she didn't have much of an excuse to refuse walking; it would probably take them longer to ride Appa anyway, given the distance was so short and they could pace leisurely faster than the sky-bison without the fear of exhaustion.

Rising up from the saddle, she walked over to the side Aang had climbed down, and proceeded to make her way down Appa's side, clinging onto his fur as she did so to soften her drop. She patted the sky-bison for a moment, before turning to face the young Air Nomad.

"Let's go." she simply told him, and he didn't need to respond, simply nodding before he proceeded to pace alongside her.

When they got far enough away from the sky-bison, and thus, the other two, the young Avatar turned to face her with an uneasy look, "Um... so, that was a weird game." he admitted, making Katara sigh, knowing that they had all experienced bad things, and shining a light on them didn't necessarily make any of them feel better about their pasts.

"I don't know why Azula said what she did." she honestly admitted, turning to face the young Air Nomad, unsure if he could even understand why the Princess was so unusual, "It's always like there's something behind what she's actually telling us, and I don't know... I don't know what she wants us to see."

"She's afraid." Aang simply noted, "Maybe of her dad. Maybe of Zuko. Maybe there's a lot of things she's afraid of."

"I think you're right." she nodded, grimacing in thought of what might have been going through the Princess's head when Toph figured out her identity, "Sokka's trying to get angry for her, I think... she wants to act all aloof and cool, but that's just as much a lie as the name Saila."

"She really likes to lie." he observed, before grimacing, obviously uneased by the consequences of that fact, "We might not even really know what she wants."

"I don't think even Sokka does." she admitted; as horrible as it was to consider, she guessed that Azula had made a life out of lying to Sokka, though what she hadn't told him, she didn't know, "But she said... that." Katara acknowledged, "That was less lying and more pretending to act like she was okay with her father's willingness to murder her brother."

The young Avatar made a curt nod, though his expression was clearly unnerved by the thought of Azula's horrible family, before his eyes turned ahead, and his expression brightened, "See, we're nearly there." he gestured ahead of them to the doors of the throne room, which she could see in the distance.

"What are we going to tell Bumi?" she asked him, the Air Nomad's eyes narrowing.

"I don't think I could get away with lying to Bumi. He's really smart, y'know?" he asked her rhetorically, the Water Tribe girl nodding along.

"Well then, I guess we'll tell him what actually happened. We won, and then, we ran away." she quite simply summarised the events that occured.

"And I used the Avatar State." he added, making her eyes widen, realising that after Azula's disturbing revelations, she had completely forgotten about Aang's exhaustive use of his powers.

"Are you okay? You passed out for a good while after you used it." she asked him, genuinely afraid that the use of the Avatar State had taken a toll on him physically; at the Southern Air Temple, he hadn't used it for very long, and he didn't exert much of his strength.

"I think... I think I'm okay. I just have some... weird memories." he explained himself, sounding nervous as his eyes darted down toward the ground.

"What kind of weird memories? Like from your past lives?" she asked, the young Avatar nodding.

"I think it was. I saw a dragon." his expression brightened up, "It was beautiful."

"Oh..." her expression became blank as she considered his reaction, "So, did this dragon tell you anything?"

"Not really. But it coiled around me, like it was hugging me." he acknowledged, his eyes narrowing in thought, "Everything around us was red, and it was almost like I could feel fire. Maybe it was the firebenders who were attacking me." he conceded, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head.

"Uh... I don't think it was. I watched- you completely snuffed out their firebending as soon as you activated the Avatar State." she acknowledged, the Avatar looking at her nervously.

"Do you think this memory... or vision... is it supposed to mean something?" he asked her; Katara didn't know how to respond, let alone understand what Aang had experienced.

"Maybe you ask Azula about it when we get back. She might have a better understanding of that than I do." she conceded, the young Avatar raising a brow.

"Hmph, maybe Bumi might have some ideas. I have a feeling he might know something about the spirits." he explained his own idea, which immediately intrigued her; she hadn't seen or heard anything to suggest the old king had an affinity for the spiritual.

"What makes you say that?"

"Instincts." he simply told her, making her giggle.

"Don't rely on them too much." she warned, raising her finger towards him, 

"That's what Sokka does, and look at him. He got a chest full of flames this morning."

"Okay, got it." he gave her a thumbs up, "You guys can give me good advice." he acknowledged, making her raise a brow.

"Uh, that wasn't-" she began to correct him that her words were ajoke, though she was cut off by Aang speeding up his pace, walking toward the guards who were stationed in front of the doors of the throne room.

"Good evening! I'm here to see the King! Is he here?" he loudly asked them guards, who looked at each other momentarily before giving him an affirmative nod each.

"He is having his dinner at the moment, but I assume this is important, Avatar." one of the guards acknowledged, the Water Tribe girl taking the opportunity to butt it.

"We've just come back from the battle with a report. The Fire Nation army looking for this city has been dealt with... thoroughly." she added the last bit to stress the beating the enemy had received.

"Well, that's great news to hear." one of the guards admitted, his expression brightening, "The King ought to hear about this at once." he acknowledged, before he moved his hands to open the door behind them, pushing it wide open with his comrade.

Before them, Bumi was revealed, sitting at the end of a stone table, eating a rather quaint meal as he sat, wearing his rather interesting looking regal robes, which were coloured a bright purple.

"Aang! Katara!" he addressed them with a bright smile, raising his hands up from his utensils and into the air, "You're back sooner than expected."

"Oh, yeah, that's what's good about having a sky-bison." Aang acknowledged, striding forward to greet his friend properly, with a hug that was; the old king, despite his age, took the effort to get out of his seat and move to greet the young Avatar.

Katara smiled at their warm embrace, glad that the young Avatar still had someone from his old life that could tether him back to what he thought was otherwise lost. Once their hug broke, the King of Omashu looked at him with a slightly interested look.

"Aang, I can tell when something's wrong." he observed, his eyes darting up to Katara, "Did everything go alright? Did somebody get hurt?"

"Well, Sokka did get burned, but that wasn't the problem." Aang corrected his friend.

He raised a brow, obviously confused as to what exactly had happened, "Aang, what happened?"

"Toph happened." Katara simply put it, "She's a little too observant, that blind girl." she acknowledged, the king snorting, obviously amused by the turn of events.

"The Princess?" he asked them both, the pair nodding along with the same grimace; they both understood Azula's knack of anger and vengeance, and although the young Avatar hadn't been awake to see it, he could guess well enough what their friend's reaction had been to her true identity being revealed.

"Well then, I can only guess how she reacted." he mumbled, making a cringed expression, "Not well."

"Yeah, not well." the Water Tribe girl confirmed, "She didn't attack anyone and set the entire campsite into an inferno, luckily enough for us."

"We had to leave quickly though, because everyone found out, and one of the rebels... uh, Jet's his name, he attacked Sokka." Aang furthered, Katara clearing her throat so she could finish his sentence.

"He attacked Sokka because of his relationship with Azula."

"He doesn't sound like the best judge of character." Bumi observed, the other two nodding in agreement.

"He did get over it once his legs started working again and he went back to his friends." the young Avatar clarified, "I thought I was going to have to use this staff for something other than airbending." he added with a grimace, noting the fact he was willing to deal with Jet rather violently to ensure that he didn't try and harm Sokka.

Katara knew that her friend wouldn't lightly say that, and she appreciated his resolve on the matter, even if she didn't acknowledge it verbally, knowing that discussing the matter of Azula was a little bit more pressing.

Bumi gave Aang a bittersweet smile, "So, you're leaving then?" he asked him, the young Avatar nodding, "That is fine. You have a destiny to fulfil." he conceded, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You will do great things. You have good friends, and you have been a good friend to them, from what I've heard and seen."

Though he remained silent for a moment, smiling in appreciation of his friend's words, before his expression become more serious, "Could I ask you something?"

"Of course." the King of Omashu grinned at him, "Is there something you wanted to do before you left?"

"Uh... not exactly. I had a vision earlier today... when I was in the Avatar State." he explained himself, Bumi's expression shifting instantly, away from one of giddy amusement to one more befitting of his position, a narrowed eye glare of interest; Katara was reminded by the fact that he wasn't just an old friend of Aang's, but an experienced and wise leader.

"I see." he raised a finger to his beard, "What did you see?"

"A dragon." he simply told him, "It was coiling around me... everything was hot. I don't know what it was trying to tell me." he explained himself, the King straightening his posture, looking out distantly in thought.

"A dragon? What did it look like?" he asked, the young Avatar scrunching his face up.

"Uh... just a normal, red dragon. It was big, but it didn't seem threatening." he added, Bumi nodding along, before he chuckled.

"Well, well, I don't know much about dragons... I've never seen one, actually. I know that the Fire Nation have been hunting them down for decades now, and that they're supposedly extinct." he explained his thought on the matter, "What I don't know... is whether this vision was a memory from a past life, or a metaphorical warning."

"A metaphor?" Katara raised a brow with interest, "Do you mean the dragon is... somebody? Like a real person?"

"It's possible. I'm unsure if Avatars can glimpse into the future, but I have heard of your past lives being able to sense things... things that people wouldn't ordinarily sense, because of your connection to the spirits." he explained, before sighing, "I wish I could tell you more Aang, but I don't know much about the spirits. I know they're powerful, and you are the one person in the world who should be having... unusual experiences with them."

"Hmmm... a lot of weird stuff has happened to me. Like getting stuck in that iceberg for a hundred years." the young Avatar acknowledged, before giving his friend an uneasy smile, "Thanks, Bumi. I really hope you and your people are safe here."

"We will be." he assured him, before his eyes turned to Katara, "And I'm sure you and your friends will be alright."

"Yeah, we will be." she agreed with him, placing a reassuring hand on Aang's shoulder, "We're going to learn waterbending, then maybe we'll come back."

"Oh yeah, we will." Aang smiled, before raising a brow, moving closer to Bumi, "Is it alright if Toph teaches me earthbending? I know you might want to... but she's really good at what she does."

"I agree with you." he smiled, "Unlike me, she can leave and help you on your journey. I can trust the Blind Bandit to keep you safe."

"I don't know how we're going to deal with both her and Azula stuck together. That just sounds like it's going to end badly." Katara acknowledged, the King of Omashu snorting, grinning at them both.

"Oh, don't worry about those two. I think they're a little more similar than you might think."

"Crazy good benders who don't care what other people think." Aang acknowledged, the Water Tribe girl scrunching her lips.

"That's a trend." she conceded, before she narrowed her eyes, "I wonder what your waterbending master will be like."

"Those Northern Water Tribe fellows aren't as... independently minded as some of us around here." the King conceded, before glancing around, "Hmph, did the other two go off to your apartment?"

"Uh, yeah." Aang nodded, Bumi giggling.

"Ah, young love." he commented, before turning to eye them both, "I'm sure the Princess isn't as bad as she had been bad out to be."

"Yeah, she isn't bad." Katara agreed, almost shocked that she could defend Azula; compared to the things Jet had said about her, she knew that the Princess wasn't evil, or even really that bad of a person.

Aang looked at her with surprise, "So, you like her now?"

"Uh, like her? I guess." she mumbled, before smiling at him, realising there was a better way to phrase her feelings; those feelings had changed since she had seen her in action, and seen how she acted, both toward herself and their enemies.

"I think I understand her."


	10. Chapter 10

Glancing out over the valley, Aang took note of the small port town they had arrived in; it was rather quaint, and if it weren't for the large Fire Nation dockyard that was located by the shore, he would have thought the town was virtually untouched the war, if they were in the Fire Nation, of course. It was the first colonial town he had seen, and it reminded him somewhat of the towns and villages he had seen when travelling to the Fire Nation a century prior. It didn't look to be the cleanest or wealthiest settlement he had come across, but it was clearly well away from the worries of the Fire Nation's civil war. He had already draped a cloak around himself, which disguised his tunic, not having any other clothes to wear, unlike the others; Katara gave him a hood to wear over it to obscure his tattoos, though he didn't bother covering his head when they were still well outside of the town and away from view. He had landed Appa on the top of a small escarpment, where he found a small cave that his sky-bison could rest in recluse away from prying eyes.

He hadn't personally wanted to venture into Fire Nation occupied territory, knowing the danger of being found out, or worse captured, for being the Avatar was more than possible; the only reason they were there was quite visible before them- the circus, supposedly the same one that Ty Lee had joined, was currently playing in the town. They had found out two days prior when they visited a small town to the east, where they learned the circus had been for a few weeks prior to their arrival, though it had moved, supposedly because of the threat of renegade Fire Nation forces nearing the settlement. He didn't see any, though he guessed that they were in hiding, waiting to strike.

Aang shook his head, knowing that he couldn't do anything about that, and rather turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand. They had to go find Ty Lee, and hopefully recruit her to their cause, which at the present moment simply involved them travelling to the North Pole, and perhaps checking around for Azula's former allies, who might be useful in securing the peace once he had garnered enough support. With Bumi and the Southern Water Tribe behind him, he knew that he already had some leverage, though clearly not enough to reunify the Earth Kingdom or anything of the likes.

"Aang, is something wrong?" he heard Sokka address him, the young Avatar turning around to face him, shaking his head profusely; he was fine, even if he had a few concerns about being in the Fire Nation colonies, and as long as their disguises worked, he was sure they would be safe.

"No, don't worry. I'm fine." he assured him, taking note of his own disguise; he was wearing the undergarments of his Fire Nation armour, which to Aang simply looked like a drab gray and red tunic, one that explicitly marked him as being Fire Nation.

"Don't worry about your disguise. I'm sure we can get you a hat or something that'll look a little less suspicious when we get into town." he suggested, the young Air Nomad smiling, appreciative of his idea.

"That's a good idea." he grinned at him, before tilting his head to glance back toward Appa, behind whom Katara and Azula were getting changed into their own disguises, "How long are they going to take?"

"Girls and clothes." Sokka joked, shrugging his shoulders with a sheepish grin, "I dunno." he added, implying that they were going to take a while.

"You just look like any other Fire Nation person." Aang acknowledged, before gesturing to his face, "Even the hair. Only your eyes say Water Tribe."

"Yeah, can't really fix that part." he acknowledged, "But I can do up my hair and wear this outfit." he gestured to his soldier's garbs, "I had to wear this for nearly two months straight at one point."

"Did it feel weird? Pretending to be Fire Nation?" he asked, just curious how he felt to hide his identity; Aang had a feeling that he might have to do something similar in the future, especially if the Fire Nation started paying the wrong kind of attention to him.

"Not really." he shrugged his shoulders, "I'd already been doing it when I was working for Azula, the only difference was I didn't have to take her orders." he explained, before a quip sounded out from behind Appa.

"That's a lie!" the Princess declared, the Water Tribesman blushing as he rubbed the back of his scalp.

"Uh... I did follow some orders." he conceded, making Aang raise a brow, slightly confused as to why he was embarrassed; he didn't know if it was because it made him feel like less of man, or maybe because of some other reason he couldn't understand.

"Uh, but we're going to have to act. So we can get into this circus and find Ty Lee." he concluded, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"That's right." he agreed, "Though you shouldn't worry about it. Azula and I will do most of the talking anyway."

"Maybe we can go buy some stuff at the market." he suggested, earning a glance of interest from the other boy, "They might have something we never knew we needed."

Sokka's lips pursed upward into a smirk, "Now, I do love my shopping, but I'm not going to think about it until we're done with this circus stuff." he conceded, before raising a brow, "Though, I might go get some food. I could really go for some spicy Fire Nation jerky again."

"If you're going to be eating food, you better not spend too much money, Sokka." he heard Azula warn him, before she stepped out from behind Appa, revealing her own disguise.

She was wearing a light red tunic that covered her chest, leaving her abdomen bare, with a pair of baggy pants underneath; rather normal looking, in Aang's view, though her hairstyle was quite different to the usual bangs and bun she wore. Given that there were wanted posters for her, she had decided to change it radically, getting rid of her bangs and instead tying her hair back into a low ponytail. He remembered Sokka jokingly suggesting that she cut herself new bangs to cover her forehead, but she had gotten surprisingly angry about it, quickly shutting down any chance of it happening.

"I won't overspend, I promise." Sokka raised his hands to assure her, "Only some jerky, and maybe some fire flakes... if you wanted some, that was."

"I might get some, if they're being sold at a reasonable price that is. Being so far from the homeland and the bigger colonies, I wouldn't be surprised if they price-gouge around here on Fire Nation delicacies from the homeland."

"That'd just be unreasonable of them." the Water Tribesman narrowed his eyes with slight annoyance, before turning to face Aang, "Did you want to get anything?"

"Uh... I guess I could have some fire flakes. They're vegetarian." he noted, the Princess chuckling.

"They might be a little too hot for your tongue. I remember you said you found them too spicy." she reminded him, the young Avatar laughing off his words, remembering that he had mentioned his thievery with Kuzon.

"Oh, yeah, but they still taste good. I'll just get a drink to get rid of the spicyness." he argued, the Princess raising a brow.

"And what, you think they're just going to sell freshly brewed tea at the market?" she retorted, the young Avatar narrowing his eyes in thought.

"But shouldn't there be tea-houses?" he asked her, before his tone grew more panicked, "There're still tea-houses in the Fire Nation, right?"

"Your assumptions are correct. Tea is still a fundamental part of Fire Nation culture as it is," she conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "despite how little I care for it myself."

"Tea sounds nice." Sokka backed him up, "That'll be a nice reprieve after eating rice, nuts and dried fruit for the past week."

"The food wasn't that bad." Katara spoke up, catching their attention; turning around, Aang was surprised how different she looked in her own disguise.

She had her hair styled almost exactly like how Azula usually wore her own, down to the bangs and topknot bun; her clothes consisted of her own cloak, like his own, which covered her light blue Water Tribe robes.

"That's a nice hairdo." he complimented her, Sokka grimacing slightly.

"More like weird. You're copying Azula's look a little too much." he argued, his sister crossing her arms with slight annoyance.

"I thought my disguise was pretty good, though I would prefer if I had some Fire Nation clothes to wear." she conceded, the Princess raising a finger to catch her attention.

"Well, you could always buy some when we go down to town today." she suggested, the Water Tribe girl nodding, before she narrowed her eyes.

"Do we have enough money to spare?" she asked, the Princess tilting her head in thought.

"Yes, but if you're really feeling stingy, you can steal some clothes off a washing line." she suggested, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head, almost disappointed she had suggested it.

"Why would I do that? I'm sure somebody wouldn't appreciate finding their clothes taken, and I doubt I'd wear them that much."

"Exactly." she raised her finger, "Why bother paying when you won't get your money's worth out of them?" she suggested, Sokka clearing his throat, interceding in their so far brief argument.

"How about you don't buy anything and just wear the cloak?" he asked Katara, who sighed, before nodding.

"That's what I'll do." she conceded, before turning her eyes to Aang, "So are we going?"

"Uh..." he nervously glanced around, "Was that meant to be my choice?" he asked the group, Azula rolling her eyes, striding forward past him and Sokka along the escarpment, which would eventually lead down toward the town itself.

"Leave the decisions to the adults." she declared, Aang not bothering to argue back; when it didn't concern the ethics of their actions, he was more than willing to let Azula and Sokka take the reins, and it usually seemed to be the former, unless she was feeling rather indifferent, "Let's just get down to town. We can get our snacks, and then we'll investigate the circus." she explained, the rest of them following after her, quickly joined by Momo, who climbed onto Aang's shoulder.

"Hey, you better behave yourself, Momo. I don't know if these Fire Nation folks will like you." he warned the flying-lemur.

He made a small purr-like sound before jumping into the air, gliding around them as they began to walk along the path down toward the town. After a few circles, he landed back on Appa's saddle, suggesting that he was going to remain there for the time-being; he could trust Momo to stay safe, though he couldn't say the same about his friends.

"Hopefully this is the circus we're looking for." he acknowledged, the Princess glancing back his way momentarily.

"I'm certain this is it." she assured him, "There's very few travelling circuses in the Colonies and I know for a fact Ty Lee is an acrobat, and those commoners definitely mentioned there being an acrobat here."

"I wonder where they've been." Katara mumbled, "They might have seen some interesting places."

"A few crappy towns here and there, and maybe a bigger city. There isn't much interesting stuff in this part of the world, unless you count the place we already have been to, New Omashu."

"That was a pretty weird place." Sokka conceded, "I never thought I'd see a whole city underground."

"You read the manuscripts in the Governor's Palace." the Princess raised her finger, "Ba Sing Se was once just like that, before it became the sprawling shithole it is today."

"Ah, that must have been a little nicer." he smiled, indicating that he didn't hold a very high opinion of the city.

The group fell silent for a bit as they strode downhill; they tried their best to remain inconspicuous as they began to approach actual people, most of whom seemed to be people walking around on errands, as well as a few travellers like themselves, probably heading to the local markets. Nobody gave them too odd a look, which relieved Aang, who had already draped the hood over his head to ensure that people didn't spot his tattoos. He glanced around, taking note of the small houses that were located around the outskirts of the town; the appearance of them suggested that they were inhabited by Earth Kingdom locals who were living in the town, which was somewhat relieving for him to see. Despite what he had heard about refugees, the fact that Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation people could live side-by-side was encouraging. He didn't see any soldiers until they got deeper into the town, as they neared the large tent and grounds of the circus, which was situated in what he guessed might have usually been a plot of land to garden or house livestock. The Fire Nation soldiers weren't seeming to be in an antagonistic mood, from what he could tell, and walked past them without batting an eye.

"I think the disguises are working." Sokka whispered to him, leaning down slightly to make sure only he could hear him.

"Yeah, they are." he agreed with a curt nod, Azula glancing back their way and gesturing ahead of them, past the entrance to the circus.

"The market is this way. Let's get those snacks before we check out the circus." she suggested, her tone sounding a little higher pitched and chirpier than usual, which made sense, given she was pretending to not be herself, the cold and snarky Crown Princess of the Fire Nation.

They walked along behind her, forced to move into file as the mass of people on the street became thicker; the crowd was growing, understandably, as they were now on the main street of the town. The road became made of cobble below their feet, and the buildings quickly connected up into dense blocks of shops and apartments, with hanging cords of paper lanterns above them, although they obviously weren't lit during the middle of the day. He glanced around, taking note of a few stalls that were propped up along the side of the street, though they were all selling random bits and pieces, gathered herbs and hunted meats from the nearby woods. What really caught Aang's attention was a stall down the street, where someone was clearly selling fire flakes, as he could see a large sign on top of the stall, claiming that it sold the best in town.

"Oooh... there it is." he gestured toward the stall, the Princess nodding without a word, making her way toward it; there was a small line in front of the stall, which forced their group to a halt.

Katara glanced around for a moment before she looked at her brother, "Sokka, did you want to go find a stall selling jerky while they wait to get some fire flakes?"

He gave her an affirmative nod, before his eyes darted to Aang, "I can trust you two to stay out of trouble, right?"

"Of course." Aang nodded, wanting to assure him he wasn't thinking of doing anything absurd, especially given the predicament they faced with disguising their identities, "I won't do anything you wouldn't." he assured him, Azula snickering at his choice of words.

"Well then, you might do something stupid." she observed, making her boyfriend clench his fists as he turned his head around with slight embarrassment.

"Yeah, yeah." he mumbled, before he began to walk away, followed by Katara, "Let's go find that jerky."

As he watched the other two walk off, he slowly turned his eyes back to Azula, who was ignoring him at that very moment, glancing ahead to see who was buying ahead of them; when she did turn her gaze toward him, she sighed, gesturing toward the hood he wore over his scalp.

"It'd really help if you grew some hair. That'd cover your scalp a little better and less suspiciously than a hood." she explained, her voice softening at the last part.

Touching the sides of his hood self-consciously, he hunched his shoulders slightly, "I don't want to."

"Well, it's not about what you want, Aang." she warned him, "It's about your safety. I'm sure if you really wanted to, you could shave it again once we head up north." she suggested, the young Air Nomad sighing, before he turned his gaze up toward her.

As much as he didn't want to agree with her, he knew she had a pretty good argument; of all things, he didn't want to be recognised by the Fire Nation, as it would only make more issues for them to deal with. Azula was the one who was most certainly threatened by any attention that came their way, as proven by their experience with Bumi's rebels, so he was sure that his sacrifice would not be pointless.

"Okay." he mumbled, "I'll stop shaving for a bit... but that won't help with my forehead."

"You can wear a bandana or something." she suggested, before raising a finger to her chin, "Remember the one I wore?"

"I want it to be orange." he argued, the Fire Nation Princess rolling her eyes.

"Fine then... if we can get you some orange fabric, will you not complain?" she offered a compromise, the young Avatar nodding; if he had to grow his hair out and cover his tattoo, he wanted to do it his way.

"I won't." he nodded, before smirking, "That'll be a cool bandana." he acknowledged with a slight smirk; Azula crossed her arms, looking at him with a suspicious glare.

"Are you trying to impress somebody?" she inquired, the young Avatar turning his head away; he didn't exactly think of it that way, but when he did, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed- he thought maybe Katara might like it, and that made him smile.

"No, not really." he made a half-lie, knowing that he had not set out his idea with the intention of impressing anyone.

"Okay, I believe you." she told him with a clearly sarcastic voice, forcing him to pull his hood down over his face, not wanting to give off any indication of his embarrassment.

His eyes darted up to check how far they had progressed through the line and noticed that there was now only one person in front of them; he turned his eyes up to Azula, trying to think of something different to talk about other than his hair or lack-there-of.

"Uh... so, are you excited to see Ty Lee?" he asked her, the Princess raising one of her eyebrows up.

"Hmph, I wouldn't say excited." she clarified her own opinion on the matter, "I'm looking forward to having her on our team."

"Is she nice?" he asked her, the Princess snickering with amusement, looking at him with a smug face.

"Well, she's a handful... but I'm sure she fits your view of what a nice person is." she clarified, the young Air Nomad smiling.

"That's good to hear." he admitted, genuinely looking forward to a little balance in their team.

Katara was nice, but serious, Sokka was jokey but scary at times, and Azula was just snarky; somebody who was just nice and cheery would be a good complement to their team, and someone to relief all the cold seriousness that they had amongst them. Aang already felt bad enough about his own mistakes, and being reminded of those of others, or the bad things that had happened to them, just made him feel sad.

"You two would get along." she acknowledged, "But, Ty Lee gets along with everyone."

He smiled momentarily, just appreciating the fact of the matter; he felt a sense of hope that they'd all enjoy the company of their potential recruit, and given what Azula had already said about her, he'd want to argue for her to join their group. His attention was quickly drawn away from the Princess as the last customer in the line moved out of the way, allowing them to step up to the stall.

"Good day, are you two looking for some fresh fire flakes?" the seller asked the pair, the Princess stepping forward, giving him a fake smile.

"We'd like two bags, please."

"Uh... we have a few bag sizes." he clarified, raising up a few in his hands, showing the varying sizes; Aang gestured to the medium sized one, which was about twice the size of a closed fist.

"Could we get that size?" he asked, the seller nodding before he turned around, scooping some fire flakes into the two bags, before he placed them down on the bench between them.

"That'd be three copper pieces." he clarified, the Princess pulling out the requested currency; placing it down on the bench.

He smiled at them, his eyes darting down to Aang, "Huh, you have a pretty nice sister if she's willing to buy you these." he noted, the young Air Nomad laughing off his comments.

"Uh, I sure do." he made an uneasy smile, his eyes darting over to Azula, whose expression was rather distant as she picked up the bags.

"Thank you." she simply addressed the seller with her fake smile before giving the Avatar his bag, "Let's go." she told him with a quiet, though audibly tense voice.

He followed after the Princess, increasing his pace so he could walk beside her down the street; glancing over to her face he could see the unnerved look on her face, though she quickly picked up a few fire flakes and chewed them down, probably to distract herself from whatever had caught her mind.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, the Princess shaking her head.

"Of course not." she simply assured him, before glancing down to the bag in his hands, "Are you going to eat those or not?"

"Uh, yeah, just not too quickly." he noted, thinking about how spicy the last ones he had eaten were; he pulled out two fire flakes and chewed them up, cringing slightly at the hotness, though he certainly thought they tasted nice.

"I haven't had these in a while." the Princess conceded, before she darted her eyes around, "Where could have those two gotten off to?" she mumbled under her breath, sounding annoyed that Katara and Sokka had just walked off, and disappeared.

"We just need to find the stall that sells jerky." he concluded, pacing forward and glancing about the area, taking note of a few stalls that sold street food, though he couldn't see any that sold jerky specifically.

As he made his way down the street, he was able to spot Katara's dark cloak that covered her frame, which stood out from the lighter reds, greens and browns that the locals wore; he could hear Sokka's boisterous voice as he tried to haggle with the seller, which immediately made Azula smirk, obviously amused by her boyfriend's antics.

"Come on! Six copper? Don't play dumb with me. It's just a little bit of jerky." he argued, "This has to be a joke." he declared, the seller raising his hands up.

"Now, now, there's no need to get so angry. Jerky here gets imported... it's not as cheap as it is where they make it." he tried to explain, the Water Tribe teen raising his fingers to his nose-bridge.

"I seriously doubt that. It's pretty easy to make jerky." her retorted, the man behind the stall raising a brow with confusion.

"Then why don't you make it yourself?" he retorted, the Water Tribesman crossing his arms, "Three copper for that, and I'll buy double." he narrowed his eyes at the seller, who remained silent for a few moments as they approached from behind, catching Katara's attention; she looked pretty close to breaking down laughing at her brother's clear overreaction.

"Make it four, and we've got a deal." the seller gave an offer, Sokka placing down the requested currency.

"Fine." he agreed, before he was handed the jerky, "Thanks." he grumbled, sounding still quite annoyed by the price; she would agree that the price the seller was asking for was pretty sharp for something as mundane and common as dried meat with a little spice.

When he turned around to see that they had already arrived, his eyes widened with surprise, "Oh, you two were quick." he noted, Azula cocking her chin upward.

"The line didn't last very long." she simply noted, before tilting her head to the side, up the road the way they came, "Let's head up to the circus. We don't even know when they'll be playing next."

"Let's hope it's soon, then we can find her quicker."

"We could just walk into the place, couldn't we?" Katara asked her, the Princess shaking her head.

"I saw a few tough looking guys out front. They obviously won't let you in unless you've paid. Of course, once we go, we're free to walk around and find Ty Lee." she acknowledged, before turning her eyes to Sokka, "You ready to have a little fun?"

"Am I?" he asked her rhetorically in return, "I haven't played Wang Fire in so long. I'm looking forward to this."

"Wang Fire?" Aang raised an eyebrow, confused by his odd pseudonym.

"That's his 'name'." Katara clarified, before rolling her eyes, "A stupid one at that."

"Ah, something we agree upon." Azula smirked, the two girls laughing as Sokka pouted, obviously feeling that his ego was being trodded on.

"Hey, it's not that bad. Maybe drop the Fire, though." he suggested, "That sounds a little less wacky."

"But wacky's how I do things, Aang." he argued, making him snicker, unsure how to respond.

"You do the wacky then. Just leave me out of it." he simply requested, the Water Tribesman giving him a rather mocking bow.

"Of course, I'll keep it to myself. The Fire family name, that is." he smirked at him.

His sister made an exasperated sigh, while his girlfriend turned her eyes away with embarrassment; Aang wanted to giggle, but he restrained himself, instead tilting his head up the road, "So, are we going?"

"Yes." Azula was the first to answer, striding forward with a slightly flustered face, which he assumed she wanted to keep hidden from the rest of them by walking at the front of the group.

He followed after her quickly, with Sokka and Katara taking after behind him; he strode up beside the Princess, glancing around the street once more, taking note of the stalls that he had otherwise ignored; they were selling a wide variety of things, and he realised that they might be able to restock on some random things they might need, such as disguises, camping equipment and some more food. Even if he wasn't as food-obsessed as Sokka, he still thought they would be better off having a healthy amount of food to ration off in case of an emergency. He put that thought in the back of his head, knowing it was something they could suggest after they got into the circus and met Ty Lee.

He turned back to the Princess, remembering her odd reaction when the fire flake seller had assumed they were brother and sister, "Uh, did that fire flake guy annoy you?"

She turned her eyes to him, looking down at the young Air Nomad with an almost surprised expression, though she raised her chin up slightly, looking more or less indifferent to his words; he could tell, after being around her long enough, that she was probably trying to disguise her true feelings by acting like she didn't care.

"You're not my little brother." she simply stated, "Though, the fact I have to keep my eye on you suggests otherwise." she acknowledged, almost trying to insult him, though he didn't really feel offended by such a claim; she was so much older and more mature than him that it just made sense that she'd be looking out for him.

She turned her eyes back away from him, "I don't need another annoying brother." she simply declared, which made Aang grimace slightly; he didn't really know Zuko- what he was actually like away from Azula's biased descriptions, so he didn't want to judge her comment.

"I don't want to annoy you." he assured her, before his eyes darted down, "I'm sorry about the hair thing."

"Don't be sorry." she told him with a commanding, serious tone, "Standing your ground isn't something to be ashamed of... just choose your arguments a little wiser." she suggested, her voice becoming a little softer before her attention was drawn back ahead of them as the group had to weave around the other pedestrians walking along the main street.

"Uh... thanks for the advice." he gave her an encouraging smile, actually glad she had taken such a conciliatory route.

She was giving him ideas for how he ought to act toward others, perhaps unintentionally when giving other advice; her wisdom was something she had learned from experience, and even if he didn't agree with everything she had done in her past, he could respect what she knew. As they once again approached the circus, Aang scanned about, trying to figure out exactly what they needed to do. He couldn't see anything that indicated what time the circus played their shows, or what the entry fee was, so he was forced to approach, Azula taking the lead, unsurprisingly. She made her way up toward the two tough looking men standing out front, who were gate-keeping the circus-grounds, putting on a cheery face for show.

"Hello there. I was wondering when the next circus show is on." she requested of the pair, one of which raised his chin.

"People are lining up for the midday show inside. Entry fee is a silver for kids, and two silvers for adults." he simply acknowledged, before scanning his eyes along them, "So, three adults and one kid." he deduced, raising a brow at her, "Do you have seven silver on you?"

"Of course." she smiled, reaching into the bag she had slung around her shoulder, before handing him the requested amount of money; as she handed the coins into his hand, the two of them stood out of the way, allowing them to enter.

"Well then, enjoy your time here." the other bouncer simply told them, the group walking between them, Aang trying to keep a straight face; not that he fought he couldn't beat them with airbending, it was just that tough and intimidating people were still that, no matter if he could.

As they made their way into the circus grounds, approaching the large tent, out of which was a line of circus-goers, Katara turned around and addressed them, "So, that was easy. We didn't get suspected at all." she acknowledged, the Princess nodding.

"We're not that suspicious, though I'm sure we'll be able to work on our disguises in the future." she conceded, before glancing up the line, "This is going to take a while."

"Yeah, no shit." Sokka crossed his arms, before taking a bite out of his jerky.

Aang took one of his fire flakes out, only having one at a time to ensure he wasn't overcome by the spiciness; after eating one whole and chewing it down, he turned around to face his friends, "So, uh... who thinks this is going to be a good circus?"

"I've never been to one so I can't be a judge." Sokka acknowledged, his sister nodding along with a grimace.

"Yeah, same here. I haven't seen much more than a few people playing with puppets around the campfire."

"That stuff was cringier than the Ember Island Players." Azula leaned her face back with a look of disgust, "One thing I don't miss about the Southern Water Tribe."

"Hey, hey, you didn't need to watch it." Sokka argued, making his girlfriend raise a brow at him.

"Are you defending that stuff? You can't honestly think it was any good."

"Given what we had at hand, it was the best we could." he told her, before crossing his arms, "I thought my spirit wolf impression was pretty good actually." he argued, making Aang raise a brow.

"So you actually played in this puppet show?"

"Yeah, for the little kids." he simply told him, before chuckling, "And the adults could enjoy it too as long as you throw in a few dirty jokes."

"That's probably your favourite chore because you didn't have to walk around and actually do anything productive." Azula argued, earning a snicker from Katara.

"That's true." she agreed, Sokka crossing his arms.

"I like hunting. That's my favourite activity. Hunting with Dad, specifically, because a certain somebody just complains after a few hours if we don't get anything." he argued, making Azula roll her eyes.

"If you're not getting anything then what's the point of walking around in the middle of a frozen hellscape?" she argued, Aang nodding along, seeing her point well enough, even if he understood the Water Tribes needed to go hunting long distances to get enough food to feed themselves.

"Hunting sounds boring." he simply commented, the Water Tribe warrior crossing his arms.

"It's not. It's a fun experience, and you get to bond with your hunting partner." he argued with a self-assured tone, the young Avatar simply shrugging, not having much to say against his point.

"Or scream at them." Katara added, making Aang giggle, knowing that he could clearly imagine the two of them fighting in such a situation.

"I thought we were making fun of his acting skills and not how grating he gets after an extended period of time." Azula spoke up, the Water Tribesman turning his eyes away with embarrassment.

"I'm not that bad." he argued, the Princess smirking at him.

"Hey, I never said I didn't like arguing. It's my favourite past-time after training and sparring." she claimed, making Aang snicker; it was an unusual thing to have in her top three things she liked doing.

"If we didn't argue, what would we be doing?" Katara asked the group, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"Probably being marginally more productive." she acknowledged, "Though there's not many productive things to do when you're stuck on a saddle most of the day."

"Yeah, I don't think you can do your training on top of Appa." the young Avatar admitted, before he glanced back along the line, "I sure hope the line's worth it. I don't want to be stuck here."

"Hey, hey, it's not going to be that bad." Sokka suggested, before his sister's hand rose up to his lips.

"No more games, Wang Fire." she warned him, "I don't want a repeat of last time."

"We really need to get a Pai Sho set or something." he suggested in converse, before eyeing his girlfriend, "Or not."

"No, I agree with you. Pai Sho's probably a good way to pass the time," she conceded, "as much as I despise the people who play it."

Aang narrowed his eyes for a moment, remembering the fact the organisation that had set out to put Zuko on the throne was called the Order of the White Lotus, named for a Pai Sho piece, "Why would a secret society name itself after a Pai Sho piece?" he whispered to the Princess, Sokka stepping closer to him.

"Because they like it." he simply answered his question, "It's like if I named my secret society to ensure the freedom of the Southern Water Tribe the Sea Prune Army."

"Your what?" Katara's jaw dropped, before she looked at him with an amused tone, "You do realise how stupid that sounds."

"I never said I'd call it that." he grit his teeth, which suggested that he actually intended to form such an organisation.

"Something more like the Sons of the South or something." Azula suggested, "Has a more tough, ominous feel to it." she added, making her boyfriend smile, nodding appreciatively to her words.

"Thanks. That is a good name." he agreed, before his eyes widened, "Wait, maybe we should have a name."

"A name?" Aang looked at him with confusion, "Like if we were a band or something?"

"Exactly like that." he snapped a finger at the young Avatar, who made an exasperated sigh confusion; why they'd have a name didn't make any sense to him, though he did consider it for a moment- maybe it would make them more enticing to potential allies if they had a cool sounding code-name.

"Yeah... that just sounds a little dumb." Katara shrugged her shoulders, Sokka pouting at her with a disappointed look.

"Aw, come on. You don't think that having a name for our group would be cool?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl glancing back his way with indifference.

"What does it matter? The only place you're going to see it is on wanted posters, and that's assuming anyone learns it." she argued, her brother sighing, turning his eyes to Aang.

"You think it's a good idea, right?"

"I don't know." he shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to get into the argument, "Do we need one?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Azula agreed with him, before narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend, "You can't really think it's a necessary thing. If anything, somebody will give us a name."

"But what if it's bad?" he leaned forward, looking at them both with a fearful face, "What if it's really stupid and catches on and we're stuck with that 'till we die?"

"Well, it's not like our group's going to be running around the Earth Kingdom forever." Azula shrugged her shoulders, "There's greater things ahead for us."

"You mean for you." Katara corrected her, the Princess smirking confidently.

"What an astute observation." she clapped her hands at her, before turning her eyes to Aang, "And definitely for you."

"Y-yeah..." he rubbed at his neck through the hood covering his head, "I'll be doing a lot of things." he acknowledged the fact of the matter; Aang was still unsure if he was ready for all of his Avatar duties, though he knew for sure that he couldn't get away from them.

"The future's got a lot in store for us. Let's just hope none of it involves inordinate amounts of lightning." Sokka acknowledged, making the young Avatar's eyes widen with fear.

"You say that like it's going to happen." he mumbled, the Princess placing a supportive hand on his shoulder, though her serious glare didn't feel enticing in any way.

"Lightning comes from unexpected places these days."

* * *

Ty Lee didn't really think the circus was for her; she did like it, to begin with, given it gave her the individuality she had always craved as a child. But fate seemed to not be in her favour, as within a few months, her sisters had tracked her down. They were supposed to all go back to the Fire Nation Capital together, and force her back to her boring life as a noblewoman, but instead, she was able to stay, though at the price of having all her sisters with her. They were a septuplet acrobatics group, and as cool as they might have seemed in comparison to one skilled acrobat to the crowds, she certainly didn't appreciate her sisters coming in and taking the one thing she had thought was her own.

She did acknowledge that they were okay to hang around, both to ensure that she never really got bored and to keep her constantly on the prowl. Whenever she looked for boys to flirt with when they came to a new town, her sisters would always be going after the same ones as her. That meant she had to always come up with more and more smarter ways to find someone to flirt with without having her night ruined by her sisters. She knew that, however, given time, the circus was growing to be as bad as it was for her at home, though without the added worry of impressing her parents; she knew that she needed to leave eventually, but she was sure her sisters would find a way to drag her back to the circus if she tried to leave, or worse, continue to follow her around, no matter what 'unique' thing she tried to do next.

As she patiently waited for their group to be called up, she sat on a crate, idly tracing her fingers along her arms, as if she was trying to write her thoughts out with her fingers. Ty Lin and Ty Lat were arguing with each other over some matching bracelets the two had accidentally bought, while Ty Liu, Ty Lum and Ty Lao were all placing a dice game, sitting in a circle. Ty Woo was, like her, sitting off idly, though she was reading something, the topic of which Ty Lee couldn't discern, given the distance between her and the book.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice calling out to them, "Alright girls, you're up!"

Ty Lee's head rose up, breaking out of her bored trance; she took note of Shumuzu, who was gesturing for her to head out of the small recluse waiting area of the tent. She was about to get up and follow his order, before she felt a hand whack her in the back of the head.

"Hurry up, nimwit!" she heard Ty Woo mock her, making her grunt as her head was shunted forward; she turned her eyes to her sister, snarling with frustration.

"What was that for, huh?" she growled at her, with both hands out, fingers pointed to strike.

Before she could act on her anger, Ty Liu grasped her by the arm to try and dissuade her from doing anything too brash; she could have easily chi-blocked her sister, one thing that she did still have to herself, though she lacked much practical use for her skill.

"Don't do it, Ty Lee. It's not worth it." she warned her, to which she simply sighed with frustration before she followed her sisters out to the arena of the circus.

"Give a warm welcome to the Ty Sisters!" she heard Shumuzu introduce them, the sound of the crowd applauding them making her smile; at least they appreciated her, even if they didn't know her.

The sisters spread out around the arena, all cartwheeling out to surprise the audience; she took a right-turn, cartwheeling along, putting on the most confident face she could, before she came to a halt. She moved to quickly scale up a ladder, which took her up to the platform from which she and her sisters were to jump. She reached the ladder with haste, glancing around and counting the number of sisters she could see; when she counted six, she felt assured that they were all in their positions, before she waited for the inevitable- one of them had to jump first. They had a conventional order to follow when they did their acrobatics together, but for the first jump, it varied from show to show; Ty Lee realised that it was her turn as she saw all of her sister's eyes on her. She gulped with slight fear, feeling a little more nervous than usual, as she had already been doubting her own desire to even be in the circus.

She put that thought to the back of her mind as she raced forward before leaping right off of the platform. Reaching with both hands up, she grasped the ring that was hanging closest to her, before she used it to fling herself further forward. At the centre of the arena there was another ring, larger than the rest, which she grabbed, before swinging herself upward. As her legs rose up above her head, she curled them around, hooking them over the ring, allowing herself to hang with the strength of her legs alone. The crowd remained silent still, before the real acrobatics was to begin; Ty Lat raced forward, jumping off of her platform and grasping a ring with only one hand before she leapt forward, both her hands meeting Ty Lee's. Their moment of contact pushed her backward as her sister propelled herself forward, grasping another ring, which she was able to hang off of and swing with. Flying forward, she swung close to the platform, allowing Ty Lum to jump onto the ring, joining her for a moment before she leapt onto another ring.

The crowd cheered brightly out as Ty Woo and Ty Liu raced forward at the same time from opposite sides of the arena, jumping to grasp two long roped rings, which allowed them to swing forward, each of them flying right past Ty Lee, using her hands to jump and switch rings, before they swung back in the opposite direction. Once the two sisters were back by the platform, they had already curled around, allowing Ty Lao and Ty Lin to jump forward and use their hands to swing ahead and grasp onto two more rings, positioning themselves opposite to each other, with Ty Lee between them. 

Then Ty Lum began to swing herself on her ring, gaining enough momentum to jump forward, using Ty Woo first as a handle, before leaping forward and grabbing Ty Lee's hands; she tensed up for a moment as her sister made contact with her, but she quickly departed, grabbing Ty Liu's hands, before she finally made her way to the other side, landing on the platform. Ty Lat followed after her, swinging around on one of the long-roped rings, which allowed her and Ty Lin to switch. She swung right around Ty Lee, their eyes making contact for a moment before she switched with Ty Lao, who was able to use the long-rope ring to leap over to the platforms. Now with only five sisters in the air, each of them except for the centrally-placed Ty Lee began to move back and forth, before they swung around on their rings, jumping up into the air; she gasped as she saw all of them fly up at the same time, landing on different rings than they had used before, using their momentum to jump through the air, each of them grabbing one last ring before throwing themselves over to the platforms.

Ty Lee sighed, realising that her legs were starting to hurt, though she was relieved by the fact she wouldn't need to use them for the trick that followed. She swung herself up into the ring she had been hanging off of, putting herself in a seated position, before she began to spin the ring around by dropping down and pushing herself out to one side. As it began to swing faster, her legs rose up into the air, and she took a deep breath as she prepared herself for a her final move; she let go, allowing herself to soar forward, grasping the same long-roped ring Ty Lat had used, swinging on it with her new-found momentum, allowing her to glide around the arena, with one hand on the ring, and the other in the air to wave to the crowds, who cheered her on. She let go once she got close enough to the platform, landing on feet first, rising back to form with a smirk on her face; as annoyed as she was having to be everybody else's swinging post, she was relieved that she was actually the one who got to show off at the end.

"Show off." she heard Ty Lum grumble, rolling her eyes at the sight of Ty Lee's dashing finale; she ignored her sister's words as she turned to bow to the crowds below, who cheered them on.

"We'll be having a short break, but don't worry, we'll be right back with more amazing performances!" Shumuzu spoke out to the crowds with a loud voice, indicating that they were at the intermission of the current show.

Glancing back over toward her sisters, she realised they were already heading for the ladders to descend back down to the ground; she followed in suit, making her way after Ty Lum, sliding down the ladder with her palms on the wooden sides, quickly touching back down on the grounds of the arena. She glanced over into the ground, taking note that most of the people were talking amongst themselves rather than looking at them; she felt slightly disappointed to not see any admirers, and strode forth back out to the performer's exit, knowing that they didn't have anything else to do in the arena for a while- not until the next show that was.

"We did good out there." Ty Liu declared confidently, the other sisters nodding along.

"Same old, same old." Ty Woo retorted, "It's not like we're getting any more dazzling."

"We ought to shift up the routine a little, don't you think?" Ty Lat suggested, the other sisters nodding along, though the snarkiest of the group responded as Ty Lee expected her to.

"We agree on pretty much everything, dumb-dumb." she mocked her sister, who rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, I thought you would have gotten a little less snarky with time... but I was wrong." she admitted, making the other sisters laugh, even Ty Lee letting out a giggle- they all hoped that Ty Woo would stop acting like such an arse, but to her, that was her defining uniqueness.

"Give me something us to be me, and I'll do that, but until then, I'll tell you the cold truth." she declared, Ty Lum shaking her head with frustration.

"That's not the cold truth... that's more like what you'd like to think is the truth, but not always the actual truth." she argued a little too verbosely, though she got her point across well enough.

"Hey, my insults are always valid. They wouldn't be insults otherwise, they'd just be dumb comments!" she declared, the other sisters groaning with annoyance.

"Why does she have to be right..." Ty Lin groaned, "Maybe we should get you a new hobby?"

"Like what? Poetry?" Ty Lum guessed, Ty Woo raising a finger to her chin.

"Huh, I mean that's not the worst. I can still write insulting poetry!" she declared, Ty Lee rolling her eyes as she turned her attention away from her sister, knowing she ought to find something to do to spend the time between their next show and the present.

"Wait. I think I left the dice in the tent." Ty Lao's eyes widened, before she turned around pace in the direction of the main circus tent while the rest of them continued to walk toward their shared tent, which was a large one in which they all slept, which was probably the most annoying thing about being stuck with her sisters- she had be stuck with them at night when all they'd do is bicker and shout at each other.

Suddenly she heard a grunting noise; turning her head around, she saw that Ty Lao had walked into a young man, "Hey, watch where you're going... cutie." she addressed him, her tone clearly changing once she saw his appearance; Ty Lee had to agree with her sister's judgement, taking note of the appearance of the clearly attractive, lithe and swarthy teenager before them, though he wasn't too tough looking- not a little boy, yet not a man.

"Oh, sorry there, miss." he apologised, making a slight bow as he offered her a hand up, "I'm looking for somebody." he clarified, the sisters turning around to glance at each other.

"Is this one your boyfriends?" Ty Lao asked her sisters, all of whom shook their heads.

"Never seen this guy in my life." Ty Liu added, Ty Woo nodding along, before she stepped forward, pointing at him with slight suspicion.

"Who're you looking for?" she asked, the teenager glancing at them, looking them all in the eye.

"Well, uh... you're all identical, so sorry for asking this..." he prefaced his statement, which made a lot of sense, though that proved he was indeed looking for one of them, "which of you is Ty Lee?"

Her heart felt like it sunk in her chest at the moment of her name being mentioned, her cheeks flushing red with embarrassment; she could only wonder why an attractive boy was looking for her when she was with all her sisters. She guessed he was an admirer, but that didn't matter to her when she had the leering eyes of all six sisters to worry about.

"Is this your boyfriend, Lee?" Ty Lin asked her, making her blush and shake her head; she had never seen this rather attractive teenage boy in her life and he definitely wasn't her boyfriend, though she did consider asking him if he was single- just not in front of her sisters to save herself the embarrassment.

"No, no, I'm not her boyfriend." he assured the sisters, before he stepped closer to her, obviously having figured out which one she was, "I need to talk with you... uh, preferably alone."

"Oh... we'll leave you be." Ty Lao declared with a smug look on her face, patting Ty Lee on the shoulder as she strode past, "The dice can wait." she simply told her; she guessed that meant that she and the other girls would be watching from afar as the boy talked to her, which only made her feel more nervous.

"Come on, let's let Ty Lee do her thing." Ty Lin suggested, the other sisters following her lead as she continued to walk to the tent.

"Urgh." she grumbled to herself, her eyes focused on her sisters as they headed to their tent, although she knew they wouldn't remain inside for long.

"Sorry, if I just embarrassed you." he apologised, which surprised her; she turned her eyes to the boy, taking note of their bright blue colour- they were quite entrancing, but she tried to not let herself be distracted.

"No, it's fine." she lied, knowing that she could only feel a growing sense of dread about what her sisters might be talking about inside their tent, "What did you want to talk to be about? And... who are you?"

"I'd like to see if you're interested in conspiring against Fire Lord Zuko." he simply told her, making her jaw drop with utter surprise; she didn't know what to say to those words, having presumed the boy before her was an admirer, and not somebody important.

"Uh... did I just hear that right? Conspire against Zuko?" she asked him, the boy nodding, clearing his throat.

"Yep, that's- uh- well, that's it." he simply clarified, not saying anything important, other than clarifying she wasn't going insane.

"Okay, so I'm not having some really weird dream where a hot guy comes and tells me he's going to sweep me off my feet and take me out of this frustrating life." she concluded, before she covered her mouth, realising she had said everything she had been thinking out loud, "Um... I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

"You did." he confirmed her fears, making her cover her face with embarrassment.

"Uh, sorry about that... I'm just a little confused. Why are you talking to me specifically?"

"You're known to have associated with him and his close associates in the past, and therefore you're able of providing us very useful intelligence." he told her with a completely straight face, making her gasp with fear.

"Wait, seriously? You want me to help you" she gestured toward him accusingly, "overthrow my childhood friend's boyfriend?!"

"Well, yes, you and Lady Mai had a close relationship, did you not?" he asked her, Ty Lee glancing around, afraid that the boy had people with him who were going to kidnap her if she refused.

"What is this? Who are you?" she almost screamed at him, the boy sighing, obviously annoyed by her reaction, which couldn't be helped, given what he was saying.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to show you." he mumbled with a dejected tone, before suddenly, his hand struck out forward, Ty Lee weaving out of the way, afraid that he'd actually hit her.

He did, though only on the arm, giving her ample time to take form and ready herself to take down the boy; as cute as he was, he sounded like he was working with the wrong crowd of the people, the kind she would only find pain with.

"As cute as you are, I'm not afraid to-" she began to declare her intentions, before she realised something was terribly wrong; as she tried to move her right arm into form, she noticed that it was limp- it had been chi-blocked.

"Wh-what the..." she mumbled, realising that the boy had just used the same fighting technique that she knew against her- he had said he would show her who he was, but all he did was tell her he knew a lot about her, which only made her more afraid, "What is this?!" she cried out, the boy smirking at her confidently, stepping back without taking a fighting form.

"Oh, I don't know, I'd like to call it an introduction." he suggested with a cocky grin, before his expression became more annoyed, though the given emotion didn't seem to be toward her, "Don't tell me there aren't any wanted posters with my face on it."

"Wanted posters?" she asked him, now confused as to what he meant; obviously the boy before her was an enemy of Zuko's, though she couldn't say she recognised his face from any wanted posters.

"That's unfair." he crossed his arms, "I thought assaulting the Fire Lord would have earned me a good wanted poster in every single Fire Nation controlled settlement."

"Assaulting the-" she began to mumble, before she realised what the boy was saying; he had assaulted Zuko, and obviously expected that he would be hunted down for it, but he spoke of it so casually, which indicated that it wasn't a recent occurrence.

Though she had to think back for a moment, she remembered the story she had gotten out of Yu Dao; her old friend, Princess Azula, had gone after her brother and sought out an Agni Kai- they had fought in a duel, but she lost- supposedly she escaped because the Fire Lord was attacked by the Princess's ally, a Water Tribe warrior. Water Tribesmen had blue eyes, swarthy skin, and the boy before her was about the same age as Azula, which confirmed it all in one foul swoop.

"Y-you're..." she mumbled, "You're working for Azula!" she exclaimed, pointing toward him with her left hand accusingly.

"Technically, no." he corrected her, making a more warm smile, rather than the haughty one he had before, "I'm not working for her anymore. And I'm actually not recruiting you to conspire against Fire Lord Zuko."

"Then why are you here?" she asked her, before she heard an all too familiar voice behind her.

"To give a lesson to you: don't believe everything you hear, just because it sounds realistic." Azula advised her, the acrobat's stance softening as she failed to hold back a smile; her friend had come all the way from where-ever she had been hiding to find her, which genuinely made her want to jump up with glee.

"So it's not a hot guy coming to sweep me off my feet, it's you." she turned to face the Princess; she stiffened up for a moment, realising how different Azula looked- she wasn't wearing any make-up, her hair was tied up into a full bun with no bangs, and she was wearing a crop top and pants, akin to Ty Lee's own attire, "You've... changed a lot."

"And you haven't changed one bit, Ty." she raised her chin up, before gesturing back toward the boy who had confronted her, "If you didn't put two and two together, that is Sokka, my former accomplice and my current boyfriend." she explained, Ty Lee's jaw dropping with surprise.

"Your... you got a boyfriend?!" she almost squealed, amazed that her friend had found a guy that wasn't completely afraid of her, before she turned around to face him, "And he's so hot!" she pointed at him accusingly, before she remembered what he did, "And he can chi-block! How did that happen?"

"Oh, I picked up enough from our training together, so I was able to teach the basics to him. He's mostly self-taught, but I warn you, he's quite skilled now." she explained, the acrobat crossing her arms, raising her chin up.

"You never fail to impress me, Zula." she acknowledged, the Princess smiling at her, which unnerved her slightly.

She would never usually smile, unless it was because she had won, and seeing that she hadn't even asked her to do whatever she wanted of her, she was just doing it because she saw her. She realised her aura was so different from the last time she had seen her that she couldn't just chalk it up to mood; this was wholly different Azula, and not in a bad way. She was brighter than the morning sun, and Ty Lee just wanted to know how- how the Princess she knew had become so much happier.

"Is something wrong?" the Princess tilted her head slightly, touching the sides of her own head with a self-conscious look, "Is it the hair? It's probably the hair."

"No... it's not that, it's your aura. You're different- like, really different." she simply told her as best she could, Azula nodding, stepping closer with a warm smile on her face.

"Oh, well, I guess I am. I've learnt a lot of things since I left the palace about a year ago." she admitted, before her expression became more serious, "You're probably still wondering what I actually came here for... and yes, I do have a way for you to get out of this whole circus arrangement, if you'd like."

"What is it?" she asked her, the Princess smirking at her, raising her hands out as if to open the offer.

"How would you like to help the Avatar master the four elements and bring peace to the world?" she asked her, Ty Lee not making a sound as she took a moment to realise the words she had heard were not a joke, as much as she thought they might have been if not for what she had just told her.

"This has to be the most unexpected offer of all time." she noted with a bewildered expression, Azula raising a brow, clearly amused by her reaction.

"So it beats a stranger asking you if you want to overthrow my brother?" she smirked, the acrobat nodding.

"Yep, it just did." she confirmed, before she glanced back towards Sokka, blushing slightly as she remembered that he was actually Azula's boyfriend, "Sorry for making all those comments about your boyfriend." she apologised, "I didn't know."

"That was the idea." her friend grinned at her, "That reaction was what I came here for." she crossed her arms, before raising one of her hands up slightly, "But that second offer there wasn't a joke. Do you want to come with me?"

"Uh..." she mumbled, finding it hard to think straight when she came to think about exactly what she was offering her; an opportunity to escape the circus and with it, her sisters, but with the added confusion that they were actually working with the Avatar of all people, whom the Princess's brother had been hunting down for five whole years, "I'll- uh- think about it." she mumbled; her words seemed to entice Azula to step closer, her eyes narrowed on her own, as if she was trying to read her mind by staring her down.

"Well... you better think about it quickly. I'm not planning on staying around here much longer." she warned her, glancing back toward her boyfriend, "Sokka, head back to Aang and Katara and tell them we found her, I want to speak to Ty Lee alone." she directed her boyfriend, who eyed them both for a moment before nodding.

"Of course. I bet you two have a lot to catch up on." he simply observed, before turning his heels around, making his way back into the tent; Ty Lee realised that they must have come to the show, as to confirm that she was actually in the circus, before they decided to approach her, or better phrased, confuse her.

When he disappeared from sight, she turned her eyes back to Azula, who was still staring her down, "Uh... is something wrong, Azula?"

"No, not yet." she simply responded, which made her grimace; she sounded like she had already been through a lot, and she only had hearsay to rely on figuring out what that was, "I know you probably have a lot of questions for me, and I assure you, I can answer them."

"O-okay." she nodded, before glancing around, realising that they were still standing up when they probably ought to find somewhere to sit; the problem about the circus grounds was that there wasn't really anywhere to sit themselves down, but the Princess caught on quickly enough.

"We can sit down out of the way here." she gestured to a patch of grass nearby an empty cart; Ty Lee followed her suggestion and sat down beside her friend, trying to think of something to ask her, or really, just where to begin.

"I heard you fought against Zuko, but then you disappeared afterwards." she simply stated her own knowledge, remembering back to the time, when she had felt so worried about Azula, and that fear had faded over time, though mostly because she had other things to worry about, "What happened... other than the fact you got yourself a hot boyfriend?"

The Princess snickered at her specific phrasing of the question, raising her chin up as she considered her question, "Well... it was a long journey we took- by boat, that is. The colonies weren't safe for me, and I heeded Sokka's advice to head to the South Pole, where his tribe could protect me and keep me hidden from the world. I protested a little... but I knew it was the right decision. It was unnecessarily dangerous to remain around in the Earth Kingdom when my brother would send people after me as soon as I revealed myself again." she explained, the acrobat nodding along, relieved that Azula had chosen the more pragmatic option of hiding away over trying to fight what she guessed was the majority of the Fire Nation who had come to support her brother openly.

"So... you hid there. Is that where you met the Avatar?" she asked her, the Princess giving her a curt nod in return.

"Yes." she confirmed, before tilting her head, "Well, not immediately. Katara, Sokka's sister, and I we found him a little under a month ago in an iceberg; he'd been frozen inside of it since before Sozin's Comet."

"Wait, Sozin's Comet two years ago or Sozin's Comet a hundred years ago?" she asked in clarification, which to which Azula nodded at her last option.

"A century ago. He hid from Fire Lord Sozin, though unintentionally." she clarified, before narrowing her eyes, "I came north with the intention of going to the Northern Water Tribe to ensure he could be taught waterbending."

"Oh yeah, 'cause there's no waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe anymore." she mumbled, remembering the news when it had come in a number of years prior, back when she was about seven years old- it had been a big deal at the time, though she didn't really understand what was meant by it until she was older.

"Well, that's technically not true, but that's beside the point." Azula clarified, making her eyes widen, realising that what she had just remembered was actually false.

"Since when?" she raised a brow, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Since I don't know... whenever Katara was born?" she responded, sounding slightly unsure; Ty Lee put two and two together, clapping her hands as she realised it.

"Aha! So she's the last waterbender?" she asked, the Princess nodding.

"Yes, and she hasn't been trained in her art because of it. That's another thing we're going to do... make sure she gets the training she needs. She's actually quite a natural when it comes to bending, she's just untrained."

"W-wait, are you saying that you can appreciate waterbending?" she asked in clarification, the Princess raising a brow before shrugging her shoulders.

"I mean it's not firebending, but it's something." she spoke with indifference, which was rather surprising to Ty Lee, who knew her friend to have rather disparaging views of the other bending arts.

"Uh... okay." she mumbled, realising another thing that had changed about her friend, "So, how'd you get a boyfriend? I don't mean to offend, I'm really just interested." she smiled at her friend, hoping that her positive tone would encourage her to divulge her knowledge.

"He tried to kidnap me." she told her as if it were a matter of fact, making Ty Lee's eyes widen with surprise, before the Princess cleared her throat, "Uh, he didn't succeed, if that's what you were wondering."

"I think he kinda did." she smirked at her friend, knowing for a fact that she had been missing for a good six months or so, and she could already guess it was, for better or for worse, because of Azula's boyfriend; he was her first one at that, seeing that unlike Ty Lee, she had never found young romance to be her fancy, though that obviously didn't mean that she didn't want it.

She narrowed her eyes at her friend, trying to think of something to snap back with before she sighed, "Okay, you do have a point there." she agreed with her, before shaking her head, trying to ignore the fact that she had just admitted that she was right, "I didn't fall in love at first sight or any of that bullshit you like to talk about."

"Ah, so he seduced you." the acrobat guessed, much to her friends annoyance; she clenched her fists, turning her face away, though that didn't mean that she couldn't see that her cheeks got a little redder.

"It wasn't like that." she argued, "I recruited him, and our partnership... it became more intimate."

"So... you tried to get a servant and got a boyfriend instead. Sounds like a sweet deal." she grinned at her friend, who rolled her eyes, obviously not thinking about it the same way she had.

"I wanted to ensure his loyalty because I wanted a reliable ally. With you and Mai so far away and out of reach, he was my best option at the time... and I shaped him up quite well, I would say." she argued, trying to make her resulting relationship sound logical- it was 'logical' in Ty Lee's eyes, seeing that they were both two teenagers who were attractive and attracted to each other.

"I'm just surprised... he's from the Water Tribe." she mumbled, the Princess making a curt nod.

"Yes, yes he is. I used to think of his people as if they were dirt that needed to be wiped off of our world to make it clean." she mumbled, sounding disgusted as she said it; the old Azula would never feel remorse or disgust for her own actions, which enticed Ty Lee to lean forward, and turn her head around to try and look her friend in the eye.

"You really... grew up." she mumbled, trying to find the right word to describe what had happened to her friend.

"I am no different to who I was when we last saw each other. I simply know a lot more about the world and life now." she acknowledged, before sighing, "It turns out books and tutors didn't teach me everything."

"That's for sure." she nodded along to her friend's words, agreeing with them wholeheartedly, "That's part of the reason I even came here to the circus. I get to be able to be myself and think for myself... even if I have to deal with my sisters."

"Why are they here, anyway? I thought you left by yourself." she noted, the acrobat sighing as she turned her own eyes away; she felt ashamed to think that she disdained her sisters for even being around, but when all she had ever wanted was to be unique, she couldn't help it.

"I did go by myself. I was okay for a few months, but then they caught up with me, and instead of dragging me back home, they decided to join the circus and we became a group act." she explained, before her eyes moved downward, "At first I was glad to have people I knew around, but then I found myself competing with them again, even if my parents weren't here to impress. I wish we could all just do our own things- I wanted the circus to be mine, but I guess I'm never that lucky."

"That's the most down I've heard you in about ever, Ty Lee." Azula acknowledged her unusually sad demeanour, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'm not forcing you to come along with me... I know that if you want to stay here and live the life you always wanted to, I won't stop you." she explained, making Ty Lee raise a brow.

She was being completely genuine from what she could tell; she had guessed her friend might have dragged her out of the circus if that was what it took, but it seemed like she was trying to give her a choice. It wasn't much of a choice, but even then, she didn't feel comfortable just upping and leaving without explaining things to her sisters.

"But..." she spoke up once more, Ty Lee's eyes darting up to meet her own, which showed a variety of emotions; she could see unease, fear, sadness- none of them intense, but strong enough that she could tell she was feeling them, "I want you to come with me." she simply told her, "You." she stressed, "You're the only person I know who I can trust outside of Sokka, Aang and Katara."

"What about Mai?" she asked her, the Princess snickering, seeming to understand where their mutual friend was at that very moment.

"She's probably off fucking my brother right now." she astutely guessed, making Ty Lee giggle, finding her snarky comment to be one the best things she'd heard all day, "So, she's occupied, and you're my best option."

"I'm honoured." she made a slight bow of respect, "Did you want to meet my sisters again? I'm sure you could out-insult Ty Woo... actually, can you do that for me?"

"Oh, I'm sure I could." she rose up to her feet, offering Ty Lee a hand, "So, what's your thoughts on my offer?"

"I'll think about it." she simply told her, though in fact she had already decided on it; she would go with her friend, and she would help her achieve her new destiny, whatever that would be- her glowing aura inspired her more than any words ever could.

"That's all I could ask for."

* * *

"So, what's she like?"

Sokka idly glanced back toward Aang as they strode out of the circus tent, the show having finished; he took a moment to realise that he was asking about Ty Lee, and cleared his throat as he tried to think of a succinct response to describe her with.

"Uh, she's nice... but too flirty for her own good." he simply commented, making his sister snicker, obviously finding such a caricature to be funny.

"Well, well, I'm looking forward to meeting this Ty Lee. Which one of the seven identical girls was she?" she asked him, Sokka raising a finger to his chin, trying to remember what colour her outfit had been, seeing that was the primary way he could distinguish between the sisters.

"She was the one wearing gold and white." he clarified, Katara nodding along.

"Oh, so the show-off?" she asked her brother, who tried his best to not break down laughing.

"Well, I'd guess they're all show offs." he argued, making her narrow her eyes with thought.

"Huh, so what's stopping us from taking all of these girls with us and having an army of identical sisters." she argued with a smirk, the Water Tribe warrior cringing at the thought of having all seven of them on Appa with them.

"One: one cheery girl hitting on me is enough, and two: she's the only one who can chi-block... I think." he clarified, unsure exactly if the other girls could use the skill that Ty Lee and him had in common.

"Well, that's how we can distinguish them. Whichever one paralyses us if we try to attack them." Katara argued, making Aang look at her with confusion.

"Wait, were we going to attack them?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl giggling.

"No, no, it's just a joke." she assured him, the Air Nomad scrunching up his lips as he looked at her skeptically; just like Sokka, he didn't exactly think her sense of humour was on par with the rest of the group- Azula was funnier, even though her humour was mostly morbid, and outright sadistic at times.

"So, yeah, we're not taking them all. It's either Ty Lee comes with us, or she doesn't." he assured the other two, Aang's eyes narrowing with thought as he considered the possibilities.

"Huh, I guess it'll just be us for a while if she doesn't join."

"That's until Toph joins." Katara clarified, the Water Tribesman raising a brow.

"Did she even agree to being Aang's earthbending master, or are you just going to force her?" he asked his sister, who gestured toward Aang.

"It was his idea, and I personally think it's a good one. That girl will keep us safe from everyone and everything dangerous. Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom." she argued, which made him smile, glad that they'd probably have her on their side.

"Well, that's reassuring. I was here thinking my girlfriend was going to have to do all the fighting." he joked, though Katara took his words seriously.

"What do you mean? We all fight." she argued, her brother crossing his arms as he tried to extend his argument.

'Well, as good as we are, when it comes to an actual army... I'm pretty sure she's the only one who will be able to save us- that and the you-know-what State, but we don't want to rely on that." he explained, elbowing Aang, "Isn't that right?"

"Of course." he nodded, "I don't want to use my powers and accidentally... do things." his voice quietened to a mumble; Sokka cringed slightly, realising that he was actually afraid of his own powers.

If he was in the same position, he would be too, but that didn't make his plight any less pitiful; he was a twelve year old boy with the responsibility of fixing the world. He wanted to try and assure him that he could learn to control it, but even he didn't know what could be controlled when it came to the Avatar; perhaps they were destined to be a well-intentioned killing-machine against the wrong-doers of the world, though he doubted that was actually the case.

"Anyway, I was going to go find Az- you-know-who." he nearly said his girlfriend's name, the fact of which caught both Aang and Katara's attention; he was at least glad that they were observant enough when it came to name-slips by that point, "Are you two just going to head back to Appa?"

"Uh..." Aang raised a finger to his chin, before shaking his head, "I wanted to go to the market. There might be something useful there for us to buy." he explained, Sokka narrowing his eyes at him for a moment as they came to a halt, near the exit of the circus grounds.

"Hmmm..." he mumbled, his eyes turning to his sister, "I can trust you to supervise?"

"What do you take me for?" she retorted, raising her hand up, "Of course you can." she told him, her open palm gesturing for him to hand over some coins; he begrudgingly handed ten of their twenty gold pieces over to her, unsure what they would be spent on.

"Have fun, you two." he made a small smile at them both before waving as he turned his heels, heading back toward where he remembered Azula and Ty Lee to be.

Making his way back through the circus, he walked past a few performers, who were understandably confused why some random guy was walking through their camp; they didn't question him, however, and he was free to stay on his path back to where he had confronted Ty Lee. He chuckled back at the response he had gotten, but his mind immediately turned to what she and Azula might be talking about. He wanted to make sure his girlfriend was okay, and also that she didn't freak out her friend; Azula was a very different person to what she used to be, at least in how she treated and interacted with others. Instead of being constantly snarky, she was only mildly snarky, and could even be sweet and caring at times; calling her sweet though might have been a stretch, seeing that she was either usually considerate or seductive and almost never in between those two expressive states.

When he made sight of where he had last seen them, he was surprised to see they were gone; he immediately turned his eyes around toward the tent that Ty Lee had been heading to until he met her and her sisters. He guessed that they might have gone inside, and thus, he strode toward it, hoping that his girlfriend was there with her friend and that he was not about to flirt with six identical sisters at once. He made his way up to the canvas opening of the tent, hearing a few voices inside, all of which sounded similar, though he wasn't surprised by that, given that they were identical septuplets; when his hands parted the canvas open, a few eyes turned his way as he tried to spot his girlfriend. He did indeed see her sitting in the centre of the large tent, drinking some tea with Ty Lee and her sisters, though they weren't all sitting with the pair.

"Oh, it's the hot guy again." one of the sister's observed, "Is this her boyfriend?" she asked Ty Lee, who nodded, gesturing for Sokka to enter.

"It's okay, you can come in, Sokka." she assured him, Azula snickering as she herself took note of all the sisters barring Ty Lee checking him out.

"Uh... the tea smells nice." he made a random comment, hoping that would break the awkwardness of having all the eyes on him as he strode into the tent.

"Oh, did you want some?" she asked him, raising the pot up, "It's fresh... Azula was able to help me heat it up quickly."

"Sure, thanks." he smiled, giving her an affirmative nod as he sat down beside his girlfriend, "Uh, so, what have you two been talking about?"

"How you two met... all the things that have happened since Azula disappeared- that kind of stuff." Ty Lee clarified rather openly, which didn't surprise his girlfriend in the slightest.

"Ah okay, story-time number twenty three." he joked, actually having lost count of how many times he had told his and Azula's story in its various permutations and abridged versions.

As the acrobat poured him a cup of tea, he smiled at her thankfully, before his girlfriend spoke up, "There's no need to go on a tirade, Sokka. I've caught her up to speed for the most part. Not everything, of course, for the sake of brevity." she admitted, Ty Lee raising a brow.

"Well, what didn't you tell me?" she asked her, the Princess's eyes darting down, almost as if she were embarrassed to say it.

"Something I don't want to tell you." she mumbled, her words catching the attention of Ty Lee's sisters, though none of them spoke up.

"Oh... I can guess what it is." Sokka admitted, immediately having figured out that it was the story of how they actually first told each other their feelings, the kind he guessed Ty Lee would squeal with joy about, if their previous interaction was any indication.

"What?" one of the sister's asked, "Come on, don't leave us hanging." she requested, the Princess shooting her an annoyed glare.

"I wasn't talking to you, Ty Liu." she snapped, making the sister snicker, before her eyes widened.

"Huh, you didn't mess up my name." she observed, "Most people mix us up."

"Yeah, I can definitely see why. Was the matching hairstyles really necessary?" he gestured to the braids they all wore; each of them self-consciously touched them before looking at him with suspicious, annoyed glances.

"They're part of our identity." one of the other sisters argued, "Isn't that right?"

She got a few affirmative nods from the other sisters, though Ty Lee decided to intercede at that moment, "Now, now, I don't think he was trying to offend us. He's got a point, though I agree, I wouldn't ever change my hair. It's just great the way it is."

"Right..." he mumbled, before taking a sip from his tea, feeling slightly embarrassed after having annoyed all of the sisters at once.

Once he swallowed it, he cleared his throat, deciding he ought to break the awkwardness with some more casual conversation, "Uh, so, was there anything you wanted to ask me, Ty Lee?" he asked her, the acrobat's eyes widening as she realised she was being talked to once again.

"Oh, uh, well, you can tell me what it was like to assault the Fire Lord." she reminded him of his joke, which wasn't actually a joke, just a funny occurrence in hindsight.

"That's the question you wanted to ask?" Azula raised a brow at her with interest, almost sounding skeptical that her question was the real one she wanted to ask, just a preface to her true intentions; Sokka couldn't be sure what she might 'really' want to know, so he took her question at face value.

"Yeah, it is." she confirmed, "You spent so much of your childhood humiliating Zuko, I just want to hear about it from somebody else's perspective."

"Oh, if you're wondering if I enjoyed it or not, I did, although at the time I was far more focused on making sure Azula was safe." he simply explained his thoughts on the matter; he didn't think about Zuko or what he might be able to do to him if he had failed in his incapacitation, but only about protecting the Princess from her brother, who had openly stated his intention to have her thrown in prison.

"Ah, so you were the hero of the day." Ty Lee deduced, Sokka shaking his head.

"I wouldn't say that. At Yu Dao, two people saved us- Iroh and Mai, which... is pretty ironic, given that they were the two people closest to Zuko."

"Wait so you've met Mai?" she raised a brow, the Water Tribesman nodding, remembering distinctively how she had pinned him to the ground when he had tailed her and Kori through an alleyway.

"Yeah, she kinda kicked my butt." he admitted, slightly embarrassed by the fact.

"Not kinda. She definitely beat you. Luckily for you, she likes me more than she was suspicious of you." Azula retorted with a smirk, obviously wanting to feel a little pride in her actions, if to try and not think about what else had happened in Yu Dao because of her own decisions.

"So, how'd she save you? Give you passage out of the city or something like that?" Ty Lee asked them, the pair glancing toward each other, both shaking their heads.

"Not that. She knocked out a guard who was about to recognise Azula. We'd been taking refuge with one of our allies, who happened to be the Mayor's daughter." he explained, before clearing his throat, knowing he ought to be succinct in his description of the event, "She was living next to where Zuko and Mai were staying... so, yeah, she came out and saved us from getting caught." 

"Huh." she mumbled, raising a hand to her chin, "So, even though she's like obviously in love with your brother, she was still willing to do that for you. That takes guts." she acknowledged, Azula chuckling.

"She wasn't going to ignore all those years we spent together." she argued, crossing her arms, "If anything I thought she might have come to the Agni Kai and helped soothe Zuzu's anger. I still don't know why she didn't come- probably couldn't stomach the idea of one of us killing the other."

"Uh yeah, that's obviously why." Sokka rolled his eyes, "I couldn't either." he spoke more quietly, acknowledging that he had been feeling a mixture of emotions during and after their duel, but the overriding one was fear.

Azula turned to face him, smirking as she obviously thought of a quip in her mind, before she fell short, her lips straightening as her eyes flickered with fear; she knew what could have happened that evening, and she was glad that he had been there.

She turned her eyes away, looking more annoyed that sad; that was her best trick, turning her sadness or fear into anger- that was how she bent her flames, and probably half the reason she mocked people so much, "Fucking Uncle. The coward couldn't do it himself so he made Zuzu do it for him." she snarled with annoyance, Ty Lee's eyes turning to meet Sokka's as they both shared a common understanding; it was more than obvious that Iroh wasn't the root cause of her issues.

"Don't-" he began to try and argue, before he sighed, knowing there was no point trying to persuade her otherwise, "He's not going to get send somebody to come and capture you... not anymore." he assured her, the Princess shaking her head.

"The damage is already done." she sighed, before turning her eyes to Ty Lee, "That's why we're here. Well, not here specifically, but out of the South Pole. We're going to fix the world."

"Wait... did she just say fix the world?" one of the identical sisters spoke up, "Lee, this is the same girl you said wanted to burn Ba Sing Se to the ground when we were little." she addressed her sister, who raised a hand to her mouth with embarrassment.

"Oh, so even nine year old Azula dreamt of conquering Ba Sing Se. Why am I not surprised?" he joked, his girlfriend rolling her eyes.

"I still dream of it, that hasn't changed." she argued, the Water Tribesman raising a finger to stress in return.

"Hey, but remember, you want to do it for a much better reason. To get rid of those slimy Dai Li bastards." he assured her, Ty Lee raising a brow with interest.

"Wait... you want to do that?"

The Princess crossed her arms, looking rather self-assured, which given the topic, Sokka wasn't surprised, "Oh course I do. Those bastards nearly kidnapped me."

"But didn't Sokka nearly kidnap you too?" she gestured to her boyfriend, who raised a hand to his chest; he was actually offended to be compared to the Dai Li of all people.

"Just wait a-" he began to argue, before Azula raised a hand to silence him.

"Well..." she spoke up, eyeing him for a moment, before her gaze returned to her friend, "I can actually trust his motivations. The Dai Li on the other hand are power-hungry snakes who wanted to throw Ba Sing Se into chaos all to regain power."

"Damn, so you're like some kind of revolutionary now." one of the sisters mumbled, "Why'd you get the cool friends, Ty Lee?" she asked her, making her place her hands on her hips cockily.

"Because I'm the cooler sister, and she wanted to be friends with somebody who's cool like me." she declared, pointing her thumb to her chest with a smirk that reminded Sokka of his girlfriend quite a lot; it seemed the two friends rubbed off on each other over the years, which wasn't surprising, given how close Azula described their relationship as being.

"That's actually not far from the truth." Azula conceded, raising a finger to stress, "I choose the best of the best."

"We can all do acrobatics just as good as her." one of the sisters declared, rising up to her feet, "You stole it from me anyway!"

"Oh, shut up, Ty Woo." Ty Lee growled with annoyance, "Just let me have my thing."

"You do have your own thing. That weird chi-blocking thing... which you refuse to teach us." she added with a slightly disgruntled tone, crossing her arms.

"Because I want to be unique!" she pointed at her sister, "And I take pride in the fact I could beat you all up and still come out on top."

"Do you want to make a bet?" Ty Woo narrowed her eyes at her, Azula raising her hands up.

"Now, now, there's no need to fight... no matter how enjoyable it would be to watch." she told them, Sokka rolling his eyes at his girlfriend's words; she was trying to be the serious one but just came off as being immature as them.

"We really shouldn't do anything in the tent. What if we break something?" Ty Lee tried to reason with her sister, who backed down, sitting on her bed.

"Yeah, I don't want to break one of your ribs." she warned her, before clearing her throat, "I really don't want to. We have to go back for another show in an hour, and we need all seven of us."

"Uh..." Ty Lee mumbled, her unease indicating that she hadn't explained the fact that she might join them, "About that, I've been meaning to explain something."

"Oh, yes." Azula raised a brow, "You didn't tell them."

"Tell us what?" Ty Liu prodded her sister for an answer, "What's happening, Lee?"

"Azula wants me to join her to go help the Avatar." she simply put it, the sisters all looking toward her with shock.

"Sorry, what?" one of her sisters asked her, "Join the Avatar?"

"Yeah, that's it." she confirmed, "That's how she and Sokka got here."

"Here I was thinking they showed up from hiding around the Earth Kingdom." Ty Liu mumbled, before she turned to Sokka, "So, what, you two just want to take her?"

"Not take her." he stressed, "Ty Lee has a choice."

"We did come here to make sure she didn't go off alone in the first place." another of her sisters acknowledged, "I don't think you should go again. I don't mistrust the Princess or anything, it just really sounds unsafe."

"It is unsafe." Ty Lee conceded, "But I'm willing to give some help to a friend, because I know she could use it." she turned her eyes to Azula, giving her an affirmative smile, which actually unnerved her somewhat; she turned her eyes away, looking nearly embarrassed, before she regained her composure.

"I do want her to come." she spoke up, before turning to face the sister who had addressed them, "And I will keep her safe. You have my word."

"You must have come a long way to find her." one of the sisters spoke up, rising to her feet, "Ty Lee... I don't want you to go, but I won't stop you. We all want to be unique... and really, this girl is your one chance to have that."

"Thanks, Ty Lat." she smiled at her sister, "I want all of us to be unique. Honestly I wish we split up and all did our own things... but I won't make you guys do that." she admitted to her sisters, who glanced amongst themselves, "Did any of you really want to be acrobats? I know you're all good at it, but is this the life you want for yourselves."

"We are good at it, and we enjoy it." one of the sisters acknowledged, "But we haven't seen Mum and Dad in so long. Maybe we will go home eventually... but I don't know."

"Should we vote on it?" Ty Woo stood up, "Who wants to let Ty Lee go?"

Three of the sisters rose their hands up, one after the other, the other three keeping their hands down; one of those who refused turned to face her sister, looking at her sympathetically, "Lee, we're in this together... but is this really what you want? This is the life you always wanted, and I know we might not always get along, but this is it. Why would you throw it away?"

The sister who had all the attention drawn to her looked downward, not making a response yet, simply mulling over the words of each of her sisters, "The circus isn't everything to me. I like it, and I love acrobatics, but that's not what defines me. What defines me is what I believe in..." she declared, trailing off as she turned her eyes to Sokka and Azula, "I believe in you, Zula. And... even if you're not the same as you used to be, that doesn't mean I still won't. You've always been smart, and now... now you're wise."

"Thanks, Ty Lee." the Princess nodded, genuinely appreciative of her words, "I know this mustn't be the best thing to happen to you all." she addressed all of her sisters, "But, I know that you... care about Ty Lee." she conceded, "I won't force her to come with me, but please... don't try and stop her. She's her own person- that's what I know." she declared, before rising up to her feet, "I think I need to get some fresh air."

"Good idea." Sokka rose up beside her, before sipping down the last of the tea he had been drinking, "Uh, thanks for the tea."

"No problem." Ty Lee smiled at him, before she grimaced slightly, "Are you alright, Zula?"

"I'm fine. Sokka and I will just be a moment." she told her before striding over toward the entrance of the tent, her boyfriend quickly pacing behind her, awkwardly glancing at Ty Lee's sisters as they observed their retreat from the tent.

Once they had gotten past the canvas, Sokka reached forward, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Did her sisters piss you off or something?" he asked her, genuinely afraid that she was about to have an outburst of anger; she obviously wanted Ty Lee to come with them, and any opposition she might have faced was obviously going to frustrate her.

"N-no..." she mumbled, slowly turning her head around, "No, that's not why I feel... broken." she told him with a pained voice, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Azula." he gasped her name, moving both of his hands to hold her shoulders, "What's wrong?"

"I'm wrong." she simply told him, "Something's always been wrong with me. I'm... my family. Nobody has ever spoken about me like that." she admitted, the Water Tribesman grimacing as he realised what she was saying; she didn't feel like anyone loved or cared for her, or her fate- given the impression he got from the few interactions she had with Zuko, he wasn't surprised she felt that way.

"But I-" he began to speak up, before she shut him up with her piercing golden eyes; except, they weren't exactly piercing in that moment- more like little seas of gold, like a dim, but warm fire.

"I know you have. But you're you. Of course you would." she admitted with a pained voice, her eyes turning away, "Why did it take a random foreigner who met me trying to kidnap me for anyone to feel like that toward me?" she asked him, as if he might even be able to answer the question.

His only answer was that her family were horrible, and didn't deserve her; they probably didn't deserve each other, though he could argue that Iroh might have been deserving of a little more respect than what he was actually given.

"Maybe she was right... maybe I am just a monster."

"Y-your mother..." he mumbled, before he turned away, clenching his fists, "How could anyone fucking say that?"

"Because it was true." she argued, the Water Tribesman shaking his head.

"No. That's not right. No parent should say that... ever." he told her, pointing a finger on her sternum, "You're not a monster... if anything, she helped you accept the worst part of yourself. You aren't defined by what you think you are, but what you do."

"And I've failed." she declared poignantly, "I've suffered, I've failed, and all I've learnt is that I can get up, but I don't know if I can win."

"You will." he assured her, "Winning isn't just about being on top- it's about being right."

"What, so you think we won at Yu Dao because you're more honourable than my shit-stain of a brother?"

"No, we definitely didn't win then... but we survived again. Just like before. You were able to recover, and we won because of that. You overcome your loss, and now, now we can overcome whatever comes our way." he argued, placing his hands on her shoulders, "You're meant to be tough one." he joked, the Princess making a small giggle, smiling at his words appreciatively.

"Oh, I am the tough one." she assured him, before her eyes turned away, "I don't want to be hated." she simply admitted, the Water Tribesman sighing.

"I doubt anybody actually hates you. They just don't understand you."

"Not everyone is as empathetic as you, Sokka." she turned away, "Katara doesn't like me, our 'allies' don't trust me, and Aang, I don't even know what he thinks of me." she admitted, clenching her fists, her lips forming a snarl as she looked up to the sky above them, "I am going to be a good Fire Lord. I know that... but I don't want to be a hated one."

He stepped beside her, not touching her again, but simply looking up to the clouds beside her, "Katara does like you... even if she won't admit it." he assured her, "I mean, a few weeks ago, maybe she didn't. Maybe she feared you. But I think she understands you a little better now."

"What, so it took beating up the Southern Raiders and the endangerment of your village for your sister to reconsider her views?" she quipped in return, mocking his sister's attitude; Sokka sighed, knowing that despite her good intentions, Katara was a little too steadfast in her ways at times, and that was coming from the teenager who once thought bending was magical and a nuisance, and that girls were far weaker than boys.

"Sometimes we need a wake up call to see when we're wrong." he admitted, before chuckling, "It took you and me surviving that forest for me to change my mind about the Fire Nation."

"Hmph." she crossed her arms, her eyes darting to meet his own, "You really think you would have captured me if you had the chance?"

"Probably. Back then, all I knew was that you were some important Fire Nation person that we might be able ransom off. Not that money would have done us much good." he theorised what he thought might have realistically happened, "But we could have bought a lot of food for our tribe with the money Jeong Jeong probably would have given us, or did he give it anyway. I can't remember... I was too afraid to ask Dad in the first place." 

"I have a feeling our relationship might have gone a very different way." she acknowledged, with an intrigued look, before her expression became colder, "But my brother still would have become Fire Lord. Maybe it was inevitable."

"I don't think anything's inevitable. Fate's made up by people too afraid to act." he argued, the Princess smirking back at him with approval.

"I ought to use that line in a speech before a battle." she noted, "I thank you in advance."

"No problem, your majesty." he bowed jokingly, the Princess rolling her eyes at his mocking act of deference; when he straightened his back, he glanced back toward her, remembering what they had been talking about before they were side-tracked with the 'what-if's' they had considered.

"And I think Aang likes you." he added, "For what it's worth, I think he looks up to you."

"You're joking. I'm the wrong kind of person for him to be looking up to... as much as I'd like the respect. I'm the Fire Nation Princess who crushed a rebellion in Ba Sing Se- I'm not some kind of hero for him to idolise." she argued, the Water Tribesman shrugging his shoulders.

"I wasn't joking. He really does look up to you. Even if your principles are completely different, you're a confident leader- the kind of person any Avatar would want to be. To be ready to act in the moment and do what needs to be done."

"Are you trying to say I would have been a better Avatar than Aang?" she leaned forward with a cocky smirk.

"That's not what I was saying... but, uh, yeah, you might have been." he conceded, before shaking his head, "The point is, you're the leader. I might be making the itinerary, but I'm not sneaking into Fire Nation encampments or planning to explode ships."

"You aren't." she conceded, before looking at him with a serious expression, placing a finger on his chest, 'You better give me some advice from time to time or you'll be redundant." she argued, the Water Tribesman scoffing at her joke.

"Oh really? Redundant? And who's the voice of reason in our group?" he argued, his girlfriend looking back at him with skeptical expression, one eyebrow raised up while she held back a laugh.

"I didn't know rational thought equated with the priorities of one man's stomach." she retorted, making him wince.

"Okay, fair point, I think a little too much with my gut and not enough with my head." he acknowledged one of his main flaws, knowing all too well that his appetite got in the way of straight-thinking, more often than not; when it came down to it, however, he was able to ignore what his gut was telling him to save his friends and do the right thing.

"You're pretty good at what you do, Sokka." she admitted, before clearing her throat, "But you can always be better."

"I know." he smiled at her, "We can always get better." he furthered her own argument, which made her expression falter.

"You're right." she agreed, before she turned her eyes downward, "I'm sorry for having this... moment. I can't let myself get too concerned about stupid things like Zuko or Mother." she chided herself, Sokka leaning in grasping her by the shoulders, pulling her into a hug.

"You are loved, Azula." he simply told her, "Don't doubt that for a second. Just because some arseholes don't doesn't make you a bad person." he argued, leaning back slightly as the two of them locked eyes.

"I'm not good." she defiantly declared, though with a more quiet tone than expected.

"No. You're great." he retorted, before leaning in and kissing her on the lips; she was surprised by his sudden embrace, though only for a moment, before her eyes shut.

He leaned back after a few moments, looking her in the eyes, "And don't forget it." he told her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Why do you have to be so persuasive?" she sighed, as if she were actually disappointed that he was able to make her falter.

"Because I love you." he told her bluntly, the Princess's eyes turning back to face his own; they remained silent for a few moments, Sokka considering whether he ought to add something else, but she did eventually respond, her voice low and almost pleading.

"Say it again." she demanded with a quiet tone; the Water Tribesman smirked, realising that she really did want to hear him say it, rather than being embarrassed like he had first guessed.

"I love you, Azula." he told her in reassurance, kissing her on the lips once more, the Princess leaning back in with passion; she didn't need to say the same words in return- he could feel it her lips, and the hot air that was coming out her nose, like she was about to start breathing fire down his throat.

Their embrace was cut short by the short of a squeal; Sokka flinched back, glancing to his right as he took note of Ty Lee peering out of the tent, with a wide grin on her face, "That was so cute!" she declared with a bright, giddy voice, pointing to them both, "I love this whole thing. So much!" she exclaimed, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Urgh... I guess our 'fresh air break' is over then." she mumbled, Ty Lee raising her hands up, her expression becoming far less giddy and more conciliatory.

"No, no, I'll leave you two be. Come back inside when you want more tea or want to start an argument with my sisters." she suggested, the Princess's lips pursing upward, before she turned her eyes to her boyfriend.

"I certainly will." she assured her, the acrobat slipping back through the canvas, Sokka relaxing somewhat as he felt less unnerved by Ty Lee's presence in their rather romantic moment.

"Well, that was annoying." he mumbled, the Princess rolling her eyes, making an exasperated sigh.

"Sokka, haven't you figured it out yet? Life is just a bunch of annoying incidences, set up one after another."

"Excuse me, I wouldn't call you kissing me annoying." he argued, the Princess smirking at him.

"Oh, so you enjoyed it." she raised a finger to her lips, leaning back away from him as she awaited his response.

"Of course I did. I don't enjoy everything we do, but I firmly believe the good outweighs the bad." he argued, the Princess raising a brow at him skeptically.

"Always the optimist." she mumbled, the Water Tribesman pointing his thumb at his sternum.

"I'm not an optimist, I'm a survivor. At some point, I got from surviving fighting you... to doing unspeakable things with you." he gestured his hands along as if to suggest a scale, though he realised his examples were a little too funny to pass up.

"I feel that the idea of overcoming your weaknesses is a better way to describe it." she suggested, making him snort, thinking of a way to describe just that.

"So what, I'm the overcomer-er?" he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"That's not a word." she argued, the Water Tribesman defiantly crossing his arms.

"If I say it's a word, it's a word." he retorted, Azula face-palming as she tried to hold back a laugh.

"I swear this has to be the stupidest thing you could argue with me about." she argued, before she turned her eyes up to meet his own, "I'd rather argue in a different manner."

"I'm unsure if you're talking about arguing-arguing... or that kind of arguing." he mumbled, the Princess rolling her eyes, grasping him by his tunic and pulling him closer.

"Just kiss me damn it."

* * *

"Katara, look at this!"

Turning her head around, Katara saw Aang holding up a whistle in his hand, which confused her somewhat; she knew that he was the kind of person who was positive all the time and tended to get excited about a lot of stuff, but she couldn't wrap her head around what was so cool about a whistle of all things.

"A whistle." she mumbled after a short pause, the Avatar's bright expression faltering, before he stepped closer to show it to her.

"It's not just any whistle. It's a sky-bison whistle." he told her with a whisper, making her raise a brow.

"A sky-bison whistle?" she raised a brow, "Why would they have one of those in a Fire Nation shop?" she asked him, the young Air Nomad narrowing his eyes at her.

"This is the antiques shop." he simply reminded her, "They're going to have weird stuff like this... not that bison whistles are weird, I've just never gotten one before." he explained himself before he glanced toward the counter, "So can I get it?" he asked her with a wide, hopeful grin.

"What exactly are you going to need it for?" she asked him, feeling somewhat skeptical that they should be spending their money on a whistle of all things.

"Emergencies." he argued, Katara sighing, before glancing back at the whistle.

"Does it have a price?" she asked him, the Avatar scanning it for a moment, before he shook his head.

"Uh, I think I'll just have to ask the guy at the counter." he noted, before he strode in the direction of the person he spoke of; Katara turned her head around, idly glancing about the antiques store.

There was a wide variety of wares around her, though she couldn't find anything of interest; she knew that buying something random from an antiques store would be a waste of money. As much as she didn't want to agree with her brother on the matter, buying food was a far higher priority, and if they were to get anything else, it would be supplies to complement their camping set up. Given that they were already well equipped, the only thing she could think of was what they had been talking about earlier, that being some disguises for them all to wear. She scanned around, checking for some disguises, but was disappointed to see there weren't any clothes in the store; there was always another store for her to go check, but she didn't know when they would be leaving. Sokka and Azula could show up at any moment with Ty Lee, and then they would be on their way, back on track to get to the North Pole. She knew it would still be a few weeks before they got there, and that was assuming they didn't have any more detours. She turned back around to face Aang, who was talking to the cashier with his usual giddy tone, and as she approached, the young Avatar turned back to face her.

"Oh, Katara, could I have a copper piece for the whistle." he asked Katara, her eyes widening as she realised how cheap the whistle was; she simply reached into the purse she had slung around her shoulder, pulling out a coin to hand over.

He grabbed the coin as she offered it over, before exchanging it to the cashier, who smiled thankfully as he gave him the whistle, "Thanks for buying here. If there's anything else you like, don't be afraid to come back." he suggested, the young Avatar giving an awkward smile and wave.

"Ah okay." he acknowledged his words, before turning his heels and making his way toward the door; Katara followed behind him, making her way to the doorway, where he stood waiting for her, "We're not coming back here." he simply noted, making her giggle.

"That's true." she agreed, before leaning her head out, looking down the street at the other stores that lined it, "Are we going to look at some other stores? We had to get some disguises, didn't we?"

"Oh yeah, we did." he nodded, before smirking, "I'm gonna get that headband."

"Headband?" she raised a brow, surprised that he had something specific in mind.

"Yeah, A- you know who told me to grow out my hair, so I can blend in a little easier, and I want to get a headband to cover my arrow." he explained, the Water Tribe girl smiling at the idea.

"That's a good idea." she agreed, before she narrowed her eyes at him, realising that there wasn't much apprehension in his voice, "You're okay with that?"

"Y-yeah..." he mumbled, scratching the back of his head, which was covered by the hood he was wearing, "I didn't want to, but she's right. It's more important to stay hidden than to be bald."

"When you say it like that, being bald sounds like a job in and of itself." she joked, the young Avatar giggling.

"Oh, I do have to shave it every day, so that's a good point." he agreed, before stepping out of the doorway, offering her a hand, "Come on, let's go."

She accepted his hand, striding forward alongside him as he led her along the street, pointing straight at a shop some way down, "See there, clothes." he pointed out its sign, which clearly marked it as a place to buy clothing.

The pair made their way down the street, and Katara instinctively pulled her cloak tighter around her neck, trying to make sure her Water Tribe clothes were as covered as possible. Even if people from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation could live in relative peace together in the Fire Nation colonies, she doubted they'd be as friendly to people from her tribe. Aang's cloak covered him well enough, but she could see why Azula was arguing that he should grow out his hair- it would simply make him a lot less suspicious looking.

Quickly enough, they got to the door of the shop, which Aang opened up, glancing inside, his expression brightening, "Ah, yep, this is what we need." he gestured inside.

She could see a wide variety of clothes, consisting of robes, cloaks, tunics, pants and dresses, mostly of Fire Nation colours, and what she assumed to be their style of clothing. It was a lot looser than Water Tribe clothing, but that didn't concern her; given the climate of the area they were in was quite warm, she thought it might actually be better if they were to wear looser clothing; long sleeves and thick robes would get on her nerves quickly enough, especially if they ended up somewhere even warmer.

"Well, are we going to go try some things on?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow.

"Wait, try it on?" she asked, the young Avatar nodding.

"Well, yeah. You want to be sure it fits before you buy it." he simply noted, her eyes narrowing for a moment as she considered what he was saying.

Down at the South Pole, they didn't really ever buy clothes, most people making their own or having them made by their parents; the only things the different villages would trade would usually be excesses of furs, meat, fish and blubber, all of which were vital for life on the tundra. The idea of buying clothes intrigued her, but she didn't really know what she wanted.

"Could you help me pick something out?" he asked the young Avatar, whose eyes widened, falling speechless for a few moments before he smiled.

"Yeah, of course." he nodded, before gesturing for her to follow him down into the section dedicated to tunics and shirts, "You'll need a shirt first."

She turned her eyes away with embarrassment, realising she was getting fashion advice from a twelve-year-old; however, she knew that he, the more worldly of the pair, would have a better idea of what Fire Nation clothes would actually look good and be practical. Aang ran his hand through the row of hung-up shirts, before his expression brightened, picking out one; he showed it off, a light red, almost pink shirt that had loose short sleeves and wrapped around itself at the middle, held together with a few clips. She found that specific aspect of the shirt to be interesting, given that it could be worn more loosely or tighter depending on how warm she wanted to be.

"Huh, that's nice." she acknowledged, before narrowing her eyes, "Is something meant to go over that?" she asked, the young Avatar looking at the shirt with a puzzled eye, before he gave an uncertain nod.

"I think so. Maybe like a robe. Kinda like what I've got." he gestured to his own over-robes, Katara nodding.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." she agreed, before glancing down at her current attire, "What about pants?"

He glanced around before pointing deeper into the store, "I think the pants are down by the back." he simply explained, before he offered her the shirt he had picked out; she grabbed it and followed after Aang as he walked down the aisle, leading her all the way to the back of the store, where he pointed to a large set of hung up pants and skirts.

She looked along, taking note how the pants varied in length and looseness; some of the pants were like the leggings she wore normally, and some were in contrast almost like a dress on each pant-leg that cuffed above the ankles. She picked out a pair that looked to be about her size, and not too loose, finding such a style of clothing to be a little too unusual for her tastes. As she held them out, the young Avatar nodded along approvingly.

"That looks good." he assured her, before he scanned around the row of pants, "Now... I just need some." he noted, quickly finding a pair of dull red baggy pants, "Do these look okay?"

"Yeah, they're fine. You better get a shirt too." she suggested to Aang, who smiled in approval, glancing back around the store.

"I think the men's shirts are around the other side." he acknowledged, before he gestured down toward the end of the aisle, "Let's go around and find a robe for you." he suggested, Katara following once more as he paced around to the adjacent aisle.

He paced ahead, walking down along the aisle until his expression brightened, pulling out a long flowing gray robe to go with her shirt; it had floral patterns sewn into its edges and would probably go down to just above her knees when worn. Just like the shirt, it was tied around the middle, with a waist band coming with it, just like her own outer robe that she wore.

"This looks nice, don't you think?" he smiled at her, to which she nodded with appreciation.

"It does. So, where do I go to try this on?" she asked him, the young Air Nomad glancing around, trying to think of an answer.

"Uh, I dunno. Maybe you could ask the lady at the counter." he gestured back toward the front of the store."

She nodded, pacing past him as she grasped the robe out of his hands, "I'll go put this on. You can go find your disguise, and then we can compare." she suggested, Aang grinning and giving her a thumbs up.

"Got it." he assured her, before he paced down in the opposite direction to go find himself a shirt.

She made her way down to the end of the aisle, spotting the cashier, who glanced her way with interest, seeing that she had a few articles of clothing in her hands, "Oh, did you come to buy those?" she asked her, the Water Tribe girl giving an affirmative nod.

"Well, yes, but I was wondering if you had somewhere for me to try them on." she requested, the cashier raising her left hand up and gesturing down to a doorway that was covered by a bit of fabric.

"Just in there." she simply told her, Katara the woman a curt nod before she paced over to the fabric, parting it out of the way to glance into a small hallway; there were compartments, each covered by more long sheets of fabric, which she guessed was to prevent people from being watched while they changed.

Stepping into one of the small changing areas, she pulled the fabric across to obscure herself, before placing the clothes she had gathered down on a small wooden bench that sat by the wall. She quickly loosened up her robes, before she untied her waistband, allowing her to unravel and pull her upper robe off, leaving only her loose tunic underneath. She dispensed off that quickly as well, throwing it onto the bench before she exchanged it with the shirt Aang had picked out for her. She felt odd as she looked at the red shirt and realised that she would be the one wearing wearing it; she had never worn foreign clothes before, and the touch of fabric surprised her; it was thin and soft, and although she wondered if she would be cold wearing it, she was sure that it wouldn't be uncomfortable. She smiled as she pulled her arms through the short sleeves, before wrapping the shirt shut, taking the clips that came with it and putting them in place.

She then took her hands down to her leggings, pulling them off, forced to slide off her boots in the process; she then picked up the pants she had chosen, and stepped into the pant-holes, the first thing she noticed was how the pants cuffed at the ankles, but were otherwise airy and loose, unlike anything she had worn before. Taking the pants up all the way to her waist, her eyes widened with surprise, if she closed her eyes, she might have thought she was just wearing some bands around her ankles and nothing more. It was an unusual feeling to have, but she shook her head, chiding herself internally for being distracted by something as trivial as the way her pants fit. Once she had pants in place, she turned around to pick up the robe, which she slid her hands into its sleeves, allowing her to pull it up and over her shoulders, before tying it around. As she guessed, it hung down to her knees, and she tightened it to her body with the waistband that came along with it; glancing down, she realised that the sleeves were rather loosely hanging down over her hands, and decided to grab her wristbands from her Water Tribe outfit and place them over her wrists once more, keeping her hands uncovered and tightening the sleeves into place.

She glanced down at her outfit, and couldn't help but mumble, "Well, this isn't as bad as I thought." she conceded, before she parted the sheet of fabric, stepping out of the changing area; she glanced down the small hallway, and took note of the sound of rustling nearby.

"Aang, is that you?" she asked out, before suddenly his head peered out of one of the changing areas.

"Uh, yeah." he confirmed, before his expression became more surprised, "Uh, your outfit looks nice." he noted with a quieter voice.

The Water Tribe girl glanced down at her outer robes, "You really think so?"

"Yeah." he nodded, before his eyes turned to his own right, "Uh, I need to finish getting changed. So you better get changed back into your clothes if you want to buy them." he suggested, before she raised a brow.

"Hmmm, could I just ask the lady at the counter if I could buy them so I don't need to get changed?" she asked, the young Avatar narrowing his eyes for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, seeming unsure in what to say.

"I guess. You can try." he mumbled; she simply nodded, before she glanced back into the changing area, taking note that her bag was sitting by the bench.

She stepped back into the changing area and picked up the bag, before striding out of the change room, leaving her clothes there for the time being, in case she did have to take off her new clothes before buying them. When she walked out of the small hallway, the cashier turned around to face her, making a small smile.

"Ah, that looks quite nice." she observed, before gesturing toward her, "Would you like to purchase that outfit right now?"

"Yes, that's what I wanted to do." she confirmed, pacing up toward the counter, "How much would it be for this?' she gestured down to her clothes, the lady narrowing her eyes for a moment, gesturing to each of the articles of clothing she was wearing.

"Um... hmph, are those arm-bands yours, or did you pick them out from the store?" she asked her, Katara instinctively touching her left arm band with her right hand.

"They're mine." she clarified, "So, for the robe, shirt and pants. How much is it?"

"Uh, for all of it, that's thirty five silver pieces. Three hundred and fifty ban to be precise." she explained, Katara, reaching into her bag, and realising that their money was rather limited.

They only had about twenty gold pieces, all of which was exchanged from their Water Tribe money plus some on top that Bumi had donated to help them along toward the North Pole. She knew that she ought to lay off spending any more money after she'd bought her disguise, however. She pulled out five gold pieces and five silver, which was equivalent to what she had asked for; the cashier gratefully accepted the currency, smiling at Katara before she turned toward the entrance of the changing areas.

"Is your friend still trying on his outfit?" she asked the Water Tribe girl, who glanced back toward the changing area.

"Uh, yeah." she confirmed her suspicions, "I'll just tell him to hurry up so I can buy his clothes too." she explained her intentions before striding forward toward the change-rooms, remembering that she also needed to pick up her own clothes and put them in her bag.

She made her way back into the hallway, parting the fabric out of the way once more and quickly leaned over to shovel her robes, tunic and leggings all into her bag, which by that point had gotten quite stuffy. When she got back out into the hallway, she heard Aang clearing his throat.

"I'm gonna come out now... with my all new outfit." he preempted himself, making her giggle.

"Just come out." she called on him, the young Avatar stepping out of his own changing area, revealing his outfit.

He was wearing the baggy pants she saw him pick out, as well as a loose, long-sleeved light gray shirt that had cuffed arm bands to keep the sleeves in place, as well as a dark red vest with gold trimmings over the top of the shirt itself. Around his scalp he wore a wide orange bandana, though she guessed it would be more practical once he had grown out some hair.

"Hmmm... if it wasn't for the tattoos I'd say you were as Fire Nation as they come." she conceded, making him grin brightly.

"Really? That's exactly what I was going for." he exclaimed, before glancing up and down her own outfit, "So did you buy yours?"

"Yep. Now, you can either come up to the counter like that or get changed." she offered him two choices, the young Avatar narrowing his eyes for a moment before they widened.

"Just a second." he raised a finger, before darting back into his changing area; he came out a few moments later with his actual clothes in hand, wearing his robe around his shoulders and his hood over his head to obscure his tattoos.

"That's a lot of layers." she conceded, before she glanced back into her own changing area, realising that she had almost forgotten her cloaks.

She picked it up and wore it over her shoulders, wearing hers a little looser, simply tying it around her neck and letting it hang down her back, "Though, thanks for reminding me I needed my cloak."

"No problem." he smiled at her, before gesturing out the doorway, "So, are we going to go buy now?"

"Yep." she nodded, leading him out of the changing area; the cashier glanced toward Aang, looking at him with slight confusion.

"Uh... is he wearing the outfit he picked out?" she asked, gesturing toward his face, "All I can see is a bandana."

He opened up the cloak, showing the vest, shirt and pants underneath, her expression brightening, "Ahh.. okay, is that all you'll be getting today."

"Yes." Katara confirmed, "How much for what he picked out?"

She narrowed her eyes for a moment before gesturing to each of the articles of clothing he was wearing, "Uh... that'd be three gold pieces- three hundred ban." she clarified, Katara pulling out three gold pieces, and realising how much they had spent just on clothes.

"Thank you for your purchases. I hope you both have a fine day." the cashier smiled at them, Katara nodding before gesturing for Aang to follow.

"You have a really nice store. Thanks!" he bowed in respect, before following after her.

Stepping out of the doorway, she sighed, wondering where they would go next; she was sure they couldn't spend much more money. Looking toward her friend, she realised how he was struggling to carry his tunic in his hands.

"Aang, maybe you should get a bag." she suggested, the young Avatar sighing.

"Oh, that'd be even more money spent." he mumbled, "I think I just carry it back to Appa." he acknowledged, Katara raising a brow as she considered what might be able to substitute as a bag; she remembered that the tarpaulin of a tent could wrap around the tent canvas proper when folded up, and realised she could apply the same principle with clothes.

"Actually, I think I have an idea." she admitted, untying the cloak around her neck, "You can use this as a sack." she explained, folding each of the ends of the cloak up, and tying it at the top, though there were four gaps, through which he could funnel in his clothes.

"Huh, that's a good idea." he looked at her with awe, before he took the makeshift sack into his hands, putting his tunic and pants inside, before he slung it over his shoulder, "That's much better."

She gestured down the street they had come down, "Maybe we should head back in the direction of the circus. I'm sure Azula and Sokka are done talking with Ty Lee by now." she suggested, the young Avatar making a curt nod.

"Oh yeah. Then we can all head back to Appa and rest for a bit before we head off." he noted, before glancing down the street, "You never know though, there might be a store with something cool."

"I don't need anything." she mumbled, the young Air Nomad leaning closer to her, raising a finger up.

"Hey, hey, you can find something you didn't think you needed." he suggested, making her sigh.

"You sound like Sokka." she noted with a little chuckle, making him raise a finger.

"He has good ideas... most of the time." he clarified his statement, not wanting to make such a wide claim, when he himself disagreed with Sokka from time to time.

"Okay." she nodded, beginning to walk back down the street, "But we're not going to waste the entire afternoon. I'd prefer to rest on Appa for a bit." she suggested, "And have a little peace of mind." she glanced around them; she knew that she was on edge by the fact they were in a Fire Nation colony, and she couldn't help but think that she'd feel a little calmer if she was safely on Appa's saddle.

"I know this place is weird." he agreed with her, before his expression brightened up, "But we've got to make the most of it, y'know?"

"Yeah." she agreed with an unenthusiastic voice, which he caught note of, before she glanced back toward him, "Let's just do this quickly."

Making her way down along the street, she glanced over at the stores they strode by; there were a wide variety of stores on the street, though most of them were of little interest to her. Sure, stores that sold spices and furniture would be necessary for the local populace, but they certainly didn't help her. Katara did take note of one store though, which looked like a bit of a gimmick; it had a bright and popping exterior with a sign that clearly marked its attitude. 'Zhu's Far-Off Wares and Trinkets' was what it was called, and that immediately caught her interest.

She gestured toward it, "Aang, let's just check this store." she suggested, the young Avatar nodding.

"Oh, okay... seems interesting. Maybe they'll have some more Air Nomad things here." he noted, Katara giving an affirmative smile.

"That's what I was thinking. Well, that and anything not-Fire Nation, which means they could have things from the Water Tribe."

"What do the Water Tribes make anyway?" he asked her, making her furrow a brow; though the Southern Water Tribe didn't export anything, given their circumstances, she guessed that their more fortunate northern cousins would be selling a wide variety of goods, probably similar to the things that she and her fellow villagers produced for themselves.

"Uh, maybe fur clothes spears and quality tents. Nothing beats a Water Tribe tent- that's what Sokka says. I'd trust him, seeing that he's used a Fire Nation one before." she suggested, making Aang giggle.

"Maybe he should start making and selling tents if he thinks that." he suggested, Katara laughing.

"Oh, he'd think something like that is below him." she admitted honestly, although the fact itself was clearly amusing.

Sokka was far more inclined to think of himself as a warrior, if not a leader-in-the-making; she didn't disagree with such a judgement, but that didn't mean that he wasn't constraining his future options by thinking like that.

"Uh, so, are we going to go in?" he asked, Katara nodding and leading inside, pushing the door open, which sounded off a bell; a few moments later, the cashier, who she assumed was the individual mentioned in the name of the store, appeared before them with a bright look on his face.

"Ah, two youngsters have come to my store. May I ask, are you looking for something in particular, or just here to browse?" he asked Katara, who cleared her throat.

She didn't want to give away her actual ethnicity by telling him what she was actually seeking out; anything that would help her understand her element or the culture of the Northern Water Tribe better.

"Uh, just browsing." she told him, Zhu nodding before pacing back toward the counter, "Just come to me if you want to learn about any of the trinkets you find here." he suggested, the pair nodding along, before they turned to look at each other.

"Uh, I'll go look at Air Nomad... you'll look at Water Tribe?" he asked her, to which she nodded.

"Yep. Hopefully this isn't a waste of time." she acknowledged, Aang chuckling.

"What did I say? You might find something you don't expect." he raised a finger, before he began pacing down an aisle of the store, looking around at the wares in awe.

She turned her glance around the shelves she could see, spotting out a few odd trinkets, as the name of the store suggested; there were some fragments of Earth Kingdom statues, representing some kind of rodent creature, as well as some unusual looking articles of clothing. A golden conical hat was one of them, which amused her somewhat; wearing one of those would make someone look like a glorified farmer, which would be perfectly fine if it didn't contradict the whole idea of what 'fancy' high culture clothing was meant to represent. People like Bumi, who was the king of a whole city, wore regal robes and attire that was befitting of their rank, but if someone was to wear a golden conical hat, they'd either have to be a really rich farmer or a rich person with the most absurd taste in clothing. Not that she really cared about it, she just found herself amused by the idea. It made her imagine Azula wearing a really big crown of sorts, which made her giggle; seeing that she hoped to one day be Fire Lord, there was some possibility her imagination could eventually become fact. Katara was certain that she would relish to mock her for whatever absurd looking attire she would end up.

She then walked down the aisle, spotting a few artifacts that were unmistakably Water tribe; a helmet, similar to the one her father and brother both wore as warriors, as well as an intricately carved amulet, the latter reminding her a lot of her own necklace. She then looked on further, taking note of a few weapons, each of which she assumed came from different parts of the world; there was a variety of jian swords, some dao swords, a curved broadsword like the ones she saw the Kyoshi Warriors wield. She took note of a pair of battle-axes, which from the cuts and blunted blades, looked to be well used, disturbingly enough. She shook her head, not wanting to think about such things, and turned around to look at things that were a little more mundane. There were a few more artifacts, from the Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes and even a few that she thought might have been Fire Nation, though they looked very weird in comparison to what modern Fire Nation people wore. Feather and bead laden headdresses, patterned tunics and golden bands that made her think more of a tropical paradise and less of the expansive empire that currently ruled the world.

That thought made her sigh, remembering that Aang knew the Fire Nation as it must have been before it was corrupted by the century long war; she thought it was probably better that he remembered it like that, seeing that he'd find it a lot harder to sympathise with them, just like herself. She didn't like them, or trust them, but she certainly pitied their people; they were probably all brainwashed, just like the former Governor of Ba Sing Se, except in a far more primal fashion. Educated and indoctrinated to believe the rest of the world was full of barbarians who had no culture or right to be free of their hegemony.

She continued along through the store, before she took note of a shelf that was full of what looked to be scrolls; she raised a brow with interest, reaching a hand forward to pull one out, taking note immediately that it was a scroll for airbending. She could see the inscribed drawings, which unsurprisingly showed some moves that she had seen Aang use; the moves were rather basic, but they enticed her to pick up another scroll. She took an old and slightly damaged one out, taking note that it was of firebending forms; they were moves she had never seen before, and that was unusual, given that she saw Azula training on a daily basis. The forms were actually more flowing and graceful than what she had seen the Princess use, more akin to Aang's airbending in a way, though obviously more aggressive, given that it was firebending, not airbending. She pulled out another scroll, and gasped with awe as she realised what it was. The flowing motions, the colouration and the attire of the drawn figure said it all; it was a waterbending scroll. She touched it, and scanned over the forms it showed her, imagining herself doing them. She could see the forms to create water whips, coiled shields of water, and even a water blast, akin to the firebending streams she had seen both Azula and Fire Nation soldiers use.

She glanced around, realising that if there was something she wanted to get, it was the scroll before her, "Aang, come over here." she called on her friend, who quickly made his way over to her, with a intrigued look on his face.

"Oh... so you did find something. What did I say?" he grinned at her, Katara flipping the scroll around to show it to him.

"A waterbending scroll!" he exclaimed, before glancing around, "How mayn scrolls are here?" he looked past her to the shelf, "THere's enough here I could just learn the elements from reading them."

"Well, probably not." she conceded, "Only the basic moves are in these." she clarified, before rolling up the waterbending scroll, "But I do think we should get this scroll. It'll be good practice so we're ready when we get to the Northern Water Tribe."

"That's a good idea." he smiled at her, before his expression faltered, "It's annoying about their rules for women not bending though. I'm sure that we can find a way around it. I'm the Avatar, and I want you to be my waterbending master."

"I know." she smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "But, this is the next best thing." she raised the scroll up, "I wonder how much it will be to buy."

"I dunno. I've never bought a scroll before." he acknowledged, before narrowing his eyes at the scroll.

"But how did that scroll get here? From what Azula's been saying, nobody from the Water Tribes goes to the Fire Nation." he noted, making her eyes narrow at the scroll in her hands; even if it was literally clean, she was sure that it had been gained through blood- murder, theft, raids even.

"Y-yeah..." she mumbled, "I think this got here the same way the airbending scrolls did." she acknowledged, his expression widening.

"Airbending scr-" he began to repeat her words, before his expression turned into a snarl, "W-wait a minute, if they've got airbending scrolls here. Then..." he trailed off, before glancing down the aisle, "They stole them from the temples. Or from any place Air Nomads lived, before... you know." his voice softened, Katara grimacing at his clearly saddened expression.

"Aang, I've changed my mind." she admitted, making his eyes widen.

"Huh, did you not want the scroll?" he asked her with a baffled look, the Water Tribe girl scoffing at his suggestion.

"Oh, I want the scroll." she acknowledged, before smirking, thinking that her intentions could be justified by the way in which the scroll in her hand ended up in the store she was in.

"I'm just not paying some dirty thieves to get it."

* * *

Pulling her hair back into place, Azula tried to remain calm as she stood outside of Ty Lee's tent; she knew she shouldn't feel so nervous, but kissing her boyfriend didn't allow her to forget the fact of the matter. She didn't know if her friend was certainly going to come with her; she hadn't explicitly said if she was, even if she had agreed to come meet Katara and Aang. She thought she should at least see who she'd be stuck with for the next few months, if she was to come along. As much as she thought she was loyal, and she knew she was, that didn't mean that Ty Lee was willing to follow her at that point, especially when she lacked all of the coercive power she might have once been able to wield to change her mind.

She didn't want to force her friend to choose her, and it disgusted her to think that she'd changed so much; the old Azula wouldn't have cared if she didn't have a guard, or was wanted by the Fire Nation as a whole- she would have stormed into her tent and demanded she come with her. The old Azula wouldn't have dared to help the Avatar, even if it was in her interests to do so; she was once so naive and narrow minded, even if she thought herself to be a conniving mastermind. Arrogance and ignorance were one in the same, and she realised that she was once just as bad as Admiral Zhao; his arrogance had cost him much, and she doubted that he would have much luck as long as that arrogance remained.

"Azula, just take a deep breath or something." Sokka tried to suggest, making her dart her eyes toward him, snarling slightly.

"Oh, so you're the one telling me to do my breathing exercises now?" she snapped at him, the Water Tribe teen leaning back, seemingly surprised by her annoyed tone.

"Uh... sorry. I just don't want you to panic. I'm sure she'll come with us." he assured her, making the princess narrow her eyes and turn away.

She was perplexed how he could come to that conclusion with so much confidence while she was still full of doubt; that doubt was useful at times, but at that moment it made him seem a lot more confident and self-assured than her.

"How can you be so sure? It's not like you can read her mind." she mumbled, her boyfriend placing a hand on her shoulder; she wanted to flinch away, but her better half told her that he was just trying to help- that's all he ever did, and all she did was get snappy in return.

"I can't. I can read her face, and between the lines. She really cares about you Azula." he acknowledged, before he narrowed his eyes, "Like a lot. Were you two a thing at some point?" he asked her out of the blue, making her snort, amused by the suggestion.

Though she and Ty Lee had been close, their relationship had never been like that; perhaps it was because they were younger, and she didn't have the same kinds of thoughts she did at that time.

"I wasn't- we weren't. She's my friend. A good friend, but just a friend." she stressed, before turning her eyes away, feeling a shred of doubt; maybe at one point, she might have had a glimmer of feelings toward the other girl, but it wasn't like those feelings were going to be reciprocated- the acrobat was always boy-obsessed, anyway.

"You don't sound so sure." he prodded her, Azula pressing her hand toward his chest.

"Just shut up, Sokka. You're making this more awkward than it actually is." she told him with a straight face, her dagger eyes intimidating him well enough.

"Okay, okay... I'll shut up now." he assured her, clearing his throat before he stood up straight, his eyes darting back toward the opening in the tent canvas, "She'll be out... any second now."

"She had to get changed." she reminded her boyfriend, "Ty Lee is meticulous when it comes to her appearance." she added, before considering his point; she had taken a little longer than usual, so in consideration, Azula raised a finger, "Though, you do have a point. She should be out soon."

After a few moment's silence, Sokka turned back to face her, with a thoughtful look on his face, "Where's she going to sleep?"

She raised a brow, realising that Sokka was referring to the fact they only had two tents, which fit two people each, "Well, we should just hope that she has her own, otherwise she'll be sleeping on Appa."

"Or sharing." he added, making her narrow her eyes at him.

"I can see what you're getting at, and I'm not falling for it." she pointed at him, before she raised a brow, "Unless of course, you're somehow jealous."

"Of course not." he scoffed at her claim, "I'm not jealous of anyone." he declared, before raising a finger to his chin, "Although, I guess I'm kinda jealous of Mai. I wanted to be the Fire Lord's consort."

"When you say it like that, you sound like you want to marry Zuko." she grinned at him, amused by the ambiguous meaning of his words.

"Aw come on!" he groaned, "You know what I mean!"

"What's this about marrying Zuko?" Ty Lee spoke up, revealing herself as she peered out of the canvas.

"Oh, my boyfriend is just enamoured with him, that's all." she joked, Sokka face-palming.

"No, your highness, I'm enamoured with you." he pointed at her accusingly, making her laugh, trying to cover up the blush that came naturally from his words; he usually only ever said such things before they made love or any other kind of dastardly thing in the tent, and thus she tried her best to keep her mind off of such things.

"Aw... that's so cute!" Ty Lee raised her hands up into the air, giddy to hear Sokka's words, "You're such a cute couple. Totally beat Mai and Zuko I say."

"Oh, thank you for arbitrating on that matter." Azula bowed jokingly, as if she was the most important judge on the matter, "I'd been meaning to ask."

"But you are. Like, just look at you two!" she gestured to them, before Azula cleared her throat.

"Now, as much as I appreciate your compliments, I'd like if we could get to business." she admitted, her friend's eyes brightening.

"Oh yeah, Aang and Katara. That's their names, right?" she asked, Sokka nodding in confirmation.

"The Avatar and my sister." he added, just to stress the point.

"But where are they? I know they came here to the circus with you, but where'd they go after that?" she asked, the Princess gesturing toward the entrance of the circus.

"My guess is they went shopping. Probably to get food or some disguises. Hopefully they didn't waste all the money." she acknowledged, genuinely concerned that the pair might overspend by a mile.

"I hope so too. I'd been hoping to get to spend some myself."

"On what, a new tent?" she joked, reminding him of the last thing she had given him money to buy something with, back in Yu Dao; that was excluding all the food and supplies they bought for themselves on the trip south, when the money was clearly both of theirs rather than belonging to her.

"Ah-ha-ha very funny." he dryly commented, "As long as the White Lotus don't come to try and take you out again, we should still have a tent."

"The White Lotus?" Ty Lee asked, obviously confused by the name-drop; she hadn't explained that part of the story very well for the sake of brevity.

"My Uncle's associates They hired Sokka's people to kidnap me, and then when I came to the colonies, they tried to... well, I'm unsure exactly what they intended to do, but they nearly killed Sokka." she explained, Ty Lee looking at her with a perplexed expression on her face.

"This is the same funny uncle I'm thinking of?" she asked, the Princess nodding, not refraining to snarl, frustrated by the mere thought of her uncle.

The Dragon of the West was once a great hero of their nation, but all he was to her was a wall to overcome; he constituted a very tough and high wall in her path, but she believed that one day, she could beat him. Not in a battle of flames, but through her wit, allies and support from her people; she would be the greatest Fire Lord in history, and she knew how she would achieve it- all she needed to do was take the throne for herself.

"Yes." she narrowed her eyes, "He's the one who caused all of this. Him and his shitty dreams." she declared, turning away from her friend's gaze instinctively; she didn't want her to see her get angry and frustrated- it just ruined Ty Lee's image of her, the perfect Princess who would never let her or her country down.

"I'd have to disagree with that." Sokka raised a finger, making her look at her boyfriend with frustration; as much as she enjoyed arguing with him, he chose the worst hills to die on.

"Oh, would you now?" she placed her hands on her hips; her friend's expression became more fearful as she realised how annoyed she was about such a suggestion.

"Please don't fight." she asked of them, "Not over something like this." she asked, Azula raising a finger up to silence her.

"No, Ty Lee, I want to hear what he has to say. Why do you disagree, Sokka?" she asked her boyfriend, who crossed his arms.

"Your uncle didn't burn Zuko's face and send him to scour the world." he declared, "And plus, the one who tried to have you kidnapped was that Jeong Jeong guy. Maybe Iroh just wanted to talk it out- he obviously wanted Ozai gone, not you."

"I seriously doubt that." she narrowed her eyes at him, "But seeing that neither of us can read his mind, I think this would be a rather stupid thing to argue about Sokka. I'd prefer to argue things we can act upon."

"You're kinda acting upon your own thoughts, aren't you? You don't trust him, or your brother... I mean, you have good reason, but there's a chance they might want to reconcile."

"Reconcile? We can't reconcile. Zuzu's the Fire Lord, and that's something I just can't argue with." she declared, Ty Lee stepping between them.

"Come on. Seriously, this is something stupid to argue about. We're all on the same side, aren't we?"

"The side of what?" Azula quipped, her boyfriend clearing his throat before he raised a finger into the air.

"Peace... or balance. Those words pretty much mean the same thing." he acknowledged, making the Princess snicker; those two words definitely didn't mean the same thing to someone like her father, or any of the Fire Lords that preceded him.

"Not to the Fire Nation." she argued in return, her voice a little calmer as she was no longer on the topic of discussing her brother and uncle, "Peace is subjugating the Earth Kingdom... again."

"Well, not to Zuko. He doesn't want to conquer the Earth Kingdom." Sokka added, "What exactly is different about your ideologies, may I ask?"

"I won't be serving the White Lotus. I won't be serving anyone. Peace will be shaped in the way I think the world ought to be." she argued, his arms crossing.

"Hmph... I guess you do have a point there. Luckily you decided to agree with Aang, or we might have had an issue." he noted, making her chuckle.

"An issue is an understatement." she retorted, before smiling, "Luckily, I'm the one who will help the Avatar understand the world and not some biased ignorant savages... I'm talking about your sister, by the way."

"Yeah... I mean she is pretty ignorant in some areas. But you can admit, she's gotten better." he argued, the Princess smirking.

"That's true." she agreed, before turning to face Ty Lee, "Oh, I didn't explain, but his sister has been more or less an arsehole to me for the past six months." she clarified, her friend's expression becoming almost sad.

"Why? It's not like you hurt her or anything... you didn't, right?" she asked, knowing her a little too well; the old Azula might have given Katara a fashionable beating to drive it to home that she was a xenophobic arsehole, just like she had to Sokka- though at that point, the xenophobia was quite mutual.

She crossed her arms, shaking her head to reassure her friend, "I didn't. I thought I acted quite cordially, actually."

"She did." Sokka added, as to reassure she wasn't just being biased, "Azula is a well mannered Princess when she wants to be."

"Emphasis on wants." she raised a finger, "My manners run short when Water Tribe girls question every decision I make like it's some kind of moral dilemma."

"Huh... so kinda like... oh..." Ty Lee's jaw dropped, before she grimaced; it seems that she had drawn the same conclusion Azula had, that being that Katara acted fair too much like her mother for her own good.

"Yeah, you can see why?" she asked her friend, who nodded with a slight grimace, before she cleared her throat.

"So, uh, we were going to meet Aang and Katara."

"Yes." Sokka's expression brightened, before he gestured toward the entrance of the circus, "Let's go. I'm sure they'll be waiting for us in the market or something. Hopefully they didn't spend all of our money."

"I doubt they could have... but then again, Aang is twelve." she noted, feeling that of all people in their group that could spend their money on triviality non-necessities, it would be him.

"Well, come on!" Ty Lee gestured for her to follow as she began to walk ahead, both her and her boyfriend striding behind her.

They quickly made their way through the campsite at the back of the circus, coming around to the front, where the bouncers were still standing; Azula would almost pity them, if it wasn't for the fact they were probably being paid well to essentially stand around and look tough. The bouncers did look their way, but didn't give much more than a care as they recognised Ty Lee.

"Don't you have another show soon?" one of them asked her offhandedly, the acrobat turning around to face them as she walked past, striding backwards onto the street.

"Maybe." she shrugged her shoulders, which seemed to confuse the pair.

"What's 'maybe'? You didn't get fired, did you?" the other bouncer asked her.

She chuckled, shaking her head as Sokka and Azula both walked out of the gates of the circus grounds, "No, no, I'm just considering... a different career path." she admitted, the bouncers glancing at each other for a moment, before looking at her with some unease.

"Uh, good luck then." one of them gestured a wave, though it seemed to be mostly a courtesy, his eyes turning back to the street as they began to walk away, heading down toward the centre of the town.

"A different career path?" she raised a brow, "Who said I was paying you?" Azula quipped, the acrobat smirking at her as she raised two fingers up toward her face.

"But you forget that I haven't been to the Royal Spa with you for ages. We're going to get the best treatment of our lives once this is all over." she declared, the Princess pursing her lips upward.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind that at all." she acknowledged, before she turned her eyes to Sokka, "You can enjoy the palace kitchen... though I don't know if they're ready for your appetite." she acknowledged, making him snicker.

"Well, I'm always ready to give a challenge when it comes to both fighting and eating."

"Maybe you should enter some kind of eating competition. I swear I heard someone doing one of those in one of the colonies." Ty Lee suggested, making her boyfriend look her way with awe.

"You're joking." he looked at her with a skeptical cross of his arms.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure they give out prizes to whoever can eat the most food." she explained, the Water Tribe warrior clapping his hands together.

"That's the kind of competition I know I could win." he declared, the Princess rolling her eyes; she could guess well enough how such an endeavour would end.

"When you start throwing up your guts, I'll say I told you so." she raised a finger, her boyfriend looking at her with a serious glare, almost suspicious of her words.

"Challenge accepted."

"You're a real moron sometimes. Do you know what it's like to throw up after overeating?" she asked him, genuinely concerned that he hadn't pushed himself to that point, and that doing so could end terribly for him.

"Do you?" he retorted, Azula rolling her eyes.

"Seriously?" she face-palmed, "If I knew your stomach was so powerful, I might have asked you to do an eating competition against Uncle instead of me fighting an Agni Kai."

He looked at her with confusion for a moment before he broke down laughing, Ty Lee joining in as the pair of them cackled at her absurd suggestion.

"Oh that's a good one!" he patted her on the shoulder, before he raised a hand up as she tried to make a serious face, "He's a pretty... big guy." he acknowledged, "I don't know if I could beat a man with a gut like that."

"I don't know. I've seen you shovel down a bowl of rice in about five bites. You could probably beat him, at least with your speed." she suggested, making her friend look at her with an expression that portrayed both awe and confusion.

"Is this what all your conversations are like?"

"Pretty much," Sokka nodded, "The good ones at least. Some just devolve into really stupid arguments. Like 'chi-blocking is stupid because I can just shoot fireballs form a distance'." he imitated her rather poorly, Ty Lee covering her mouth as she tried to hold back her own laughter.

"But you can just dodge. Right?" she argued against the example argument, Sokka raising a finger.

"That's exactly what I said."

"And I said I'm faster than your flimsy legs." Azula piped up, "When was the last time you beat me in a spar?" she asked her boyfriend, gesturing to him as she turned toward Ty Lee with a smirk.

"About two months ago, I think." he acknowledged, her friend grimacing.

"Ooh... that sucks. Do you really go that hard on him?" she asked the Princess, who nodded, her expression shifting to a serious one.

"Of course. I seek to shape him into the most formidable non-bender alive." she argued, the Water Tribesman cracking his knuckles as he smirked.

"I lose... with dignity." he simply acknowledged with a confident, almost suave voice.

"Losing's still losing." she raised a finger to try and break his smirk, and succeeded, his expression shifting to a grimace; she realised after a few seconds that he wasn't grimacing at her words, but rather what he could see ahead of him.

She turned her eyes ahead to see Aang and Katara, who were both wearing Fire Nation clothes, surprisingly enough, racing toward them with panicked looks on their faces.

"Run!" the Avatar told them, Azula glancing at her boyfriend with confusion.

"What the fuck is going on?" she mumbled, her boyfriend grasping her shoulder and tilting his head back down the way they came.

"I dunno, but that face says enough. Let's get out of here." he declared, before they both began to race up the road, Ty Lee following behind them with a confused face.

"Sorry, but what's happening?" she asked Aang and Katara, who both kept up their pace, with fearful looks on their faces, though the Water Tribe girl was noticeably more calm.

"We kinda stole something." the young Avatar admitted with a grimace.

"I mean, that's a way not to spend money." Sokka conceded, before narrowing his eyes at his sister, "But why?"

"They had a waterbending scroll I wanted, and we didn't want to pay." she explained as they raced down the street, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Could have you been a little more discreet about it? I'm guessing the guards are after you." she concluded, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head.

"The store-owner called out to them, but I think we've still got time." she explained, Ty Lee racing ahead with a smirk on her face.

"Good, I've already got a plan in mind."

"Hey, lucky me. I don't have to think of something on the fly." Azula smiled at her friend, before smirking deviously, "Just what did you have in mind?"

"Just follow me!" she gestured for them to follow as they approached the circus once more.

Azula didn't question her friend's intentions as she darted to the left, down a side-street that ran alongside the circus grounds; the acrobat gestured to the fence that lined the outside of the circus, which she noted as being a little too tall to vault over. That didn't seem to be an issue to her friend, who instead raced forward and leapt onto the wall, grasping the top. She remained stationary for only a moment, before she pulled her whole lower body up and over the wooden fence.

"Come on, this is the only way we'll get in without getting spotted." she explained her actions; the Princess glanced back toward Aang, knowing well enough that his abilities could assist them.

"Use your airbending." she simply requested, gesturing toward the fence.

The young Air Nomad looked at her with surprise; she had in the past warned him against using his bending in public, especially when they were around Fire Nation occupied territories, but that warning was overruled by their current situation.

"Got it." he nodded, before turning to face Katara and Sokka, "Run for the fence and jump. I'll do the rest."

"Wait, seriously?" the Water Tribe warrior looked at him with a worried look, "You can't be serious."

"Just do what he says, Sokka!" Azula growled at her boyfriend, gesturing toward the fence; he complied, both he and his sister sprinting forward, as requested.

When they were about to run right into the wall, Aang thrust both his arms forward, sending out a powerful gust that came below their feet; for a moment, it pushed them up into the air, soaring over the fence, both of them squealing out in shock. When she heard them grunt as they landed on the other side, she couldn't help but sigh with relief; she then momentarily glanced toward Aang, who was staring down the fence with an eager eye.

"Well, come on, jump over." she directed him, the young Avatar looking at her with slight confusion.

"What about you?" he asked, the Princess not responding to his rather stupid question, instead breaking into a dash toward the fence, before jumping up to grasp the top; she pulled herself all the way up to the top, her legs swinging just above it, before she dropped down on the other side.

She glanced over at Sokka and Katara, who were dusting themselves off, while Ty Lee stood waiting for them, though she seemed to be preoccupied with making sure they hadn't been spotted. She turned her eyes back toward the fence, waiting for Aang to eventually come over. He took a few seconds, but he was able to easily jump over with the assistance of his airbending; when he landed down on his feet, his eyes darted around, obviously worried that the local guards would be onto them.

"Are the guards here?" he asked out, Ty Lee turning back to face him, shaking her head reassuringly.

"No, no- not yet. I need to get my bags." she explained, Azula raising a brow with interest; without even saying anything else, she implied that she was getting her bags to leave- with her, that was.

"So that's it then? You're coming with us without even talking to my friends here?"

"I don't think I need to. We have plenty of time for that later!" she piped up before she darted off into the circus grounds, obviously heading back to her tent; the Princess momentarily looked back to the two Water Tribe siblings, who had recovered and were on their two feet again, before she made her way after her friend.

Making her way back through the campsite, she earned a few odd looks from other circus performers and workers, who didn't understand why a bunch of random strangers were chasing one of their acrobats through the circus. She slowed down her dash as she neared the Ty sisters' tent, opening the canvas to glance inside, where Ty Lee's sisters stood up, looking at her with surprise.

"What did you do?" Ty Lum pointed at her accusingly, "Why are you leaving right now?!" she demanded of her, the Princess raising a hand to object to her assumptions.

"Excuse me, I didn't do anything. That would be my friends, who decided to burgle some store." she clarified, which only seemed to confuse the sisters.

"Lee, what's going on?" Ty Lin asked her sister, who simply glanced up from her corner of the tent as she shovelled her clothes and other belongings into a bag.

"They stole some bending scroll. This is the Avatar, remember?" she told them, Ty Woo snickering at her suggestion.

"So the Avatar's a thief, even though he's meant to be what, the most powerful person in the world." she observed, her sisters not laughing at what seemed to be intended as a joke.

"It wasn't my idea." Aang spoke up, making Azula realise that he was standing right beside her, peering into the tent, "And I'm not a thief. They probably stole it from the Northern Water Tribe." he added, making Azula raise a brow with interest.

Her friends must have pragmatically considered the origins of the item they were thieving before they did so stealing from a thief, even indirectly, wasn't exactly wrong in her mind.

"Wh-what... he's really just a kid." Ty Lao gasped, "You're helping a kid master the elements?" she turned to Ty Lee, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess I am." she acknowledged, not concerned by the absurdity of the situation she had been faced with; Azula had gotten over, for the most part, how weird her life had turned out, and was actually a little surprised that her friend was handling it so well- it must have been her carefree personality that helped her get a grip.

"Well, you better be quick." Ty Liu concluded, "You don't have much time if the guards are coming after you."

"Aang!" she heard Katara speak up, Azula taking note that she and Sokka were just arriving at the tent, "Do you still have that whistle on you?" she asked, the young Avatar's expression brightening.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys. I bought a whistle that can call Appa, so he'll come right here to us." he explained, making the Ty sisters all look at him with interest.

"What's an Appa?" Ty Lat asked her, the Avatar grinning as he pulled out the described whistle.

"He's my flying-bison. Imagine a really big fluffy animal with six legs and an arrow on his head- just like me." he gestured to his forehead, which he had revealed by moving his cloak out of the way; the one thing she could know is that the guards would have no idea the Avatar was the one who robbed some random store in their town, which would keep whoever wanted to hunt them down off their tracks.

"Why do you have an arrow on your head?" Ty Liu asked him, the young Avatar raising a finger up.

"It marks that I've mastered airbending." he clarified, before turning to face Ty Lee, "Uh, have you got your stuff? I think we need to leave quickly." he admitted, the acrobat nodding as she rose up to her feet, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"I just need to fold up my sleeping roll." she clarified, Azula striding forward, knowing that she could at the very least help her, as to ensure they were able to leave the town as quickly as possible.

She kicked the end of the sleeping roll up, flinging it over the top of itself before she leaned over folding it over, glancing around for whatever was meant to bind it together.

"Uh, here's the bag." her friend handed her a burlap sack, which she shoved the sleeping roll into, "Thanks, Zula." she smiled at her, the Princess simply picking up the sleeping roll before turning to face her friends.

"We just need to get out of the town without causing a fuss. I'd prefer that the authorities don't know we're here." she admitted, Ty Lin stepping toward her.

"You mean you don't want them to know Princess Azula is here?" she asked, the Princess nodding.

"Precisely." she confirmed, her eyes darting around to look at Ty lee's six sisters, "Would any of you have a good idea on how to avoid the guards?"

"Uh..." Ty Lum rose up to her feet, "I think we could do something." she admitted, "We can pretend we found the thieves and direct the guards away so you guys can all go back to your Appa." she explained, Katara and Sokka stepping into the tent, both interested by the idea.

"Well, that might work." the Water Tribe warrior conceded, "Are you guys going to go right now?" he asked them, the sisters all stepping forward, moving to the centre of the tent, where Azula and Ty Lee were standing side by side.

"Good luck, Lee." Ty Liu simply told her, her own sad expression mirrored on the faces of her other sisters, before raising a brow, "Group hug before we go?"

"Yeah, group hug!" Ty Lee piped us enthusiastically, Azula darting out of the way to avoid being swamped by her six sisters, who leapt into a group hug; the Princess darted her eyes away, not wanting to watch as her friend almost got trampled by her identical sisters.

"Okay, we're running out of time. Somebody on the street is going to tell the guards where we went." the Princess spoke up, the sisters breaking up their hug, before they began to file toward the front of the tent.

"We'll distract them. You guys get out of here." Ty Lao declared, before turning to face the Avatar, "Uh, good luck mastering the elements."

"Thanks." Aang smiled at her, before waving to the sisters as they left the tent, "Good luck!" he cheered them on, before Katara and Sokka approached him.

"Come on, let's get out of here, Aang." the Water Tribe girl advised, before she turned her gaze to Ty Lee, who was poignantly looking the way her sisters had gone, "Do you know a good way out of here?" she asked, the acrobat nodding.

"Around the back there's a hole in the fence, I think." she noted, gesturing in the direction they would have to go.

Sokka looked at her with confusion, "Sorry, you're saying we didn't need to get thrown over that fence?" he asked her, the acrobat shrugging her shoulders.

"It's a small gap. We can get out, but if we'd come in that way, the guards would have caught up." she argued, before she gestured to the rear of the tent, "Follow me!" she requested of them, Azula following her friends as she pulled up the canvas and stepped out of the tent.

They raced through the circus, making their way along the outside of the massive tent before reaching the rear of the circus grounds, which backed onto a few small plots of land, fenced off, as she had assumed. As her friend had told her, there was a hole in the fence, big enough for them to step through, though they would have to throw their things over the fence; Aang and Katara had their ordinary clothes in bags, which meant they would have to toss them over if they wanted to get through.

"Give me your bag." she asked of the young Air Nomad, who looked at her with surprise; he was slightly unnerved, but followed through with her request, and once his bag was in her hands, she tossed it over to the other side of the fence, "Now sneak through. I want you to get to Appa first and get him ready to fly, in case the guards catch on." she requested, the young Air Nomad pulling his hood up to cover his tattooed scalp.

"Got it." he nodded, understanding what he needed to do with her succinct commands, before he stepped through the hole in the fence, immediately darting off in the direction of the cliff where Appa was resting.

Ty Lee climbed through after him, offering a hand to Azula, who first threw the sleeping roll over the fence, before grasping her friend's hand; she climbed through the hole, stepping out on the other side.

She looked back toward Sokka and Katara, who followed after her, filing through the hole in the fence, the former glancing back in the direction they had come, "There's no guards yet." he noted, before stepping through.

The four of them made their way down the street, making their way in the direction Aang had gone; they hadn't been running for any longer than ten seconds when she heard a guard call out.

"Stop right there!" he demanded, Azula turning her eyes to see three guards, all unarmed, which suggested that they were firebenders, "You! You're the thief!" he gestured to Katara, who stepped back with fear.

"We need to keep running." she told the group, who had come to a halt.

"They can't have a chance to see Appa." Sokka concluded, "We'll have to take care of them now." he acknowledged, Ty Lee dropping the bag she had on her shoulder.

"Together, because I want to see your chi-blocking in action." she admitted with a smirk; the almost suggestive look on her friends face made Azula feel uncomfortable, seeing that she was looking at her boyfriend of all people.

The pair raced forward, the guards taking firebending stances while Katara and Azula both stepped back; she didn't want to get involved, given that her firebending would immediately give away her identity, assuming that the guards didn't already recognise her face from wanted posters. The Water Tribe warrior ducked under a fireball that was sent his way, before he kicked one of the guards in the shin; another of the guards aimed a fire whip at Ty Lee, who somersaulted forward, dodging the attack. She jabbed that guard in the leg, paralysing it, before she took out his arms as well; in near synchronisation, Sokka did the same, jabbing his opponent in the arms and torso to paralyse him as well as disable his bending. The last guard stepped back with fear, obviously beginning to realise he was in a fight he could not win.

"By the spirits!" he cried out with fear, before he was jabbed by both Ty Lee and Sokka at the same time, paralysing his arms, before he was kicked in the gut by the Water Tribesman, left to slump down to the ground in pain, winded and unable to continue fighting.

"You're a pretty good chi-blocker." the acrobat conceded, before crossing her arms, "But you're not as good as me."

"There's always someone better." he acknowledged, before the pair raced back toward Katara and Azula.

Realising that they needed to leave at once, the Princess picked up her friend's bag and threw it to her; she caught it successfully, and with that, the four of them were racing uphill along the back street toward the rocky escarpment where Appa would be awaiting them. She didn't falter in her sprint, racing right past unsuspecting civilians with her friends in tow; when they reached the edge of the town, they turned to take a quick path up the escarpment, which was rough and steep, but still manageable to climb. Though their pace decreased, they had still outrun any guards they might have spotted them as they made their way out of town. When they reached the town of the slope, she made sight of Appa, on top of which sat Aang, who was sitting with Momo, ready to fly off into the sky.

"Come on, guys!" he gestured with his right hand for them to hurry up, Ty Lee slowly somewhat as she looked in awe of the sky-bison.

"He really is fluffy!" she exclaimed, referring back to the Avatar's description of his beastly companion.

"Yeah, and you'll be able to pat him once you get on the saddle." she told her friend before she sprinted up toward the flying bison, first throwing her friend's sleeping roll up, before she leapt up with the assistance of her firebending, safely landing on the saddle.

She turned around, offering Sokka a hand as he struggled to climb up after her; he accepted her assistance with a thankful nod, before he sat up beside her, Ty Lee still slowly approaching the sky-bison, glancing back toward the town where her sisters were probably still hard at work distracting the guards from their actual location.

"I'm going to miss them... as annoying as they are." she admitted, before turning around, leaping up onto the saddle by gripping Appa's fur and propelling herself up.

"A little help?" Katara asked out, still standing on the ground; the Princess offered her a hand, somewhat begrudgingly, considering the fact she was responsible for their mad dash out of the town.

"All this for a damn scroll? Is it worth it?" she asked the Water Tribe girl, who smirked at her, grasping her hand before she climbed up onto the saddle.

"Certainly." she confirmed, "Now Aang and I can finally start learning waterbending."

"Oh, I don't think we actually introduced ourselves." Aang admitted, turning to face Ty Lee, "I'm Aang, and this is Katara." he gestured to her, "It's nice to meet you, Ty Lee."

"Thanks, it's nice to meet you, Aang." she nodded with a warm smile, "And you too, Katara."

"Uh, yeah. I hope you're ready to fly." she tapped the saddle, the Avatar making a wide grin as he turned to face ahead.

"First time flyer, hold on tight." he warned her, "Yip-yip!" he called on his sky-bison, who groaned, before he swiftly rose into the air; they quickly ascended up above the town, and Ty lee raised her hands up, in direct opposition to the advice Aang had given her.

"Wooo! This is the coolest thing ever!" she shouted out gleefully, Azula rolling her eyes as she failed to hold back a smile.

"All this positivity is going to take some getting used to."


	11. Chapter 11

"So, how does this scroll thing work?"

Katara glanced up, taking note that Ty Lee had sat down on the rock by the stream, watching as she and Aang looked over the waterbending scroll that they had stolen. It had only been three days since she had joined their group, but she had fit in quite well, gladly doing chores when asked and training regularly with Sokka and Azula, the former very glad to have a sparring partner to work on his chi-blocking with. Katara liked her well enough, her giddy and cheerful personality a stark contrast to that of the Fire Nation Princess, which made her consider how they became friends in the first place.

"Uh, I don't really know. I guess I just copy the forms." she admitted,scanning the forms that lay in front of her; of all them, the water whip seemed to be the easiest one to achieve- she just needed to pull the water out and flick it at someone or something, "I think I'll try the water whip first. Aang, could you hold it open for me?" she asked, the young Avatar nodding, taking the scroll into his hands while Katara turned her eyes to the water beside them.

"Water whip, huh?" he raised a brow, glancing over the scroll before holding it out for her to see, "So you just pull it out of the water and whack something with it?"

"Pretty much." she nodded, before taking a deep breath, "That's what she said. Breathing is the key."

She reached out to the stream in front of her, closing her eyes and doing what Azula had taught her; she needed to be in synchronisation with her element if she was going to bend it. Ebbing and flowing, that was what she had told herself. She opened her eyes, leaning back in her stance slightly as she pulled an amorphous strand of water out of the stream, and pulled it around her before flicking it forward, splashing the whip down into the water.

"Huh, that was pretty cool!" Aang piped up, "Can I have a try now?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl smirking, confident in what she had already achieved; she nodded, and he handed the scroll over to Ty Lee, who held it out for him.

He looked back at the forms displayed before him, before taking the first stance, pulling the water out of the stream with surprising fluidity; he coiled the water around him, before flicking it out, just as she had. She would admit that his motions were a little more refined than her own, but she knew that she hadn't gotten the same kind of practice with bending as he had. He was naturally gifted, and that didn't surprise her, given that he was the Avatar.

"Wow..." she mumbled, before turning away, "I've got to try it again." she admitted, Aang nodding at her.

"Let's try it together, how about that?" he asked of her, to which she nodded, both of them turning around to take stances.

"This is gonna be cool." Ty Lee piped up, before pointing to the form that they had to take, "Do it." she told them, the pair nodding before reaching forward, grasping some water out of the stream, coiling it around themselves, and thrusting their right arms forward, sending the water out, striking some trees on the opposite side of the narrow stream.

"Wow!" she clapped her hands, "Maybe you should try the other forms?"

"I think we should practice this one a little longer. I need to make sure I'm doing it fast enough." the Water Tribe girl admitted, "I can't have Azula make fun of me when we show these moves off."

"I think she might do that no matter how good we get." Aang acknowledged with a slight grimace; the acrobat nodded, before crossing her legs as she sat on top of the boulder.

"Don't worry, she just wants you to be the best you can be." she assured them, making Katara smile.

As much as she disdained the Princess's amorality, her work ethic and headstrong desire to see them improve was something she could certainly respect; she was pretty sure that she was training nearby with Sokka at that very moment, though she couldn't see or hear them at that very moment. Katara reached forward once more, grasping at the water, pulling out an amorphous blob out; she coiled the water around her before flicking her wrist forward. The water, instead of striking right into the tree she had been aiming for, instead flicked right back at her; she held back a squeal as she was thrown off her feet by the surprisingly strong push off the water whip. When she landed on her behind, Aang gasped with surprise, reaching over to try and help her up.

"Katara, are you alright?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl simply groaning as she accepted his hand.

"That looked like it hurt." Ty Lee simply observed, "I think you're a little too into it."

She snarled at the suggestion, already frustrated after being knocked off her feet, "How do you know that? It's not like you can bend." she growled at the other girl, whose eyes widened, obviously surprised by her reaction.

"Uh... sorry?" she mumbled, looking unsure how to respond; Katara didn't really care for her response, and got back into her form.

"I think she's got a point, Katara. You're really excited. I am too... but we've got to bend like the forms do, calm and steady." he gestured to the scroll that the acrobat had been holding up for them.

She sighed, trying to hold back her frustration, before nodding, "Okay, Aang." she accepted his suggestion, "Calm and steady."

She took a deep breath, almost hearing Azula in the back of her head chiding her, reaching into the water, and grasping at it, pulling a blob out from the stream; as she raised it up, she pulled it toward her, steadily move her hand, as if she was patting Appa or cutting the meat from a sealskin; motioning her hand up, and back toward her, she moved it in a beating motion, in sync with her breathing. As the water coiled around her, she raised her left hand, stringing the water out until it formed a loop around her, Aang looking at her with surprise as he was forming his single water whip.

"What's that?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl not responding, just taking another breath as she motioned her hands in a circle.

Her motions caused the water to spin around her, first slowly, but soon, its pace picked up; she didn't know what to do with the water- she could uncoil it and whip it out, but she'd already tried that. Instead of whipping out the stream she had coiled around her, she instead allowed the water to flow around her, getting closer and closer to her torso, as she continued to motion her hands around; turning her eyes upward, she glanced toward a tree in the distance. With a target in mind, she let the water flow with her right hand, which she moved out of the spinning motion and down toward the ground, which caused the water to move with it. Then, as she thrust her arm up, akin to the water whip she had been trying, the water that had coiled around her followed her wrist, shooting up in an intense, rapid moving stream, which struck the tree, making it shake visibly as it was doused by the blast of water.

"Okay, that was cool." Aang conceded, before smirking, "But, can we bend water together?"

"Together?" she raised a brow, "Like bend one whip together?"

"I grab the water, throw it to you, and you flick it at something." he clarified his idea, the Water Tribe girl smirking.

"Oh, I can do that." she nodded, before taking the same stance she had before; when he pulled the water out, following the forms he could see on the scroll, she watched it intently, her hand already reaching out, sensing the water, though she didn't bend it yet.

She closed her eyes, realising that if she could feel the water with her bending, she wouldn't need to see; at that moment, she understood how Toph's seismic sense worked, at least part of it- if you used your bending to sense your element, you could feel through it.

"Water sense?" she mumbled to herself, considering the possibilities, but put that thought to the back of her head as she focused on the water as Aang coiled it around himself.

"Catch!" he told her, Katara reaching out with her right hand, pulling her arm back toward her, which pulled the water alongside; as it came around her she grasped it with her left hand instead, allowing her to flick her wrist upward, firing the water whip out at a nearby tree.

"You did it!" Ty Lee cheered them on, "This is really cool. I've never seen waterbending before this. Wanna try the next form?"

"I guess we could." the Water Tribe girl conceded, Aang smiling at her.

"We definitely can." he declared with a confident voice; before they could get a good look at the scroll, their attention was drawn by a whistle coming from the woods beside them.

Turning her attention inside, she saw Azula and Sokka approaching them, both of them looking unharmed and energised; she considered that perhaps they hadn't been training, but rather doing their other favourite thing, planning.

"Sorry to interrupt your splashing session." Sokka apologised, though his mocking denigration of waterbending frustrated her, "We've figured out where we're going next."

"Next?" Aang raised a brow with interest, "Are we going to go find Azula's... army? Is it an army?"

"Not that." the Princess shook her head, "There's one place you need to go before we heard toward the North Pole." she explained, the Avatar raising a brow.

"Uh... I think I'm missing something." he acknowledged, Sokka stepping closer, clearing his throat.

"We're going to Crescent Island. To see Avatar Roku." he clarified, making the Avatar's eyes widen.

"Wait, really?" he asked them, "So we're going to the Fire Nation."

"The Fire Nation?" Ty Lee raised a brow, "I didn't think I'd be going home this quickly." she chuckled, obviously amused she'd be heading back to the Fire Nation proper after only being with them for a few days.

"Well, that's where we're going. And if the Fire Sages don't agree with me showing up, I'll just persuade them who's the real Fire Lord." Azula added, cracking her knuckles, clearly showing that her attitude toward her opponents hadn't changed.

"I think we have a very different idea of what persuasion is." Katara conceded, making the Princess scoff.

"We do." she agreed with her, before glancing at Aang, "Now, you two can keep practicing your waterbending, but we'll need to leave soon. I decided that leaving at nightfall will be the best choice, in case there's a naval blockade or something of the sorts- that means they won't be able to spot us."

"That's a good idea." he smiled at her, before glancing up into the sky, which was still coloured blue from the afternoon sun, "So, we still have time." he noted.

"Yes, but we need to pack up our tents and all that." Sokka clarified, "And cook dinner, unless you want to be eating dried food on Appa's saddle."

"I'm assuming you want me to make that." Katara guessed, her brother raising his hands in defence.

"Uh, I never said that. It's a group effort." he argued, before glancing back toward his girlfriend, "So, are we going to go make something or what?"

"You're really that hungry?" she asked him, to which the Water Tribe warrior groaned with frustration.

"I'm always hungry!" he exclaimed, making both Katara and Azula snicker at his plight.

"Don't you start." he warned his sister, before turning around, "Come on, Azula, let's go make dinner."

"Yeah, but you actually have to help." she retorted, his eyes momentarily darting back toward her.

"I will. Can we please just go make it?" he requested, the Princess nodding, before she glanced back over at the other three, "You can keep practicing." he told them, as if he had a decision in the matter, "And don't lose the scroll, that'd just be annoying."

"Got it." the acrobat nodded, "You two enjoy yourselves." she grinned, the Princess rolling her eyes as she covered her face with embarrassment; the one thing Katara absolutely loved about Ty Lee's addition to their group was that she made the usually snarky and confident Princess get embarrassed with her constant comments about her relationship with Sokka.

Turning her attention back toward the scroll, Katara took note of another move, the water shield, which she took the basic form for, "Hey, Aang, why don't we try the water shield?"

The young Avatar nodded, smiling at her as he replicated her own form; both of them reached into the stream, each pulling out an amorphous blob of water, before they took the stance shown on the scroll, pulling the water up from below so it formed a sphere around the height of their chests. Katara then turned around, moving her hands at the base and top of the sphere of water, molding into a concave shape, which widened out until it formed a whole water shield in front of her; she took a deep breath, remaining concentrated as she held it in place, slowly moving around in a circle to test it she could hold it in place. She did, with some struggle, as it was hard to maintain the proper shape of the shield, which eventually faltered, spilling out and falling to the ground, making a big splash; she covered her face from the water, sighing with frustration. Her reaction worsened when she heard Aang and Ty Lee giggling.

"How about you try it then?" she growled at the Avatar, who looked at her with slight unease, trying his best to maintain his water-shield, before he took a deep breath out, dropping the water back into the stream.

"Sorry for laughing. You just got really into it." he conceded, making her sigh.

"I've just always wanted to waterbend. You making fun of me doesn't help." she explained her feelings as best she could, before turning back to look at the scroll, "Maybe we should just go have dinner. I don't know if I'll be able to concentrate on these forms for much longer."

"We can come back to it." he suggested, "Plus, there's other ways to train."

"Like meditation?" she raised a brow, the Avatar nodding in confirmation.

Ty Lee stepped up, with a wide grin on her face, "How about we do some stretches and meditation? I always did that to get ready for my acrobatics." she explained, the Avatar smiling.

"Oooh, that's a good idea!" he clapped his hands together, "Let's go have dinner, then we can try that."

"Sounds like a plan." Katara nodded, before she turned her heels, following Ty Lee as she began to walk back towards their campsite, which was located a little further from the stream, at a small clearing.

They quickly approached the campsite, where she could see Sokka sitting with Azula, both of them working on the meal together; the Princess was boiling a pot of water with her firebending, while he was mixing together all of the ingredients they had. Her brother's eyes darted up, realising that they were coming back to the camp already.

"Oh, hey, did you come to help with the meal?" he asked, Aang nodding with a grin.

"Yeah, food will help us regain focus." he explained, eyeing Katara for a moment, "So what are you cooking?"

"Rice and some vegetables." Sokka explained, "We'll put in the meat separately so you don't need to eat it."

"Thanks." the young Air Nomad smiled, rubbing the back of his scalp, almost embarrassed, "That's actually really nice of you, Sokka."

"Don't mention it." he waved off his words, "Could one of you stir this pot? I need to cut up the meat."

"I'll do it." Katara spoke up, her brother gesturing to the pot before he stood up, walking back over toward Appa's saddle to retrieve the meat.

She sat down beside Azula, who was the one heating the fire beneath the two pots with her bending; the Princess momentarily glanced her way, before turning her attention back toward the water. Ty Lee and Aang sat nearby, and began to idly chat, though Katara didn't pay much attention to it.

"Your waterbending has improved." the other girl spoke up, "I knew that you just needed the right tools."

"Maybe we should have looked for a scroll earlier." she noted, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I thought you might have needed an actual master, but maybe I was wrong. You're already learning the forms, with relative ease, I might add." she explained, making Katara chuckle; it was rare that Azula would compliment her, but she realised that she had a soft spot for her bending- maybe it was because she saw the same potential in her that she might have seen in Sokka, or even in herself.

"Maybe we can start sparring soon. I'd like to actually have someone to spar against. Plus, we're probably going to face some firebenders soon." she acknowledged, the Princess chuckling.

"Indeed. The Fire Sages are old, but they might pose a little threat, seeing that they're all master firebenders." she conceded, making the Water Tribe girl's eyes widen as she tried to keep her stirring hand steady.

"Is that... safe? Should we go there if we're going to have to deal with a bunch of master firebenders?"

"I'm sure Ty Lee and Sokka are fast enough to chi-block them anyway." she dismissed her fears, "I don't know what you're worrying about."

"We always seem to get into trouble, even when we're trying to avoid it." Katara concluded, "And this isn't avoiding it."

"Neither was stealing a waterbending scroll." the Princess retorted, "But we did deal with that, didn't we?"

"Yeah..." she nodded in concession, realising that the guards who she had been so worried about were dealt with pretty easily by Sokka and Ty Lee, although they had only ended up facing three of them instead of the whole town garrison.

"We did deal with that." Sokka piped up as he approached them, sitting down across from them a strip of meat; he had successfully trapped a large rodent-like creature the day prior with Azula's assistance, and they had already eaten a good portion of its meat the day prior, "Azula's explained it to me. These Fire Sages won't be a problem. Though, the whole Fire Nation is probably wanting the bounty on Azula's head- that's something we should worry about."

"Like they could catch us anyway. We have the fastest thing in the sky... bar a dragon, but nobody has any of those anyway." she argued, Sokka nodding.

"Well, that is right." he agreed, turning his eyes back toward Appa, "Thanks Appa for being so good at getting us away from the Fire Nation.... and the Earth Kingdom too."

"Still thinking about the rebels, are you?" Katara asked her brother, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm just a little concerned seeing that we'll have to meet them again, if we want to make sure they can link up with Dad and the other warriors."

"And so we can recruit Toph!" Aang piped up, making him chuckle.

"And Toph. We won't forget her... the little blind earthbending master." he reminded himself, making Azula raise a brow.

"You ought to avoid calling her little to her face. I don't think I could save you from her earthbending." she warned him, Sokka raising his hands up.

"Don't worry, I know when to keep my mouth shut." he argued, Katara narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"Yeah... that's a lie." she retorted, making him cross his arms, glaring at her with annoyance.

"I'll stay quiet when I need to." he argued, Azula snickering.

"You do play the quiet intimidating type well at times, I will admit." she raised a hand, "You should have seen the look on Long Feng's face when Sokka went after him. He probably dirtied his pants that afternoon."

Katara snickered at her thought; despite never having met Long Feng, she despised him as much as the other two did. Their description of his character told her well enough, despite how cruel they had treated him; they had broken his arms and legs to stop him from bending, and Sokka beat him just to shut up in case he had brainwashed any unsuspecting people. She turned back to stirring the pot, which began to give off an aromatic smell as the vegetables inside cooked, their juices mixing together and boiling from the heat Azula was applying.

"Mhmm... I think this is going to be a good stew." she acknowledged, the Princess sighing.

"Ah yes, another time for me to denigrate my abilities with menial tasks like this." she made an exaggerated sigh, which made Ty Lee snicker.

"Hey, hey, Zula, your bending is great no matter if you use it for fighting or for cooking." she argued, Azula shaking her head, obviously not agreeing with that viewpoint.

"I'm not changing my mind on the matter." she stood her ground, "Firebending is an art-form."

"An art-form that can grill succulent meats." Sokka raised a finger, "I used to think it was a horrible, aggressive thing for demonic people to use, but you know what, I kinda like firebending. It's useful, straightforward and doesn't lead to snowballs being thrown in my face."

"Hey, I haven't done that lately." Katara argued, her brother sneering at her.

"That's exactly why I'm not looking forward to the Northern Water Tribe. Not only do I have to deal with a bunch of pompous arseholes, I have to deal with you lopping snowballs at me every time we disagree on something." he declared, Katara giving her brother a reassuring smile.

"We might find more things to agree on. Sexist waterbending rules, dumb traditions, and probably a bunch of guys who are even worse than you used to be." she suggested, his eyes narrowing at her with confusion.

"Sorry, is that meant to be a compliment?"

"Just take it as it is. You've improved, Sokka, that's what counts."

"He certainly has." Azula crossed her arms, Katara turning to nod at her.

"Thank you for helping my brother overcome his sexist ways." she gave her a genuine smile, appreciative of the fact her brother no longer viewed her as having to do one thing or the other just because she was a girl; Katara didn't think, however, that she, or Aang at that, could persuade the Northern Water Tribe to change their minds as he had.

"And thank you, Sokka, for enlightening your girlfriend on her own xenophobic views." she turned to Sokka, who raised a hand up, with a cringed look on his face.

"Uh, well, it wasn't like I didn't hate and fear the Fire Nation too. That was as a mutual effort of not despising each other." he clarified, Ty Lee looking at him with a poignant pout.

"To think you two once hated each other... that's just so sad!" 

"I never hated him." Azula argued, "He was just a frustrating obstacle to begin with, and then an annoying but necessary ally."

"So then who did you hate?" the acrobat asked with an intrigued look.

"Jeong Jeong. I didn't know who he was at the time, but that arsehole of a traitor is the one who tried to have me kidnapped. He deserves my hatred, not Sokka." Azula argued, which seemed a little unusual, as she was trying to justify not disdaining her own boyfriend.

She placed her hands together, her expression shifting to a cold and spiteful one, "If I ever see that man, I don't know if I'll be able to restrain myself. He's the reason all of this happened in the first place."

"Well, luckily for us, that ended up with us finding Aang." Katara acknowledged, the Princess's eyes widening for a moment before she chuckled.

"Huh, that's true." she admitted, before she narrowed her eyes, "But we can't change any of that now. We can only move forward."

"Yeah, we'll be moving forward to the North Pole soon enough, and then we'll actually have gotten somewhere." Sokka spoke up, "Let's just hope this little trip to Crescent Island doesn't go sideways."

"Everything seems to go sideways for us." the Water Tribe girl mumbled, knowing that they didn't have the best of luck, but at the very least, they seemed to come out on top most of the time.

Sokka placed the strips of meat he had cut in the pot of water Azula was boiling, before the Princess narrowed her eyes at her, "Could you try and do some bending right now?"

"Wait, what?" she narrowed her eyes at her, before looking at the pot before her; it had no water in it, only vegetables and rice, and would need some water if it was to be properly cooked all together, "You want me to take some of that water and put it in my pot?"

"Yes. Take it as a practical exercise." she gestured to the pot before her; Katara narrowed her eyes at it, taking a deep breath as she raised her hands up, letting go of the spoon she had been using to stir the hot mixture of vegetables and rice.

"What did you just say about 'menial denigration' of your art-form?" Sokka quipped at his girlfriend, who rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she turned to face the Water tribe girl.

"Just be careful not to burn us with it."

She took a deep breath as she motioned her hands forward, grasping the water with her bending, before she took a portion of it out, the blob rising up into the air above the two pots before she began to slowly lower it back down into her own pot. With each steady breath, the mass of water got lower, until she dropped it down into the pot, making a hissing noise as it washed into the hot metal pot.

"Good job." Azula nodded, seeming restrained in her response; she turned back to face Aang, who had been idling sitting nearby, looking up into the sky, "Did you pay attention to that, Aang?"

"What?" he glanced back over at her, "Me?"

"I'll take that as a no." she concluded, before looking back over to the pot Katara had been stirring, "We can let that... do whatever it does. I'm assuming this meat will cook quickly." she glanced back to the pot that sat before her, the flames in her hands intensifying in brightness, which made the pot radiate off steam quicker.

"So, are we just going to fly straight over to the Fire Nation, or what?" Ty Lee asked, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I mean, it mightn't be that simple, but that's the idea. Appa flies us over whatever military forces we might come across, and we bee-line straight for Crescent Island." she simply told her, seeming rather unconcerned about the potential dangers they might face.

"As crazy as the world is at the moment, I don't think the Fire Nation will be that concerned about us when they're fighting each other." Sokka argued, the Avatar sighing with relief upon hearing that.

"Well, that's good to hear. I thought we were going to be running away from them until we get to the North Pole." he admitted, the Princess raising a finger.

"I mean they might try to pursue us, but it's unlikely they'd have any success. Appa's far too fast for them to catch up, and if they travel by sea, we only have to go overland for a day or two and they'll have no chance of catching up." she clarified, before sighing, "For once, I'm actually relieved the Fire Nation doesn't have any kind of fast transportation like a sky-bison."

"For now." Sokka mumbled with a slight grimace.

"Let's not worry about that." Ty Lee spoke up, obviously not wanting everyone to be feeling down or worried about things outside of their control, "Hey, could you tell me about what actually happened before you found me?" she asked, her eyes narrowed with suspicion, "You guys keep talking about these 'rebels', but nobody actually explained it."

"Oh, that's easy." Sokka's expression brightened, "My dad's friend, Bato, met these Earth Kingdom rebels while he was travelling around, trying to find a way back to the Southern Water Tribe. We went to meet them, because we thought that with Aang by our side, we could persuade them that we ought to team up against the Fire Nation."

"Wait, against the Fire Nation?" she asked, before she turned her eyes to Azula, "I know you said you were going to help the Avatar restore balance and all, but are you actually trying to fight the Fire Nation?"

"Not the whole country." Azula clarified, "We're trying to get rid of the stragglers who remained after Zuko withdrew, to the best of my knowledge. They're still in control of the Earth Kingdom, and are causing chaos everywhere." she admitted, turning her eyes to Katara for a moment, "Even at the South Pole. The Southern Raiders, who broke their allegiance from my brother, have been raiding areas in the Southern Sea for slaves to help their own war effort to defeat Zuko."

"That's disgusting." Ty Lee grimaced, "How could they do that?"

"Because they have as many morals as a rock." Sokka raised a hand up nonchalantly, "They're the first on our list. Once we've gathered the resources available, we- I mean, the Southern Water Tribe, will destroy them, and free whoever they've enslaved."

"Huh, so that's what you've been plotting on." she turned her eyes to the Princess, "The old Azula's still there, just going for far more righteous causes."

"Excuse me." the Princess raised a finger, "I've always done what I believed to be righteous, it's just that my opinion on that matter has changed somewhat."

"She's not wrong." Sokka crossed his arms, "I still haven't got an apology for the death threat you gave me after I dare suggest you not slaughter the Freedom Fighters."

"Wait, she was going to do that?" Aang gasped, obviously shocked by such an idea; given how Jet had treated Sokka, if she had actually ever met the group, she might have fought them.

"I was not. I was going to order the army to crush the dissenters in the city." she clarified, making Katara snort with amusement; she was not helping her own argument by admitting that.

"And that's meant to make you look more 'righteous'?" she quipped, the Princess narrowing her eyes at her spitefully.

"I was trying to maintain the peace. That was what my father sent me to do, although he had phrased it as 'destroying the enemies of the Fire Nation'. You should just thank me for having some room for interpretation." she argued, the Water Tribe girl rolling her eyes.

"I'm not going to thank you for relenting on doing something horrible. That's just being courteous." she retorted, Sokka raising his hands up.

"Now, please, can we not fight... and instead eat the delicious meal we have just made?" he requested of the group, who all, bar Azula, nodded in agreement.

"Who said it was going to be delicious? It's just rice-stew." she derided his claim, the Water Tribe warrior face-palming, obviously thinking her words were uncalled for.

"You eat one bag of damn fire flakes and now you're the world's biggest food critic."

* * *

Aang had been enjoying sleeping curled up on Appa's saddle, but it seemed that the world truly had it out for him; the sound of an explosion in the distance immediately woke him up. Though he was afraid for a moment, when he realised it was still dark out and that there was nothing but dark clouds around him, he felt relieved. He thought for a second that he had just imagined the sound, or had misinterpreted the grumblings of one of Appa's many stomachs, but he was quickly proven wrong. The sound of explosions sounded off once again, and he scampered over to the edge of the saddle; glancing to his right he noticed that Momo had also been awakened by the sounds, and began to chitter fearfully.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure it's just..." he began to try and assure his little friend, before he grimaced, completely unknowing of where the sound was coming from, "I have no idea what it is."

He peered over the edge of the saddle, looking down below Appa, but was unable to see anything but the dark clouds that reflected the light of the moon that shone above them. He heard another booming sound, this time from the other side of the saddle. He turned around and took note that Azula and Ty Lee were both awake already, glancing around, the latter with a far more tense expression than the former.

"What is that?" Ty Lee asked out, "Can you see anything, Aang?"

"No." he shook his head, "There's too many clouds in the way." he admitted, before he heard another booming sound, right ahead of them, though it was clearly from below; he could see a flash of orange light through the clouds, faded and obscured by the thick covering below them, but still present.

"Fire." he guessed, "Why would there be fire in the middle of the sea?"

"Because the Fire Navy's here." Azula deduced, leaning over the other side of the saddle, "I bet there's a battle going on right underneath us. This is the border between the homeland and the colonies, so it makes sense that there'd be a lot of ships here."

"A-are we in danger?" he asked her, obviously afraid that they might get struck out of the sky if they weren't careful.

"I doubt they can see us." Azula assured him, before she gestured to Appa's reins, "Just to be safe, take us a little higher."

"Are you sure? It gets pretty cold up in the sky." he warned her; there was a reason he flew low on Appa, and that was so they could avoid the extreme temperatures that came with high altitudes.

That night was different, given that they were already flying quite high to avoid being spotted, and now they were posed with the threat of accidentally being pulled into a fight between two Fire Nation forces.

"It's better cold than being shot out of the sky." she argued, the young Avatar nodding with a grimace.

"Okay, I'd get back in your sleeping roll then, it's going to get colder." he warned her, the Princess raising a brow at him.

"What about you?" she asked him, the Avatar shrugging his shoulders.

"Airbending helps me stay warm in the cold. That's why I didn't need a parka at the South Pole." he explained, the Princess nodding before she pulled herself back into the sleeping roll beside Sokka, who mumbled under his breath.

"Yeah, yeah, just go back to sleep." she chided her boyfriend, Aang turning his attention back toward Appa's reins, which he grasped a hold of.

"Come on, buddy, let's just get a little higher up." he told his sky-bison, who groaned lightly, before he began to fly upward, "That's it." he smiled, though his positivity was quickly shattered by the sound of what he could only guess was a fireball whirring past them; it was so bright and hot that he was forced to cover his face to stop himself from being temporarily blinded.

"Argh!" he heard Sokka cry out, "I'm trying to sleep here!"

Aang pulled the reins to the side, turning Appa around, "We need to get out of the way, right now!" he exclaimed, hearing another whirring sound behind them; he pulled the reins down, and with them, his sky-bison dove down, flying underneath the fireball that was thrown past them and into the clouds.

"How did they spot us?!" Ty Lee cried out, the Avatar gritting his teeth, not having any response in mind other than to continue their descent; if he could see the fireballs coming he'd have a better chance of dodging them.

"I have no idea!" Aang shouted out as he pulled the reins down, sending them past the clouds, quickly approaching the sea below them.

Glancing back, his jaw dropped as he actually saw what had been causing the explosions; there had to be at least a dozen Fire Nation ships, most of them on fire, all firing at each other, and now, at them. He pulled the reins to the side as he saw another fireball fly their way, Aang getting Appa to swerve to the left; glancing around for a moment, he realised that they were still in the middle of the Mo Ce Sea, and thus unable to find any cover, unless he decided they ought to take a little dip in the water. He knew that neither his or Katara's waterbending was good enough to try that kind of trick yet, so he forced it out of his mind, trying to remain focused.

"Argh!" Sokka grunted as he was forced to move by the sharp turn, "Fly a little safer!" he demanded, before he turned around, seeing the source of the orange light that had lit up the saddle, "Oh shit."

"Yeah, that's definitely my father's people trying to kill my brother's people." Azula concluded as they continued to fly away as fast as they could.

"Should we... I don't know, do something?" Ty Lee glanced back toward the burning ships, Aang lost for words; he wanted to help people everywhere he went, but he couldn't stand the idea of putting his friends in danger.

"Wh-wh..." Katara mumbled, rising up from her sleeping roll after she had been nearly thrown across the saddle, "What's going on?"

"We can't do anything." Azula declared, "There's no way we should get any closer than we already are."

"I could stop them from trying to kill each other." Aang admitted, the Princess looking at him skeptically.

"And risk getting yourself captured, hurt or worse? Why?" she growled at him, obviously in complete disagreement with the idea that he ought to help them somebody just because he was the Avatar.

"How are you going to do that, anyway?" Ty Lee mumbled, "You only have airbending."

"That's enough to put out some fires." he declared, "Just how do I know who to help. Who shot at us?" he asked, the Princess placing both her hands by her temples.

"Did you listen to a word I just said? You can't do it!" she growled at him, her voice almost rising to a shout, "Katara! You don't really believe he should put himself in danger to stop two Fire Nation fleets from destroying each other, do you?"

The Water Tribe girl blinked a few times, glancing toward the burning ships, before she grimaced, "That's what we're trying to stop, isn't it?" she gestured toward the ships, "You're the one who's going on about peace all the time."

"Hmph." she crossed her arms, "I can't argue against that." she conceded, before gesturing toward the ships with an indifferent look on her face, "Go on then, be the peace-maker, if that's what you want."

Aang pulled on the reins flying them back in the direction of the ships, "I'll get my glider out, and I'll take out whatever they're using to attack each other."

"Sounds like a plan." Katara acknowledged, "But what do we do?"

"Once they stop firing at us, you guys can land Appa down and sort this all out. Maybe they'll listen to me once I show them who I am."

"You overestimate the open mindedness of people, Aang." Azula sighed, before she stood up, "Go on, I'll take the reins. The quicker you go, the less damage that will be done."

"You're really okay with this?" he raised a brow, the Princess shrugging her shoulders, glancing down toward her boyfriend, who was frustrated by the fact that he was awake during the middle of the night.

"You're the Avatar. I can't exactly disagree with you, and this is your sky-bison." she gestured down toward the saddle.

He pulled his glider off from the saddle, and opened it up, "I won't be long." he assured them, before he leapt off to the left side of the saddle, opening up the glider as he fell down toward the water.

Using his airbending to create lift, he narrowly dodged the water, gliding along by the lapping waves as he looked ahead to the dozen or so ships that lay before him. Quite a few of them were so damaged that he thought they might have started sinking, while others were continuing to fire barrages of fireballs toward the other ships, with firebending and what he assumed were some kind of catapult. He flew right over the deck of one of the ships, the sailors looking up at him with amazement as they realised they had just seen the Avatar; he aimed toward one of the ships that was firing at the others, swerving out of the way of a fireball that was thrown his way. He flew up above the ship, before he closed his glider, tensing his grip on it as he funnelled a large gust of wind via it, striking right down in the centre of the deck he had been above. He landed down on it with his own two feet, immediately cringing from the searing heat of the metal deck, which was littered with large holes from being fired upon.

"By the spirits, it's the Avatar!" one of the sailors cried out with surprise, though his voice clearly showed fear; when he looked at the other men around him that had been thrown off their feet by the air blast, he saw the same expression- utter dread.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" he told them with as confident a tone he could muster, "I want you to stop fighting each other. You're going to kill each other!" he exclaimed, the sailors looking more perplexed at him.

"He's just a child!" one of the men on the deck declared, Aang taking note of his fancier attire, spotting him out as the captain of the ship, "You know the protocols. Take him!"

"Bad idea." he warned them, before spinning his staff around, creating a wind blast that knocked over a few sailors who tried to charge at him.

He then used his staff to once again strike the catapult they had been using to fire on other ships, shattering it with one powerful burst of air; before the sailors could catch him. He jumped up into the air, flipping around before he used the trick he learned earlier that day. Pulling a mass of water out from the water beside him, he coiled it around himself as he fell back down toward the deck, quickly whipping it ahead of himself; when it struck a sailor back, he smirked, realising that he had already figured out the technique.

"Wow, that scroll really did help." he mumbled, before raising more water out from the sea, now taking from both sides, using his staff to guide the water as he bent it; taking two globes of water on both his sides, he spun them around, making two water whips, which he used to whack the Fire Nation sailors back.

As impressed as he was by his own waterbending, it didn't pack as much of a punch as he would have liked, and the sailors were ready to tackle him, despite the setbacks.

"This is the part where I fly away." he clarified, making them look at him with confusion; despite the fact that he had told them exactly what he was going to do, he was still able to leap off of the side of the ship and use his glide to get away.

Gliding off between the ships, he glanced around, taking note that there were still ships firing on each other; he turned his glider around, rising up into the air as he focused on another ship. Aang did not relent to fly on down to the deck, using his airbending to block the fireballs that were sent his way; he closed his glider once more as he landed, using it to create an air blast that knocked the sailors off their feet.

"Come on, guys. You don't need to fight me. Just stop fighting each other!" he asked of them, the sailors turning to face him in their firebending forms.

"A hundred years for this?" one of them scoffed, looking at him; just because Aang was twelve years old didn't mean that he didn't have a few tricks up his sleeve.

He grinned smugly, the sailor taken aback by his expression as he and his comrades took form; reaching his left hand out, he grasped for the water, taking a deep breath as he pulled out a blob, shaping it into a disc as he spun his arms around, pulling it through the air and tossing it right into the soldier who had mocked him. He was thrown off his feet, and Aang used the distraction to spin his staff around, throwing his attackers off of their feet as they tried to attack him with their firebending. A few of them remained standing, and sent fire streams toward him; he ducked under a few but was forced to spin his staff around to disperse the attacks as the heat grew around him; it got so intense that his hands and feet started to ache, as they were furthest away from the core of his body which was being protected by his dispersion. Aang grit his teeth as he put his strength into throwing his staff down, sending an air blast right into one of the soldiers before he swung his staff around; though he had intended to use it to airbend the sailors away, one of them had actually grabbed a hold of the staff and thus prevented him from airbending with it. He instead jumped into the air, landing on the sailors shoulders while he tried to defend himself; Aang blocked his fireballs, and when he covered his fist with flames, he simply kicked it away before jumping off of his shoulders, taking his staff with him.

"Thank you very much!" he grinned at his opponents mockingly, before taking a fighting stance, ready to take whatever they had.

Instead, they clambered out of the way in fear, as Appa quickly approached the deck of the ship, destroying the catapult on the deck as he did so; as soon as he did, Ty Lee and Azula both jumped down from the saddle, taking fighting stances alongside him.

"Ready to kick some butts?" the acrobat quipped, making him grin.

"Oh, I am." he assured her, before he charged forward, swinging his staff around to whip up a gust that threw one of the sailors off their feet while the two girls followed behind, the Princess using her firebending to neutralise their opponent's own while her friend used her chi-blocking to paralyse them before they even had a chance to respond.

He spun around, using his staff as a pole to vault himself into the air, before he sent an air blast out of his feet, throwing their opponents back. Once he landed back on the ground, he pulled his staff back from behind swinging it at the sailors, his cutting blow of wind keeping them distracted for a moment while Azula and Ty Lee pounced, both of them quickly taking care of any stragglers.

"So, please..." he tried to speak with as calm a voice as possible, "don't fight any more." he warned them, before turning around, seeing there were still three ships that continued to barrage the others.

"You better listen." the Princess added, before turning back to face Appa, on top of whom stood Sokka and Katara, both surprised by how the fighting had gone.

"Okay, that was easier than I thought." the Water Tribesman admitted, "Does this mean I can go back to sleep now?"

"There's still three more ships firing, Sokka." his girlfriend chided him, before she launched herself up with firebending onto the saddle.

She turned back to face Ty Lee and Aang, "Aang, glide over to one of those ships and take down their catapults, we'll take another and then we'll meet up again. Got it?"

"Yep." he nodded, approving of her stern directions, given the situation.

As soon as he agreed to her idea, he sprinted off to the right, opening his glider and setting flight, spotting the nearest ship that was still attacking; it was already quite damaged, but that didn't seem to be stopping its crew from continuing their offensive. As he flew toward it, he realised that the men aboard were reorienting their catapult so they could strike Appa; he grit his teeth, realising that he had to act immediately. Dropping his right hand down, he reached toward the sea, pulling out a decent sized mass of water from below; as he pulled it out, he narrowed his eyes on the catapult, using his airbending to increase his speed and he neared it. Tensing his hand, the mass of water tightened, and struck the catapult violently, breaking it apart instantly as its payload was thrown off onto the deck, doused with water to prevent it from setting anything on fire. He landed down on the deck near the bow of the ship, turning around to face those on the deck, who looked at him with utter surprise; instead of attacking him, as the other sailors had, they simply stood there looking unsure what to do with themselves. They knew they couldn't beat him, it seemed, and although that relieved Aang, there was still a chance they could desire to fight him.

"What should we do, sir?" one of the sailors called out to their captain, who stood forward, unarmed and seemingly injured from the barrage.

"The Fire Lord's policy was that the Avatar is no longer an enemy of the Fire Nation." he admitted, making him realise that the ship was following Zuko, not Ozai; the fact that what he had just said proved what he had already been guessing- the Fire Lord wasn't his enemy, no matter how much Azula liked to tout his misdeeds.

"I'm happy to hear that." he admitted honestly, "Please, stop fighting them. You'll only cause more pain." he gestured to the other ships, the sailors looking in the direction he pointed.

The captain of the ship sighed, stepping closer, "I'm sorry, Avatar, but that's just not an option. These traitors are a threat to the integrity of the Fire Nation."

"I hope you change your mind." he simply told him, before opening his glider once more; he jumped up into the air, flying toward the final ship that continued to fire, which had a number of catapults on its deck, and seemed to have sustained an extreme amount of damage, with the superstructure of the ship barely keeping itself together, burning like a torchlight over the ocean surface.

He flew toward it, and the ship reoriented its weapons at him; he swerved out of the way as a flaming rock was tossed his way, before Aang once again used his new waterbending skills, grasping a small mass of water and pulling it up with him as he flew into the air. Rising up above the ship's deck, he spun his fist around, before closing the glider, falling down with the mass of water beside him. As he neared the deck, he raised his hand up, tensing his hold on the water before thrusting it down, sending a water whip right into the catapult, audibly breaking it. As he landed down on the deck, he spun around with his staff in hand, using it to send the sailors back away from the weapon, preventing them from trying to use it again. He turned around to face the sailors, who immediately took fighting forms, though they weakened as they realised they were facing the Avatar; it seemed that they were more forces loyal to Zuko, which suggested, disturbingly enough, that the loyalist forces were about to win the battle by sinking the rebel ships to the seafloor.

"Stand still and surrender!" he heard one of the sailors command him, "You're helping the enemy."

"Why would I help them? They're the ones who want the Fire Nation to conquer the world, aren't they?" he quipped in return, the sailors looking amongst themselves with confused looks.

"That doesn't matter." another spoke up, "You're getting in the way of peace, Avatar." one of them declared, he and a number of his comrades taking form, with either pikes in hand or fireballs.

"Peace?" he asked them, very skeptical that massacring a fleet of enemy ships was peace, "This is slaughter!" he decried their actions, "You should at least give them a chance to surrender."

He heard Appa roaring nearby, Aang turning around to see his friends on his saddle, all clearly awake and ready to assist him take out the last of the catapults; he smiled with relief, before he faced the sailors once more, standing a fighting stance.

"Either stop using the catapults or I'll make you." he declared, the sailors taking their stances.

"You've made a big mistake." one of the sailors declared, before he tossed a fireball toward Aang, who spun his staff around to deflect and disperse the attack; he glanced around, taking note that they were all about to send fire streams his way, and Aang decided to make a concerted effort to achieve what he had come there to do.

Spinning around, he used his staff to conjure a gust of wind, which he aimed at the sailors between him and the next catapult, throwing them back; the other sailors didn't relent to fire on him, the Avatar ducking under their attack. When he leaned back up, he realised that their spearmen were charging at him, and he readied his staff to block their blows. Only he never had the chance to as he heard a battle-cry from above him, Ty Lee knocking one out with a kick to the chest while Azula did the same, although with a lot less gusto.

"Now would be a good time to surrender." the Princess warned their opponents as she took a firebending stance.

"W-wait... that's her!" one of the sailors pointed toward her, his stance immediately faltering, obviously afraid of her; her reputation truly did seem to precede her.

"Princess Azula... oh... now we're fucked." one of the sailors behind him mumbled, stepping back with a dreading look on his face.

"Avatar, harbouring a traitor to the Fire Nation is a crime punishable by a life-sentence in prison." one of the sailors declared, his outfit the same as the last captain he saw, suggesting he was their leader, "Take them, alive!" he ordered his men, Aang gritting his teeth.

"Big mistake!" he shouted out, lunging forward with his staff to create an airblast that knocked the captain and the men surrounding him off their feet, before he charged ahead, swinging his staff around to block the firebending attacks that were sent his way.

He grasped to his left side, pulling some water out from the water beside the ship; he was forced to spin around to block another attack, but was able to pull the water out. He then tossed it at the catapult beside him with as much force as he could muster; the attack, frustratingly, didn't seem to damage the catapult as much as his first one had, and he was forced to shift to a defensive form, spinning his staff around with both his hands to deflect the enemy's firebending, he was surprised when he heard Azula's voice call out to him as he tried his best to defend himself.

"Get away from the catapult!" she demanded of him, Aang heeding her warning and ducking under a fireball that was sent his way; as quickly as he could, he swerved around the next attack sent his way before racing away from the catapult.

He soon understood why Azula had warned him, as a few moments later, a blinding flash of light lit up the deck of the ship, followed by shaking and a deafening boom; the Princess had just generated a lightning bolt and fired it into the catapult, blowing it apart. Aang was forced to duck down to dodge the debris, which hit the soldiers he had jumped past; they grunted with pain, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty for what had happened. He glanced around, taking note that Appa had landed near the superstructure of the ship; Sokka and Katara both climbed off of the saddle, the former using his club and boomerang to distract the sailors while the latter used her new waterbending forms to defend them both.

He jumped up into the air, creating an air-scooter, which he used to push himself through and past the sailors that were in his way, "Coming through!" he cried out, the sailors either jumping out of the way or being tossed to the side by the powerful torque of his bending.

He ignored the sailors for the most part, focusing on the last catapult, which he needed to destroy; before they could have a chance to load the massive rocks into the launcher, he slammed his staff down, throwing the rocks out of place, which further delayed the sailors trying to load the weapon for one last assault on the enemy ships. He got off of his air scooter, launching himself up into the air, jumping over a few sailors before he landed in front of Sokka and Katara, who were fending off a large number of sailors themselves.

"Hi guys." he grinned at them, before reaching out into the water beside them, turning to the Water Tribe girl specifically, "Wanna work on our waterbending?"

"There's no time like the present." she smirked, reaching out to take some more water out of the sea beside them; both of them pulled a blob of water each toward themselves, turning them into water whips which they could easily strike the sailors with.

Sokka had for the most part ignored their moves, charging forward with his club, using it to knock out around three soldiers before the two novice waterbenders used their new forms striking a sailor each off of their feet; Aang continued to hold onto the water, forming a shield with his left hand while he used his staff to airbend with his right; he hadn't really thought about it until that moment, but he had been simultaneously bending both air and water, a feat that he thought would be considerably more challenging that expected- instead, it was just as hard as any two-handed bending would be, being clunky and unwieldy at best. He, Sokka and Katara all pushed forward, the Water Tribesman using his chi-blocking to quickly paralyse the extremities of their opponents while the two waterbenders used their whips to strike their opponents off of their feet.

"Take that!" the boisterous warrior shouted out, using his club to knock a sailor right out; a moment later, Aang was forced to close his eyes as another blinding explosion went off, Azula's lightning-bending doing its trick well enough.

He stepped forward, slamming his staff down flat onto the ship's deck, which threw the remaining sailors between him, Ty Lee and Azula off of their feet; the two girls looked at him with relieved faces, immediately heading back toward Appa.

"Let's get the fuck off this ship." the Princess declared, before she turned around, spitting at who Aang guessed was the captain of the ship, "Traitor my arse." she growled, before turning her heels, following the others as they made their way back to the sky-bison.

Momo chittered with fear as he flew around them, obviously worried for his own and their safety; the Avatar gestured for him to approach, and he landed on the young Air Nomad's shoulder. He pet the lemur on the chin, scratching it a little before he used his airbending to propel himself up onto Appa's saddle.

"Let's get out of here, buddy." he told his sky-bison, who groaned, moving slightly as the others all climbed on top, with the more athletic Ty Lee and Azula helping Katara and Sokka onto the saddle, respectively.

Once they were all onboard, he grasped onto the reins, whipping them once and pulling them up, "Yip-yip!" he called out to Appa, who immediately took flight, rising up above the deck and immediately crossing out over to the water; he turned the reins to their right, allowing them to head back in the direction they had originally been heading.

He glanced back at the ships that all remained above water, despite the damage they had sustained, and Aang sighed with relief, knowing that they couldn't sink each other without their artillery. He tensed his grip on the reins, keeping Appa heading in the direction of Crescent Island; he could only hope that they didn't run into anything like a battle once again, as he didn't know if he even had the energy to fight once more. He knew he had done what was right in stopping the fight, and they had all gotten out unscathed, much to his relief.

"Well, that was a pain." Sokka grumbled, "And all I wanted was a good night's sleep." he admitted, his sister snickering at his predicament.

"You can still sleep, Sokka. Just don't oversleep. I'm sure you want to be there to face these Fire Sage guys." she warned, the Water Tribesman nodding, dropping his weapons down before he climbed back into his sleeping roll.

"Sleepy time." he mumbled, the Princess laughing at her boyfriend's reaction.

"Now, now, Sokka. This isn't the first time you've had to fight at night." she suggested, making him groan with frustration.

"It's the first time I've done it after sleeping." he argued, before rolling over into his sleeping roll, "Let me sleep."

"Of course." she nodded, obviously not objecting to the idea; they all needed as much sleep as they could get.

"Yeah, it is time to sleep... again." Ty Lee acknowledged, "Is this what most trips are like for you guys?"

"No, not really." Aang shook his head, "But when trouble comes our way, we can't avoid it."

"Don't try to, more like it." Azula argued, making Katara roll her eyes.

"Should we? I think we did the right thing back there, even if it was dangerous." she retorted, the Princess shrugging her shoulders, slipping her boots off before she slid into the sleeping roll beside Sokka.

"I don't care, honestly. As long as we get as far away from them as possible." she told her, before pulling the sleeping roll up, "I want to get some actual sleep as much as I'd like to argue with you."

"I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not." Ty Lee mumbled, the Princess turning her head slightly.

"Not sarcasm." she clarified, before resting her head down.

The Water Tribe girl turned her head back toward Aang, looking at him sympathetically, "Are you alright, Aang?"

"I'm just annoyed." he admitted; he wasn't hurt, not physically, but seeing the Fire Nation fight each other and then argue about it with him was painful in a completely different way, "If the whole Fire Nation's like those guys, I don't know how we'll ever have peace. All of them want each other dead... all over who they think should be Fire Lord."

"It's dumb." she admitted, glancing back toward the Princess, who seemed to be ignoring their quiet conversation, "But then again, this whole war is dumb. Nothing's changed."

"Not yet." he assured her, not having lost hope just yet, "I know we can do... something. Mastering the elements might not bring peace, but it will make things like that battle a lot easier."

"And you know what else will make it easier?" Azula spoke up, catching his attention.

"What?" he asked, thinking she might have some kind of new idea to solve their problems; she was the thinker of the group, so Aang was always ready to hear what she had to say.

"Speaking with your past lives. I don't know if you learnt what the past Avatars achieved, Aang. They could really give you advice on dealing with a number of things... especially the Dai Li." she explained, the Avatar raising a brow at her.

"The Dai Li?" he mumbled, confused about what the Dai Li would have to do with the wisdoms of the Avatar; he guessed a few of them were well versed in politics, though he didn't know much about the history of the world himself- he was twelve years old, after all.

"Avatar Kyoshi created them. Just like half the things she did, it back-fired." she explained, the young Avatar nodding, agreeing with the first thing she said wholeheartedly, though less so on the second thing, "Nobody's perfect, it seems."

"Except you." he heard Sokka mumble, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"As much as I agree with that statement, there's no need to be a boot-licker, Sokka."

"I can never win." he grumbled, rolling over into his sleeping roll.

"Now, now, Sokka, you did knock out the Fire Lord. Remember that?" his sister asked him, the Water Tribesman waving his hand at her comment

"That wasn't much of a victory." he sighed, before yawning, "Now let me go to sleep."

"Of course, Mister Grumpypants." Aang assured him, "We'll keep our voices down."

"That's Mister Fire to you." Sokka offhandedly commented.

"Fire?" Ty Lee raised a brow, his girlfriend shaking her head with annoyance.

"We're not getting into that story."

* * *

"So, this is it?"

Turning back to face Ty Lee, Azula gave her friend a curt nod, before her eyes darted back toward the impressive pagoda that sat on the side of an active volcano; it was a rather dangerous place to build a temple. She knew it was the place Aang would have to go if he wanted to communicate with his predecessor, Avatar Roku, to whom the temple before them was dedicated, though she believed that it predated him, having been the home of a number of Fire Sages for centuries, their main outpost outside of the Capital City Temple.

"Yes, it is." she nodded, "Do you remember learning about this place at school?" she asked her, the acrobat nodding.

They had briefly touched on the temples of the Fire Sages when they were taught about the history of the Fire Nation at school. When they were taught about 'history' it was a rather abridged version that overstated the achievements of her immediate ancestors, Fire Lord Azulon and Fire Lord Sozin, her grandfather and great-grandfather, respectively. Ignoring the long and great history of her nation was something that disappointed her at the time, though she understood that the need for patriotic citizens outweighed her own desire to understand the Fire Nation, which she had, at the time, believed she was going to rule. She still believed that, but at least understood that there would be some delay, given her position of temporary weakness.

"Uh... yeah. I think." she mumbled, not sounding too sure of herself.

"Well, are we going to go to see Roku now?" Aang piped up, the Princess turning around to face the young Avatar, who stood with his staff ready in hand.

Whether they'd have to fight the Fire Sages to get access to the temple was something she was unsure of, but she was sure they could beat them, before coercing them into taking them right where they needed to go.

"We are." she assured him, before she turned her eyes up to Sokka, who was still fumbling about ontop of Appa's saddle, "Are you coming or what?"

"Just gimme a minute! I can't go in there and fight some old dudes if I'm hungry." he argued, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Typical." she huffed, Ty Lee giggling at her reaction, "Don't you start. He's got to learn to be more punctual."

"You love being punctual, don't you, Zula?"

"Certainly. It is one of the great virtues a Princess ought to hold." she raised a finger, before she took a second-take at her smug expression, realising that her friend had been mocking her, "Oh... you're a little too good at that, aren't you?"

"I take pride in my ability to make you embarrassed." she argued, before raising her hands up, "I'll only ever do it in private. I'd never want to embarrass you when you're trying to act tough."

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness." she drily commented, not amused by her desire to rile her up; Sokka could annoy her and argue with her, but Ty Lee knew everything about her- she knew exactly what to say to embarrass her or in contrast, calm her down.

"Come on, guys." Aang waved them along, making his way down the path toward the temple, Momo gliding over and landing on his shoulder, "We need to get to the temple sooner or later."

"You heard him." Katara spoke up, "Let's go." she followed after him, Azula and Ty Lee taking after the pair, leaving Sokka behind on the saddle; she was sure he could catch up, anyway.

Not too long after, she heard her boyfriend cry out, "Hey, come on! I just found my jerky!" he exclaimed, the Princess not even turning her head around to check if he'd hurry up, just waiting for the pittering of footsteps behind her.

By the time Sokka caught up, he was huffing, and he placed a hand on her shoulder to try and catch a breath, though she forced him to let go; she was nobody's arm-rest, especially his. He fell forward, nearly face-planting on the path, before he clambered back up to his feet, dusting himself off before following on behind.

"That was uncalled for." he mumbled, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm not an arm-rest, Sokka." she growled, making him sigh.

"Just a little sympathy?"

"Nope." she tersely responded, not wanting a bar of it; she wouldn't pity him if he didn't have the wit to eat before they arrived.

"What about you Momo, don't you think she's a mean girlfriend?" he asked the flying lemur, making both Katara and Ty Lee snicker, obviously amused by his indirect way of insulting her; the Princess was less so, though she didn't take it personally- he was frustrated, after all.

"You don't want me to set your hair on fire, do you?" she warned her boyfriend, who shrugged his shoulders, unphased by her casual threat.

"Do you want me to tell Ty Lee a secret?" he quipped in return, making her tense up.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Yes please." the acrobat grinned, "You've got to tell me how you first started your romance. It must have been so cute!" she asked of them, the Princess covering her face.

"Spirits save me." he mumbled under her breath, making her boyfriend chuckle.

"Now, now, I won't actually say anything. Not until you give me a good reason, of course." he suggested, Azula taking a deep breath, thinking she ought to consider what she ought to say before she had a fit of frustration.

"You're a tricky bastard aren't you." she pointed her finger at him accusingly, the Water Tribesman leaning back, more amused by her comments than offended.

"Now, if you really want, I can explain it." Katara piped up, making the Princess point at her accusingly.

"Oh, you little shit." she snarled, before her voice rose to a shout, "Don't you dare!" she decried her, "Ty Lee will never let it go if she finds out."

"Come on, there's no need to get angry." Aang tried to defuse the situation, "Katara obviously wouldn't say it if you were going to get so angry."

"I might." the Water Tribe girl grinned smugly, making Sokka point at her.

"Katara, seriously, she's going to set you on fire." he warned her, the Princess nodding along tensely, not wanting to burst out in rage once again.

"Take your brother's advice." she warned her, "You're certainly asking for it."

"It's just a joke." she dismissed her threat, "Sorry, Ty Lee. You'll just have to wait for her to explain it."

"But she'll never tell me." she pouted, sounding as disappointed as Azula guessed she would be.

"Hmph, maybe if you do something amazing, I might consider telling you." she raised a finger, realising that she could get something out of her friends stupid desire to find the truth.

"Azula, are you seriously trying to bribe her with our secrets... that aren't really secrets because Katara and my entire village knows them?" he asked her, the Princess glancing his way, her expression having shifted from one of anger to that of smugness within a minute.

"Well, I like to make the most of my situations." she declared, her boyfriend looking right back at her with a healthy amount of skepticism; he was still Sokka, after all.

"Ah yes, making the most of your situation. So, do you count stealing Naiko's clothes in your list of genius moves?" he asked her, making her turn away, feeling a small amount of guilt for what she had intended to do, given how much of a help that Earth Kingdom girl had been for them.

"That was a smart move." she retorted, feeling that the move was defensible, given the situation, "Otherwise, we were literally going to get stoned to death by a bunch of angry Earth Kingdom peasants."

"Sorry, what?" Aang glanced back toward her, obviously having missed that part of the story when she explained it to him, "You said you had to run away... they tried to kill you?"

"Uh, yep." Sokka nodded, "I wasn't really surprised, but... well, it was an experience."

"You mean beating the shit of those deserters for the second time?" she tilted her head toward him, the Water Tribesman snickering, raising a finger up.

"I did enjoy that." he conceded, before he turned his focus ahead of them toward the tall and ornate pagoda, which was impressive, given the location that it had been built in, "What did you say about Fire Sages?"

"That they're old firebending masters who are steeped in mysticism and spirituality?" she asked him, somewhat confused why he was asking her that question.

"No, that you needed them to crown you as Fire Lord." he clarified, making her eyes widen; she realised that if she had only had a crown, she could have, in theory, been crowned at the very pagoda she stood at; she doubted though that the Fire Sages would do so, knowing that that if Zuko found out, he'd likely throw them in prison.

"They're not crowning me today, as much as I'd like them to." she conceded, before smirking, "Well, there's always first impressions- at least for these ones. I've met the Capital City sages before, but these ones are the more... traditional ones."

"Traditional as in more serious... or traditional as in loyal to Aang?" he asked her in clarification, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

She knew that none of the Fire Sages had publicly declared loyalty to the Avatar in nearly a century, but that there were a good few of them who had in the past been clearly more inclined to support the master of the elements than the ruler of their nation; that had been generations ago, and she was sure that those Fire Sages alive at that very moment would likely be loyal to the Fire Lord only.

"Perhaps the latter, but I wouldn't keep my hopes up. There hasn't been an Avatar around for a century... unlike Miss Hope and Dreams over here, most of the world who might have believed in the Avatar gave up on him a long time ago." she gestured to Katara, who scowled with offence.

"Excuse me, are you saying I was stupid for believing that the Avatar could come back?" the argued, her dagger eyes not intimidating the Princess one bit, all while Aang grimaced, trying not to look her in the eye.

"No, I'm saying it wasn't a very rational view to hold." she argued in return, "Anyway, the point is, the Fire Sages are probably loyal to Zuko. If they're not... then I might have some people to crown me once I liberate the colonies."

"Well, that's something to look forward to." Ty Lee piped up, "Your coronation's going to be great."

She was surprised that her friend was so sure that she'd end up getting crowned Fire Lord, but she didn't want to question her thought process, just silently appreciating that she actually believed she could achieve it.

"Formalities and speeches." she sighed, glancing ahead to look at the doors of the pagoda that they were quickly approaching, "I'm more so looking forward to running my nation."

"We'll get to that bridge when we do, but right now, we should be thinking about how Aang's going to talk to Roku." Katara spoke up, the Princess nodding, befores she gestured to the doors.

"Aang, could you blow those doors open with your airbending?"

"Of course I can!" he grinned, spinning his staff around playfully in his hands before he thrust it toward the doors, sending a powerful gust of wind into them, forcing them to swing open, the loud bang of them slamming into the walls of the hallway; glancing inside, Azula could only see a dark red hue, forcing her to step closer.

"Well, the Fire Sages have to be somewhere in here." she admitted, "Let's get inside." she suggested, the young Avatar glancing back down towards the shoreline, where Appa was resting.

"I hope Appa's okay out there. This is a volcano, after all." he acknowledged, the Princess raising a hand up.

"If they've built a temple on this island, it must be safe. Even temples aren't lava-proof." she told him, Aang making a small smile, obviously less worried about his sky-bison and more focused on achieving their goal.

She strode on inside, though she let Aang take the lead, Sokka and Katara following after her while Ty Lee remained by her side; she turned to face her friend momentarily, who was enamoured by the ornate design of the building.

"This place is as fancy as the palace." she mumbled, "And that place is fancy."

"Almost." she nodded, acknowledging that the temple had fine design and the architecture involved was just as complex as that in the Fire Nation Royal Palace, though it was far, far more massive in its proportions.

As they made their way deeper into the temple, everything was coloured a red hue by the windows, which were tinted that colour, like most ornate interiors in the Fire Nation, colouring a blood-like hue. She glanced up as they entered a large chamber, whose roof reached up at least two stories; Aang and the others were in awe, though their attention was quickly drawn by the sounds of footsteps.

"Stop right there!" she heard a gravelly voice call out.

The group's attention was turned to a group of five men wearing the simple robes and hats of Fire Sages; all of them at least as old as her uncle, with their leader looking as ancient as her dead grandfather, who was nearly a hundred years old when he died.

"Oh, are you guys the Fire Sages?" Aang asked them, which confused them somewhat, obviously not expecting to be immediately recognised.

"Uh... yes." the leader clarified, "We are the guardians of this temple- the temple of the Avatar."

"I know that. Could you guys help me out?" he asked, the Fire Sages looking amongst themselves, before they turned around, whispering to each other; Azula couldn't hear what they were saying, and she didn't really have much care for whatever it was.

She strode ahead of her friend, clearing her throat, earning their attention, "Make that an order."

"P-P-Princess Azula." one of them gasped her name, the leader falling to his knees.

"Your highness, please, have mercy on us." he asked of her, as if she were to smite him down for simply serving her brother.

"Oh shut it, will you? I just want you to help the Avatar." she gestured to Aang, the Fire Sages' expressions shifting to ones of confusion.

"But your highness, why are you helping the Avatar?"

"He is my most esteemed ally." she proclaimed, "And I command you to serve him, as you might have once done so."

"Well... that's good to hear." the leader acknowledged, "That was the Fire Lord's order as well."

"Oh, see, Zuko isn't that bad, is he?" Aang piped up, the Princess raising a finger.

"Watch your tongue." she warned him, before turning back to face the Fire Sages, "I must ask, what is my current status?"

"I beg your pardon, your highness?" one of the sages asked her, "I am confused by what you are trying to ask."

"What does the Fire Lord say should be done with me?" she clarified her question, the Fire Sages looking at each other, grimacing, which was never a good sign, given her question.

"He states that you are not to be harmed, but apprehended upon sight." the leader of the Fire Sages clarified, before looking at her with a nervous glance, "You... you didn't think we were going to try and arrest you, did you?"

"I don't believe you'd be able to. Ty Lee and Sokka could incapacitate you all, even if my firebending is equal to yours." she acknowledged, "Now, that that is all settled, could you show us to Avatar Roku?"

"You mean the sanctuary?" the leader asked her, the Princess giving him an affirmative nod, "Well, I'm unsure if the Avatar will have much luck."

"What do you mean?" Aang looked at him with confusion, stepping a little closer, "Why wouldn't I be able to communicate with him. This is his temple, right?"

"Not exactly." he conceded, "Uh, Shyu, could you explain how this all works?"

"Of course, Great Sage." he bowed to his superior, stepping forward to address them, "Avatar Roku first mastered the Avatar State here over a hundred and forty years ago, with the assistance of my grandfather, Fire Sage Kaja. That was in the sanctuary, where he accidentally locked himself in the Avatar State on a winter solstice. That day is the best day of the year to communicate with the spirits, and for you, with your past lives."

"The winter solstice, huh?" Aang raised a brow, "When's that?"

"In about ten weeks time." he clarified, "That's the issue, Avatar. You mightn't be able to speak to him."

Aang looked dejectedly downward, before he glanced up toward the Fire Sages, "But I can at least try, can't I?"

"You can." the Great Sage told him, before his expression became more serious, "But you'll need our help. Only a fully-realised Avatar or five master firebenders could open the doors of the sanctuary."

"Is that why there are five of you here?" he asked the sages, who nodded.

"Precisely." Shyu nodded, before gesturing down a hallway, "We will lead you there, and you can meet with your past life," he began, before momentarily eyeing Azula, "alone."

"Well, let's go then. We don't have all day." Sokka spoke up, "The Fire Navy's probably go-" he began to complain, before Katara hushed him.

The Princess turned to face her boyfriend, glaring at him to stress the same feelings of annoyance his sister obviously held; revealing to the Fire Sages that they had attacked her brother's forces, albeit under the pretense of peacekeeping, would certainly not go down well.

"You're right, let's go." she told him with a clearly serious tone, as to stress the point without uttering a word about the matter; he nodded, and they all followed after the Fire Sages, who led them through the chamber toward a staircase that would lead them up through the pagoda.

She assumed that the sanctuary was located above them, and that made enough sense; it couldn't be located underground, given the fact they were on top of an active volcano. As they made their way along, she walked beside Katara, who was understandably nervous; she glanced back the way they had come before she eyed the Fire Sages.

"I don't trust these guys." she whispered, the Princess nodding, not trying to show her emotions, but rather to express herself through a few quiet words.

"We don't have much of a choice. We're ready to fight them, if need be." she told her, the Water Tribe girl nodding, believing what she had told her; of all the times she could place her trust in Azula, she was just glad it was then- she didn't want her second guessing her intentions by taking Aang to the temple.

"Don't worry, Katara." her brother assured her, "At least about them. Maybe about the fleet of ships that might be coming our way."

"They did say 'apprehend without harming'." she mumbled, before turning her eyes to face Sokka, "I don't trust them to not harm you though."

"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have made an explicit clause on the bounty to hit me in the head as revenge... though if he did, I'd be impressed." he conceded, crossing his arms before he glanced ahead, "I wonder if everyone's going to react like these guys... or if they're going to try and arrest us as soon as you show your face."

"If they want the bounty, that is." she added, which didn't improve her own argument, in all honesty; they all turned around at a corner, facing a long set of stairs, which they began to climb.

"Well, that's why we got the disguises, right?" Katara piped up, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I guess. I was more worried about patriotic Fire Nation citizens going after 'our greatest enemy'." she gestured toward the young Avatar, "A twelve year old."

"True." Sokka scratched his chin, before turning to face Ty Lee, "Hey, Ty Lee, what did you know about the Avatar before this?"

"Uh, that he was a really powerful bender who opposed the Fire Nation's mission of progress." she told him exactly what she had learnt at school.

"Mission of progress?" Katara almost scoffed, "Damn, I keep forgetting how crazy your country is."

"That's the nice way of saying it. Some people speak about vanquishing the lesser elements and all that." the Princess added, knowing that some in the Fire Nation, especially in the higher echelons of the government, had nothing but disdain toward the other nations and their denizens.

"Like who?" the Water Tribe girl raised a brow, obviously concerned by such an idea.

"I'm sure my father said it a few times." she noted, making the other girl grimace.

"Ergh... he really doesn't sound like a good guy... at all."

"He's not. He was a great teacher, if you could call his teachings worth a copper piece these days. Some of them I still hold close to heart."

"What? Like you thinking all the other nations should be subservient to the FIre Nation?" Katara quipped, making her roll her eyes.

"No, more like: those with power have the right to decide what is right by virtue of the strength they hold." she told her one of the many proverbs her father had instilled into her, "Thus, we have the most powerful person in the world, and the judge of all actions, the Avatar." she gestured forward to Aang, who turned around, obviously not having paid attention to their conversation until he was mentioned.

"Sorry, I'm not a judge... I'm a peacekeeper." he told her, obviously not thinking himself to be in the position to decide what was right, but only what things he ought to prevent- a pacifist at heart.

"You say that now." she sighed, before turning to face her boyfriend, who had an intrigued look on his face, "You look like you're going to say something?"

"Oooh... please say something about how she looks good in the red light." Ty Lee suggested with a grin, making the Water Tribesman cringe with embarrassment.

"N-no... that's not what I was thinking about." he assured them before he momentarily eyed Azula, remaining silent.

"What?" she narrowed her eyes at him, knowing for certain he had something else to say.

"I mean, she's right." he conceded, making her turn away, not wanting to get all flustered and embarrassed in front of everyone, "But, uh, I was thinking about what you just said. About the power and choosing what's right and all that."

"Yes?" she turned around, trying to keep a straight face and silently begging to the spirits that she wasn't blushing.

"I think you have a point." he conceded, "But what is right... it has to be something that is for the greater good. Not about being good, but about doing right by people."

"People." she mumbled what he had just said, "As in my people, or your people."

"My people are your people, Azula." he clarified, "I mean, for all intents and purposes, you're a member of the Southern Water Tribe now."

"Is there something to make that a little more official?"

"No, not really. Unless you wanted to join in on one of those puppet shows." he suggested, making the Princess grimace, thinking that was the worst possible way she could be inducted into the Southern Water Tribe.

"Spirits no." she looked at him with disgust, "I would rather clean up whatever Appa shits out than do that."

"N-no, no you wouldn't." Aang turned to face her with a grimace, "Have you ever seen sky-bison poop?"

"I haven't cared to look, and I now, I don't want to." she shook her head, not wanting to think about Appa's crap any longer, "Somebody say something stupid so I can stop thinking about that."

"Uh... you were the one who brought it up." Aang acknowledged the fact of the matter, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him, frustrated by his comment, which he could have used to at the very least divert the conversation somewhere else.

"Shut up." she growled, before turning to face her boyfriend, "I'm not doing that damn children's play."

"Yeah, I got that." Sokka nodded, understanding her disdain for the tradition, "But what if we made a puppet show about you?"

"That'd be even worse." she raised her chin, trying to hold back the disgust in her face, scrunching her eyes shut as she tried to push the thought out of her mind of a sock-puppet version of herself yammering on about something around a campfire.

"Okay, how about an actual play? You like those, don't you?"

"If by like, you mean tolerate, then yes." she nodded tersely, making Ty Lee grin brightly.

"A play? That'd be fun. Telling the world about your romance." she suggested, elbowing the Princess, who could only imagine two rather unattractive actors imitating herself and Sokka making out, which made her want to belch.

"No." she raised her hand, "Perhaps about my feats, yes... but I'd rather keep my private matters away from the masses."

"What, are you going to get all embarrassed because your boyfriend's a snow savage?" Sokka quipped at her, almost accusing her of being embarrassed of him.

"Of course not. You're a highly competent warrior who has saved my life a number of times. I'm more worried about people getting all into our private life, that's all. I'd love for you to be recognised, just not like that."

"I wouldn't want to get recognised until we solve the whole... Fire Lord problem, of course, seeing that you know who still wants you in prison."

"You can say his name, you know." she narrowed her eyes at him, "Emperor Jerky-Eye."

Katara snickered, obviously only beginning to pay attention to their conversation at that point, "S-sorry, what?"

"You haven't seen his face yet, but that's what his left eye looks like." she clarified, making her grimace, shaking her head.

"I have a feeling that wouldn't go down well with him."

"Precisely. That's why I'm going to refer to him just as such if I ever see his cowardly face again." she crossed her arms, feeling confident that if she ever saw her elder brother again, she would be ready to beat him down in a proper Agni Kai, where she would without a doubt win, purely running off the feeling of shame she felt for her previous defeat.

At that moment, they reached the top of the staircase, and Azula made sight of the doors of the sanctuary the Fire Sages had spoken of; the five men led them toward it, the Great Sage gesturing to the door.

"This is it." he spoke up, before turning to face Aang, "Are you ready to face your past-lives, Avatar?"

"I think so." he nodded, the Fire Sages all turning to face the doors, which had five holes that must have had to be struck simultaneously with firebending to open the doors up.

Each of them took a firebending form, simple in their motions, but when she saw the firebending that spurt out of their palms, she was truly impressed; for their age, they were still great benders, not comparable to herself or her family, but still impressive. Unlike her own fire, theirs seemed to be calm and collected, accurate and focused, unlike the bending of many firebenders she had seen throughout her life; like her uncle, the first person who came to mind with the same kind of collection to his firebending. She hadn't seen him bend in years, but she wouldn't forget it; his own style was so alien to hers, and when she fought Zuko, she could see his training in action- her brother's bending had shifted from erratic bursts of power to a refined form of bending that was like her own, though of course, lacking the pure power she had to her own firebending.

The doors opened up, revealing a statue of Avatar Roku, sitting in the middle of the room; Azula raised a brow, somewhat frustrated by the lacklustre reveal. The statue was ornate and realistic, and adorned with a ruby, but it didn't give her the ethereal aura she was expecting; thinking about auras at all made her want to insult herself for thinking like Ty Lee, but she remained silent, trying to ignore the fact she'd had the thought at all. She glanced toward the Avatar, who looked just as confused as she was.

"So it's just a statue?" Aang spoke up, the Fire Sages nodding.

"Well, yes." Shyu spoke up, "But on the winter solstice, you will be able to communicate with him, without a doubt. I believe there is still merit trying."

The young Avatar narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before nodding, "Okay, I'll go sit in there and meditate... I guess."

"Good luck." Katara waved him goodbye, Aang quickly striding inside, before the doors closed behind him, leaving them all standing there awkwardly in the hall outside.

"So... what do we do now?" Sokka spoke up, the Great Sage turning to face him.

"Await Avatar Roku to contact him. I believe the Avatar and the world may both be in need of some guidance." he explained himself, the Princess raising a brow at his words.

"You say that like we're going down the wrong path." she observed, "Are you questioning the Fire Lord?"

"No." he shook his head, "Spirituality has been something people have ignored for a long time, especially here in the Fire Nation. When the spirits are ignored... things happen. We'd all prefer it if those things didn't occur."

"The world needs Aang." Katara observed, "Without him, there'd be no one to talk to the spirits, right?"

"Essentially, yes. Gurus and sages like ourselves learn of spirituality and the spirits, but we do not have the same connection he does. He is the only one who can keep balance between the spirits and humanity." the elderly sage explained, his words seeming sensible, though Azula had little care for the matters of spirits and the Spirit World, no matter if they likely existed.

"Balance?" Sokka raised a brow, "I'm assuming we're winning at the moment."

"When it comes to spirits, there is no such thing as winning." the Great Sage retorted, sounding rather concerned in his tone, "The world is both out of balance socially but also spiritually. The Air Nomads were annihilated, and their traditions and rites to the spirits alongside them. The establishment of the colonies, no matter how much wealth they brought to our nation, also led to the destruction of spiritual sites and traditions. It's only a matter of time before all of them are swept under the rug as the world changes."

"And that's a bad thing, why? Superstition is just that, superstition." Azula argued, the Great Sage shaking his head.

"Superstition is not the right word. The spirits are very real and they don't like people, from what I've heard, and I feel they have had good reason to feel that way."

"So, does Aang have to fight these spirits or what? If they get pissed off enough they'll do something, I guess." Sokka deduced, the Fire Sages looking amongst themselves, nodding with grimaces on their faces.

One of them spoke up, "I've heard reports from the colonies of people disappearing in forests, entire villages being wiped off the map by rogue spirits or just disappearing entirely." he told them, looking toward the door with an uneasy look, "I just hope this young Avatar can stop it from getting any worse. It's only a matter of time before they start attacking the military or cities."

"It sounds like this is a problem someone like my brother ought to address." Azula acknowledged, the Great Sage nodding along.

"He has. The Fire Lord wrote to us a few months ago asking for advice on the spirits, and we provided. It is not highest on his agenda, but he knows the threat we all face."

"Ha ha." she drily laughed, "That's wonderful to hear."

Ty Lee stepped forward, standing beside her as she looked toward the doorway, "You think he'll learn anything from this past Avatar?"

"Maybe." she shrugged her shoulders, "If anything, he'll give him the whack around the head that he needs to understand what he needs to do."

"You're not really saying a dead guy's going to appear and smack Aang, are you? That'd just be a little rude." she asked her, making the Princess snicker; though she was joking, she could easily consider a justification needed to whack the twelve-year-old Air Nomad over the back of the head.

"I mean if my reincarnation wasted a hundred years frozen in an iceberg while the Fire Nation went off and conquered the world, I'd be pretty pissed off."

* * *

Sokka was honestly bored out of his brains; he knew that Aang needed to spend his time trying to communicate with Avatar Roku, but after nearly an hour sitting around outside the sanctuary, he was getting to the point where he'd rather the young Air Nomad come back out empty-handed than have him wait five minutes more with the chance he actually found something. He, Azula, Ty Lee and Katara had all been sitting around in a circle by the windows, casually talking amongst themselves, though they'd reached a lull in the conversation after discussing Ty Lee's adventure to reach the circus she had been playing in, before her sisters had come to join her, that was.

"So... what's your story then?" she asked the Water Tribe siblings, who glanced at each other.

"You mean from before I met Azula?" Sokka asked in clarification, getting an affirmative smile.

"Yeah, I want to know what you guys got up to? Did you just live at the South Pole that entire time?"

"Uh... yeah, our entire lives." his sister stated the fact of the matter.

"I didn't leave there once until about a year ago, and Katara's first time to leave was a little over a month ago."

"Huh... so I guess it must have been weird for you to see things like trees and all that." she observed, Sokka nodding along.

"I mean, I already knew what they were from stories and all that, but I will say, the first time I saw a forest I thought I was going crazy. There's just so much green in one place, it makes no sense." he conceded, making his girlfriend snicker.

"Forests aren't that weird, Sokka."

"You try living at the South Pole for sixteen years and then find out that there's something other than ice, rock, snow and freezing seawater." he argued, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Well, I did six months, is that good enough?"

"Not nearly. Not until you can't remember the colour green." he argued, the Princess snickering.

"Well then, I guess I'd go insane by that point." she noted, Ty lee glancing her way with interest.

"The South Pole isn't that bad, is it? I know it must be cold and snowy, but snow- that must be cool."

"Yes, very cool. Ice cool." she joked, making her friend giggle, "But seriously, it's not the nicest place to live. I experienced an endless day during this last summer. It was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced, honestly. My firebending was actually more powerful than usual, so that was a plus, but that was about it."

"Oh, so I wasn't just imagining your beat-downs getting tougher, was I?" Sokka quipped, making her grin at him.

'Well, I don't want to give all the credit to the sun. You did become marginally less competent once your life wasn't constantly in danger." she conceded, making the Water Tribe warrior growl; he, for one, thought that his fighting skills had improved dramatically, and mostly due to her diligent training regime.

"Excuse me." he narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend, pointing a finger at her accusingly, "Do you want to get paralysed in front of the Fire Sages?"

"You wouldn't dare." she retorted, scoffing at the suggestion he'd willingly embarrass her in public; he didn't ever want to do it, though if he needed to prove a point, he was willing to give his girlfriend momentary paralysis.

"You underestimate how bored I am." he raised his chin up, the Princess scrunching her lips up, seemingly surprised by his comments, though her nod suggested she agreed with him.

"Oh, you have a good point. After this whole trip we need to find a nice quiet glade to train in. Then you can paralyse me as much as you like... assuming you can actually achieve it."

"Wanna team up, Ty Lee?" he turned to face the acrobat, whose expression brightened up as she realised she was being offered a chance to train with Azula.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind it. Azula and I used to train together all the time." she grinned at him, turning to face the aforementioned Princess, "Isn't that right?"

"We did. You are a worthy opponent for I, Princess Azula." she conceded, making Sokka snort; the fact she had to voice the fact she was worthy of being beaten up by her was hilarious, "And you are too, so don't think you're getting out of facing my flames."

"I'm not that lucky." he noted, before he smiled at her, "But I'm lucky enough to have somebody like you to train me to become a better warrior."

"A better chief." she raised a finger, making Katara clear her throat, realising what she meant.

"Sorry, a better chief?" she asked her, sounding less skeptical than Sokka would have expected her to be; he guessed that she had come to deduce Azula's intentions, with time.

"Well, that's what he will be eventually." she confirmed, smirking confidently as she eyed her boyfriend, "High Chief of the Southern Water Tribe."

"You know, you really choose my favourite childhood dreams to bribe me with." he conceded, making her already smug grin grow even cockier.

"Oh yes, leadership and revenge. Your two favourite things."

"Other than food, justice and you, that is." he clarified, making her expression shift to one of slight embarrassment.

Ty Lee couldn't help but giggle, "Oh, that's so sweet. Both the justice part and the 'you' part." she eyed the Princess, who cleared her throat, trying to retain her composure.

"U-uh, yeah." he mumbled, "A healthy sense of justice is what any good leader needs."

"Is that what you want, Azula?" Katara spoke up, catching her attention, "To hand down justice?"

"As much as I'd like to say I'm an absolute authority on how the world ought to be... I'm still not certain. But what I do know, is that some corrupt institutions and organisations need to be rid of before balance can be restored." she admitted, the Water Tribe girl raising a finger to her chin.

"The Dai Li?"

"Not just them. Those that have created and upheld the war-machine of the Fire Nation need to be reminded of the definition of prosperity." she argued, making Sokka smirk.

"Oh, so you just wanna redefine that oath, do you?"

"In a way, yes." she nodded, conceding that Sokka's argument had merit, "The oath is the definition of how all Fire Nation citizens ought to act, and it is the one thing that needs to be reinterpreted. Prosperity, glory, honour- these things don't need to disappear, but need to be reapplied in a way that can truly make the Fire Nation great."

"Wow, maybe that should be your coronation speech." he conceded, the Princess chuckling.

"No, that's far too philosophical for my liking. It needs to be crisp and straight-forward." she argued, before smirking, "I am looking forward to giving that speech, though."

"Well, maybe we can help." Ty Lee suggested, "What did you want to talk about?"

"My vision for the Fire Nation, how-" she began, before she was cut off by a sudden shaking.

Katara immediately rose up to her feet, "What was that?" she gasped with fear, looking toward the Fire Sages, who were also alerted by the sound, moving away from the doors of the sanctuary, "Was that Aang?"

"No." the Great Sage shook his head, "That was from outside."

"Sokka." his girlfriend immediately addressed him, her tone tense and serious, in contrast to her wistful one she had held only moments earlier, "Did any of the Fire Sages leave our presence while we've been here?"

"Uh... no." he told her, believing that they, like the four of them, had remained in the hall outside of the sanctuary, waiting for Aang's return.

"You didn't send a messenger hawk, did you?" she stood up, glancing toward the Fire Sages with her steely cold glare; she suspected them, and given their assumed loyalty to Zuko, she had every reason to think that way.

"O-of course not. Why would we want the Avatar's meeting to be disrupted?"

"Because there are greater things at play than the Avatar here. I am the only person who is capable of contending the title of Fire Lord." she stated the fact of the matter, "The Fire Lord wants me in prison, and for good reason. If I was in the mood, I could easily kill him, and there's nothing he could do to stop me."

"We did not." one of the other sages spoke up, "Our direct orders from the Fire Lord were to assist the Avatar if he came to us, and we have. We wouldn't dare put his life in danger."

"But you just said it." Sokka stood up, seeing the same thing his girlfriend had, "You're all loyal to Zuko, above Aang, as he is your Fire Lord. How can we trust anything you say?"

"Because I'm not." one of the sages, the youngest of the lot, Shyu, stood forward, "I have never been loyal to the Fire Lord, and don't intend to be. I would say it to his face if he even asked it of me... or you, your highness." he faced the Princess, "I am loyal to my own duties as sage, and to the Avatar, the bridge between our world and that of the spirits."

"Your words are pretty but they don't persuade me." the Princess conceded, before she turned around to face Ty Lee and Katara, "Get up, we need to make sure the Fire Navy doesn't reach this sanctuary. If they try and capture Aang, then we'll have a much bigger problem."

"That the Fire Nation will be our enemy." Katara acknowledged, grimacing slightly, "As much as I don't like your people, I'd prefer if they didn't try to capture us."

"As do I." Azula acknowledged, before clenching her fists, "But that is my burden. My brother and I can never be at peace, not while he sits on the throne."

"Families, right?" Ty Lee joked as she elbowed her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"My greatest disgrace." she sighed, before turning to face Sokka, "So, what about you? Do you want to keep the Fire Navy out?"

"I won't let them touch you." he declared, before chuckling, "Though, you'd make it pretty hard just by yourself."

"Agility is a key skill that cannot be overlooked, Sokka." she nodded, before glancing back toward the sanctuary doors, "That's one thing Aang can teach us."

"I'm agile!" Ty Lee raised her fists into the air, "Can you do this many cartwheels?" she asked her, before doing about six cartwheels across the hall, surprising the Fire Sages as she landed in front of them.

"No." she narrowed her eyes, "I don't need to waste my time on learning trivial things like that."

"You're more about mastering the secrets of firebending and all that." Sokka suggested, his girlfriend cocking a smirk.

"Oh, I'm nearly there." she assured him, "I will be the greatest firebending master in history... and that's not a joke."

"I know." he nodded, before gesturing toward the staircase that led down back toward the ground floor of the temple, "Wanna go?"

"You didn't need to ask." she argued, before turning her eyes to the other two girls, "Are you two coming, or what?"

Katara shook her head, "I want to make sure Aang gets out of the sanctuary alright, if worse comes to bear." she acknowledged, the acrobat striding forward with a cocky smirk on her face.

"I'm coming. I don't want to miss out on comparing my chi-blocking with Mister Boomerang over here." she argued, the Water Tribesman pulling out his prized weapon, knowing he'd certainly have to use it.

"I'll show you the power of ranged chi-blocking." he raised his weapon up, the acrobat cartwheeling forward, making her way toward the stairs.

"I'm waiting!" she grinned at him and Azula, the two of them looking at each other with cringed expressions.

"Well, I'm not using it on you." he noted, turning his attention back toward his sister, who was standing beside the Fire Sages; they shared a moment of mutual staring, both expressing their feelings with no words- they both were afraid, even if neither of them mentioned it.

He didn't want to lose anything, or anyone- not again, and not anymore; Sokka knew that Azula was in danger, and by extension, they were all in danger. Glancing back ahead to face his girlfriend and her friend, he followed both of them down the staircase, increasing his pace to catch up; there was urgency in their strides, and he understood why. There were Fire Navy ships probably sitting right off of the shore, bombarding the island; he had felt more shakes and tremors, though he couldn't tell if they were from the volcano or from the bombardment he guessed was going on. They raced down the stairs, and once he caught up to Azula, he had to ask; he didn't know what they were going to do, or how they were going to deal with their potential opponents.

"What are we going to do? Beat them up?" he asked her, the Princess's expression narrowing; when she wasn't cocky, she was afraid, and there wasn't a shred of confidence in her eyes.

"We can't reach their ships without getting to Appa." she noted with a frustrated voice, "We'll have to wait for them to land ashore, and then fight them."

"What if they're already here?" he asked her, the Princess raising her chin up, filling her palms with blue flames.

"Then we'll fight them." she declared, the Water Tribesman nodding, tensing his grip on his boomerang.

"Together." he assured her, her eyes widening momentarily as her flames flickered brighter for a moment, before she nodded, her eyes showing more confidence than they had before.

"Yes, yes we will." she agreed with him, Sokka turning his attention back toward the stairs as they made their way down the long, winding staircase that led down to the main chamber on the ground floor.

Ty Lee got there first, and waited for them, her calmer expression suggesting that they were still alone in the temple, which was a relief to know; when he and Azula arrived, the trio charged on through the chamber, the Water Tribesman taking a moment to acknowledge the impressive size of the chamber, which was lined with ornately decorated pillars.

As they approached the entrance, Sokka swore he could hear shouts from outside of the temple, and Azula coming to a halt suggested he was hearing what he guessed he had.

"That's them, isn't it?" he turned to face her, the Princess nodding.

"They're here for me." she turned her ice cold glare toward the doors, taking a firebending stance, ready to unleash her fury upon the men who had come after them, "Get back, this is going to be hot." she warned both him and Ty Lee, the two of them stepping behind her, both shooting each other worried glances as the Princess took a deep breath.

"I am the rightful ruler of the Fire Nation and these are the people that seek to oppose my reign." she stated the fact of the matter, though Sokka found it unusual that she did so, "They have chosen this fate. It was not something they needed to do."

"What are you saying?" he asked her, the Princess forming two powerful jets of fire in her hands.

"That these men will die if they do not give up." she declared, before she used her firebending to create two fire streams, which merged into one as they roared out of her palms, quickly striking and throwing the doors open; he heard the shouts and screams of soldiers, who were obviously surprised by the impressive show of power, which faded away for a moment as she took a breath.

"Count them." she demanded of Sokka, who stepped closer to eye the men that had come to find them; he could count five, ten, fifteen and then twenty soldiers, all ready to fight them, most them looking startled by Azula's attack.

"Twenty two." he gave her his best guess, given that there could have been more soldiers down the stairs that were still approaching.

"Twenty two is easy enough. I'll soften them up, and then I want you two to take them out." she commanded the pair, who both nodded; they could achieve victory, even if it was going to be a tough fight.

"We can do it." Ty Lee assured her, before the Princess stepped forward creating a fireball in each of her palms, which grew larger with every passing second she held them; the enemy soldiers were recovering, and Sokka realised she would have to make her move quickly, or they would need to take cover from the barrage that was coming their way.

The blindingly bright blue flames then coursed out from her hands, the fire streams widening as they move away from her body, until they covered the breadth of the doorway by the time they reached them; the soldiers were forced to take covered as her flames pushed further forward, carving a path through the doorway for them. He turned to face his girlfriend, realising how physically straining the bending was, even if she could keep it up for some time. She let go of the fire streams, spinning around and sending a kick of flames in their direction, the wave of fire created by just her foot powerful enough to knock a number of soldiers off of their feet. Eventually, the enemy did return fire, sending their own fire streams toward Azula, who was forced to place her hands in front of her to bend the flames away, creating a wall of blue flames between the trio and the soldiers, whose condition Sokka couldn't discern.

"Go!" she told them both, thrust her hands forward, momentarily breaking the wall of flames, which dissipated, allowing the two chi-blockers to charge forward; they didn't relent to make their way toward the enemy soldiers, who were confused by the sudden disappearance of Azula's defences.

The Water Tribesman spotted about five soldiers on his side who were standing in front, all of them benders; he smirked, knowing that benders were easier to deal with, as once their bending no longer worked, they were practically defenceless. They turned their flames toward him instead, which was good, meaning that Azula could conserve her energy while he expended his own; unlike her attacks, his and Ty Lee's would at the very least keep the enemy down for long enough that they all might be able to flee the temple. He rolled under a fire blast that was sent his way, throwing his boomerang into the arm of one of the soldiers, immediately paralysing it; drawing out his club, he used the weapon as a distraction, swinging it viciously at one of the benders, before he threw it to his right, knocking one of the soldiers in the head and distracting another. Though he was unarmed, he was still more than capable of defeating the three undistracted soldiers, one of whom had a paralysed arm. His other arm was jabbed quickly enough, and Sokka tossed him forward into one of his comrades to again distract. Reaching down, he grasped his boomerang, though he was forced to somersault forward to dodge a fire stream that was aimed right at him. it singed the back of his tunic, but he wasn't hurt; Sokka didn't sigh with relief, instead turning around and throwing his boomerang out on a wide arc, aiming to knock out the soldiers who were still trying to attack his girlfriend. The men he was fighting were confused why he threw his weapon away once more, but he reminded them that he didn't need it; jabbing one of them in the torso, he disabled his bending, and Sokka couldn't help but laugh as he tried to send a fireball into his head, only to make an odd gesture with his palm.

"Having a little trouble there?" he smirked at him, before weaving around a fireball sent by another of the firebenders.

He grasped the wrist of the chi-blocked soldier, before he pulled him forward, throwing him into one of the soldiers who were still trying to attack him. He then used the opportunity to land a few jabs on that soldier, chi-blocking his arms, before he kicked him in the chest, throwing him down to the ground. One more soldier remained, who had defiantly picked up Sokka's own club to use against him.

"Really?" he asked him, amused by his choice; he dodged a swing of his own weapon at him, before he chi-blocked the soldier in the leg, who still tried to hit Sokka, falling over as he did so, unable to maintain his balance with just one leg.

He grabbed the club out of his hand, before using the weapon to knock the soldier out with one quick swipe to the side of his head; he glanced over to the men who had been standing behind, those wielding weapons, rather than bending; he decided to ignore them, and instead headed for the men who were still attacking Azula, one of which he had successfully knocked out with his boomerang. Tripping one of them over with his club, he swiped his boomerang off of the ground before throwing it out behind him, knowing full well that it would arc right back toward him. Facing the firebenders, two of six coming to attack him over Azula, he used his club to block a fireball sent his way, before using his club to strike one of the soldiers in the leg; he was counted lucky, seeing that Sokka's boomerang returned at that moment, hitting the soldier right behind him in the head. Though it didn't knock him out, the fact he was occupied for a moment helped the Water Tribesman greatly.

"Good job, Mister Boomerang!" he congratulated his own weapon, knowing it deserved the credit for making such a graceful motion and striking where intended; his words confused the firebenders, but their confusion turned to fear as he threw his club once more striking one of them in the chin, knocking him out cold.

The firebender he had already distracted with his boomerang came next, and was chi-blocked by a quick jab to the arms and torso. He glanced to his left, realising that Ty Lee had come in to join him. Now all of the firebenders had their attention on him and the acrobat, Azula could freely use her bending to wipe the floor with the soldiers. Sokka was hit in the shoulder with a fireball, and though it hurt, his training with the Princess had given him enough stoicism to handle the stinging as he reached forward to jab one of the firebenders in the torso. Disabling his bending first, he then paralysed his arms, tripping him over with a swift kick to his left shin, before turning to face the next soldier. They were panicked now, and Ty Lee knocking one into another didn't help their morale; the thing that really kicked the bucket was Azula firing a massive fire stream with both her hands into the group, throwing them to the ground, giving the two chi-blockers the perfect opportunity to finish them off. Jabbing them in the torso a few times, he disabled each of their bending and arms, one of them trying their best to resist by crawling away, though Sokka was able to stop him with a quick boomerang to his head, knocking him out cold. Turning around to face the non-bending soldiers who were still standing by the doorway, fearfully awaiting what they would do next. He didn't approach, waiting for his girlfriend to make the first move; she did, striding on past him, knocking out of one of the downed firebenders, before she pointed to them accusingly.

"Go back to your boat and leave this island at once. I don't want to have to burn you all alive, but if that is what it takes, then I will do it." she warned them, the soldiers stepping back with fear, breaking into a sprint as they ran away from Azula, knowing that they were no match for her bending prowess.

"Oh..." Sokka mumbled, realising that they had won 'the fight', "That was easier than I thought."

"Not so fast." she raised a hand up to warn him, walking up toward the entrance of the temple, "They still have a ship full of men. I doubt that was all of them." she argued, gesturing toward the ship that Sokka could see sitting in the bay beside the temple; he took note of the fact that Appa was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Appa? We need him to get out of here." he noted, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"He's a smart creature, he flew off when they arrived. Aang's got that whistle, so as long as he gets out of that sanctuary soon, we'll be fine." she told him, her indifferent tone actually somewhat reassuring, given the context; Azula never sounded afraid, so if she didn't sound angry, that meant that she thought they were on top of things.

"I think we did pretty good." Ty Lee placed her hands on her hips, "Those guys didn't stand a chance."

"No, they did not." Azula nodded, "I'm the most powerful firebender alive... I don't mean to brag, it's a fact." she raised her hand up to stress.

"Of course, we know that." Sokka nodded, before gesturing to the fleeing soldiers, "And I'm pretty sure most of the Fire Nation knows that too."

"Aang better get out soon." she mumbled, gesturing down toward the shoreline, where they could clearly see a number of soldiers mustering, even more firebenders for them to face off; the deck of the ship that was in the bay was also lined with catapults wasn't a good sign either.

"The Fire Sages said that your bounty is wanted alive, right?" he asked the Princess for clarification, to which she nodded, her expression suddenly becoming more fearful.

"But that doesn't mean they can't kill you two." she admitted, grasping Sokka by the shoulder, "Get inside! Right now, before they do something even stupider!"

He heeded her warning, Ty Lee following right after him while the Princess remained by the doorway; as they walked into the temple once more, he made out the faint sound of footsteps on the staircase above them, which suggested that Aang was done. He sure hoped he was, because he didn't know how they were going to fight off catapults and even more firebenders if they came around.

The acrobat turned to face him, "Her aura just got a whole lot darker." she warned, Sokka glancing over toward his girlfriend, unsure what he could do in that moment.

"She's afraid... and I can see why." he admitted, "Not for herself, but for us."

The Princess continued to stride forward, and took a firebending stance once more, ready to attack the approaching enemy troops; the Water tirbesman instinctively looked around the entrance, taking note that the firebenders were all still incapacitated, though a number of them were conscious, and merely paralysed.

"You won't get away." one of them warned with a snarl, "Traitors can never escape."

"You hear what happened in Yu Dao?" he quipped in return, the soldier, who was slumped over, simply rolling his eyes back.

"Some insane bastard tried to destroy the city." he noted, Sokka reminded of the fact that Zhao had been there that entire time, doing the most insane thing he'd seen any Fire Nation forces do in his time with Azula, or before that.

"Well, not just that. We escaped. We can do it again. And this time... we have Appa."

"Who?" the soldier asked, the acrobat grinning.

"Oh, dummy, our flying-bison! He's the fluffiest cutest guy you'll ever meet. Though, I don't want you guys to meet him. He might try and eat you."

"That'd be hilarious." Sokka acknowledged, making Ty Lee raise a fist up.

"Exactly!" she beamed at him, "Maybe we should get him to do that and scare these guys off."

"Not the worst idea I've heard today." he nodded, thinking her idea had some merit, given that a massive six-legged creature was pretty intimidating, even more so if he was trying to eat you.

He suddenly heard the sound of Azula's flames roaring as she sent another fires stream toward the approaching soldiers; Sokka's eyes widened with awe as he turned to watch her move her palms forward, her hair whipping back from the wind the pure heat created. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he thought she looked pretty majestic, though that feeling was pushed out of his mind as he made sight of something in the corner of his field of view. To their right, a flaming ball was flying right toward his girlfriend.

"Azula, to your right!" he screamed out, the Princess turning her hands upward to strike the boulder, destroying it in a booming explosion, though the debris still scattered around the entrance, a piece knocking Azula in the shoulder, throwing her to the ground.

"Azula!" he screamed her name, realising what had just happened; he raced forward, not knowing what to do or what to say, only knowing that he had to help her somehow.

He could hear her groans as he approached, kneeling down beside her; she blinked a few times as she grapsed at her shoulder, groaning with pain as she did so.

"Don't move." he told her, the Princess looking up at him with fear in her eyes.

"S-Sokka... the soldiers." she gestured with her left hand down the hill, Sokka taking note that they were still coming up the path toward them.

"Fuck." he snarled under his breath, putting his arms underneath her, hoisting his girlfriend into his arms, "Fuck." he repeated himself, louder that time, "We need to get back inside. Hopefully Aang gets here quickly. I heard him on the stairs... I think." he told her as he paced himself back toward Ty Lee, who had a shocked look on her face.

"Is she alright?" she asked, the Princess raising her left hand up.

"My shoulder feels like it was blown apart, but other than that, I'm fine." she admitted, her joking tone not amusing Sokka in the slightest.

"She's not." he shook his head, "I don't know if that broke anything, but you're definitely out of the fight now."

"I can still bend." she snarled, "I can still take them." she declared with a stronger, more confident tone.

"No, no you can't." he told her, as much as he didn't want to refuse her, "Please, just let Aang take care of it when he gets back."

"You're assuming he can." she narrowed her eyes at him, Ty Lee stepping a little closer.

"Just trust the kid a little. I think he can do it. We need to stay here, away from those catapults." she argued, the Princess sighing, letting her head lean back as she looked up into Sokka's eyes; he tried not to panic, but looking at her in such pain, he couldn't help it.

"You must be going crazy." she mumbled, making him sigh, not wanting to laugh when all he could feel was worried.

"No, I just don't want you to do anything stupid." he retorted, the Princess pouting slightly.

"Hey, that's my line." she complained, which seemed completely absurd, given the situation; he was unsure if she was just trying to make light of the situation, but that didn't make him feel any less worried about her.

He glanced toward Ty Lee, who was looking over in the direction the enemy soldiers were coming from; he didn't know how much time they had, but they'd have to do something, and fast at that.

"Guys!" he heard Aang's voice call out, making Sokka sigh with relief as he saw the young Air Nomad running toward them at an exceptionally fast pace, while Katara struggled to keep up behind him.

"Took him long enough." the Princess rolled her eyes, before glancing in the direction of the enemy, "Are you going to put me down so you can fight them?" she asked, the Water Tribesman narrowing his eyes; he wasn't under the presumption he could beat a whole squad of firebenders- the closest he had got to that was when they attacked that Southern Raider ship, and he was hurting for a few days after that.

"No." he assured her, "I'm betting Appa will solve that problem for us." he argued, making her eyes dart around, as if she was trying to find the sky-bison.

"Where is that giant snot monster, anyway?" she asked him, making Sokka snicker.

"Hey, hey, don't let him hear you call him that. He mightn't let you ride on his saddle anymore." he warned her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"I doubt that." she dismissed his words, her attention drawn to Aang and Katara, who were obviously worried by seeing Azula in his arms.

"What happened to her?" his sister asked him, sounding the most worried for the Princess's safety he'd ever heard her be.

"A catapult nearly killed her. She just got away with a rock whacking her in the shoulder." Sokka clarified, the seriousness of his words ensuring her that his deadpan phrasing of the situation was in no way a joke; perhaps in another situation, it might have been, but at that moment, he was only feeling dread, and wanted to ensure her safety, "You could test out the bison whistle now." he suggested to Aang, whose expression brightened up upon hearing those words.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" he piped up, pulling the whistle out of his pocket.

He showed off the ornately carved whistle that was in the shape of the sky-bison, before taking a deep breath, readying himself to blow into it. When he did, instead of some kind of high pitched ringing sound, like he'd expect, he heard pretty much nothing. Sokka blinked a few times, before clenching his fist.

"Are you stupid or something?" he growled, "Did you think to try it before we ended up in a life and death situation?"

"Uh..." the Avatar cringed, before blowing into it again; Momo screeched at him, jumping off of his shoulder, suggesting to Sokka that whatever sound the whistle was making, it certainly was annoying their little furry friend.

"See, even Momo doesn't like it... or maybe he can hear something." he raised a finger to his chin, feeling uncertain as to whether the whistle simply made a sound that people couldn't hear, but sky-bisons could.

"Uh... I don't mean to panic, but those soldiers are getting close." Ty Lee gestured in the direction of the approaching squad of firebenders, Sokka gritting his teeth, turning his eyes to the acrobat.

"Should we try and chi-block them?" he asked her, the Avatar stepping forward.

"I can help." he assured them, before he pulled his staff out, "They can't firebend at us if I blow it back at them." he argued, the Princess snickering.

"I mean, you do have a point." she conceded, before turning her eyes up to meet Sokka's, "Put me down. If you're going to go kick some arse, at the very least do it without me in your arms."

"Uh... yeah." he nodded, not wanting to release her from his hold, but he knew that she was right; he wouldn't stand a chance in a fight if he was carrying Azula.

He knelt over, placing Azula on the ground, where she was able to sit herself upright, Katara stepped up beside them, looking down at her.

"I'll keep her safe, Sokka. You go save the day." she elbowed her brother, who rolled his eyes.

"You know, I'm not really a hero. Isn't that meant to be Aang's whole thing?"

"Yeah, pretty much." the young Avatar nodded, Azula snickering.

"Go beat the crap out of some people who you don't like." she gestured toward the firebenders, Sokka nodding, cracking his knuckles as he turned to face the enemy soldiers; he didn't like them, and he wanted to protect Azula, thus he would take comfort in paralysing them and making them cry like a bunch of little kids.

As he pulled his boomerang out once more, he stepped up beside Aang, who had taken a fighting stance, ready to put his mastery of airbending to use; suddenly, he heard a roar behind them, and saw Appa flying right toward them, past the temple, and then around in front of the group, flapping his tail down to create a massive air blast which threw the soldiers off of their legs.

"What about the catapults?" Ty lee asked them, Aang narrowing his eyes, obviously feeling quite annoyed by the turn of events.

"I can take care of them." he assured them, before gesturing to his sky-bison, "Everybody, get on!" he told them, "We're getting out of here."

Sokka sighed with relief, realising that they wouldn't need to fight any longer; he turned back to face Azula, and approached her, knowing that he ought to carry her. Even if it was her upper body that had been hurt and not her legs, he knew it would be a struggle for her to walk when she was in such pain. She looked up toward him with a similar expression of relief, though her right eye was twitching shut, as if she were trying to hold back the pain and not shout; he placed his hands underneath her legs and back, lifting her back off of the ground, trying his best not to touch the part of her that had been struck by the bit of debris. Rising up to his full height, he carried her along, though he heard the sound of Katara clearing her throat behind him. He turned around, seeing her holding his club in her hands.

"Forgetting something?" she asked him, Sokka making a sheepish grin.

"Oh, sorry... I completely forgot." he mumbled, before he gestured toward Appa, "Could you take it? I need to carry Azula." he clarified, his sister not even nodding, simply pacing ahead with his weapon in her hands.

As he paced toward Appa, he looked down into his girlfriend's eyes, seeing her distant, pained expression; she didn't say a word, probably just trying to hold in the pain that she was feeling. In turn, he didn't ask her anything, simply remaining silent as he carried her toward the sky-bison. When they got to the side of the saddle, he realised he couldn't exactly lift her up, though he immediately received the assistance of Ty Lee, who had already climbed aboard.

"Give her to me, Sokka." she asked of him, the Water Tribesman complying, allowing her to raise Azula up onto the saddle, lying her down by the rear.

Sokka took a deep breath before leaping upward, grasping the edge of the saddle and pulling himself up; though it took a lot of strength to do so, he was able to get himself onto the saddle, making a loud sigh of relief as he did so. His relief was broken when his club landed on his gut, making him gasp out for air; he wanted to shout at his sister for surprising him, but he literally couldn't, struggling to just take a breath.

"Seriously?" he asked her, his sister's smug grin making him forget for a moment that they were fleeing from the Fire Navy.

"Sokka, could you take the reins?" Aang asked him, the Water Tribesman curtly nodding as he tried to breathe correctly, taking hold of Appa's reins, whipping them once before saying the call that he knew all too well by that point.

"Yip-yip!" he told the sky-bison, who roared, whacking his tail down once before he flew up into the air, rising up above the volcanic landscape, Sokka looking down at the firebenders that he hadn't had to fight, all thanks to giant fluffy creature that he would probably call his friend by that point, despite the fact he couldn't speak.

"Appa, you're really a life-saver, you know that?" he smiled at the sky-bison as he used one of his hands to pat him, the other holding onto the reins to turn him around, flying him right toward the ship, which Aang had said he would take care of, which explained why he was on the reins and the Avatar wasn't.

"So, what did you find out in the sanctuary?" Ty Lee asked the young Avatar, who cleared his throat, sounding nervous of all things; if he wasn't worried, but nervous, then that suggested that whatever he had learnt must have been something that may make one or a number of them uncomfortable.

"Uh... a few things." he admitted, "I did eventually communicate with Roku, but not for very long."

"Like what?" the acrobat prodded him, the young Avatar scratching the back of his scalp.

"Well, that what we're doing is right." he acknowledged something that obviously wasn't the thing that was making him uncomfortable, "Bringing peace to the Four Nations is what I need to do, and he told me that Azula's dad, Ozai, is still the biggest threat to peace."

"Huh, really?" Azula raised a brow, before chuckling, "I mean, I'm not surprised, but it's not like my father can do much in prison."

"Yeah, he's supposedly a really bad guy, according to Roku." he admitted, "I don't know how he knows that, but I guess he and the other Avatars must have been able to see what was going on outside when I frozen." he conceded, shaking his head, obviously going off track, "Sorry, I need to get rid of these catapults." he stood up, excusing himself from saying any more.

"There's no need." Azula assured him, raising her left hand up, "One side of my body is completely uninjured." she stressed, a blue fireball appearing in her hand.

"A-Azula, you don't need to do that. You're already hurt enough as it is." he tried to to warn his girlfriend, who simply narrowed her eyes at him.

"Focus on flying us around so I can get a good angle." she commanded him, the Water Tribesman sighing as he turned the reins around, turning them back towards the ship, which they had already flown over.

The fireball in her hand grew larger and larger by the moment, her breaths becoming audible as the fire itself began to give off radiant bursts with her own heartbeat and breath; it was something he tried not to look at, just focusing on getting Appa to go exactly where they needed to be. They moved toward the deck of the ship on a low angle, the men on board turning to face them, The Princess closing her eyes for a moment as they made their final approach. That moment of peace was very short, and was followed by her eyes widening and her expression shifting to a snarl as she sent a massive fire stream into the deck of the ship, blowing the catapults apart, one by one as they flew right past the deck. Once she relinquished control over her flames, she took a deep breath outward, before lying down on the saddle. They began to fly away, from both the island and the ship that had come to capture her, and Sokka felt a sense of relief overcome him, if only for a moment, until he remembered that she was in such intense pain and probably was exhausted by that point. He could see it in her face, the absent-minded, but still pained look on her face, as she looked back toward Aang.

"You were going to say something else." she observed, the young Avatar making a cringed smile.

"Uh, yeah, I was." he mumbled, his unenthusiastic tone saying more than his words about how he felt; something was wrong, and Sokka could definitely tell that it was important.

"Uh... Aang, I don't know if this is the best time." Katara conceded, revealing that she had been told what they had not.

"What is it?" the Water Tribe warrior turned around, "Something bad happened, didn't it?"

"Bad... bad might not be the right word." Aang conceded, his eyes turning to meet the Water Tribesman's, "But I learnt something, something important."

"What?" Ty Lee asked, "Come on, you've got to tell us now." she prodded him, leaning in closer, almost as if she was going to chi-block him to force the information out.

"Who you are." he turned to face Azula, "Who you really are."

"What do you mean?" she narrowed her eyes at him, "I know for a fact who I am. Crown Princess Azula, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai and the true heir to the Fire Nation."

"Not just that. I think... I think there's a reason you found me." he admitted, the Princess's expression shifting from one of amusement to concern; though she wouldn't show that she was actually worried, the lack of humour in her eyes suggested just that.

"What, like fate?" Ty Lee raised a brow, "Like there's something special about her?"

"I'm the most prodigious firebender born in a generation. I am special."

"I know why." Aang added, Sokka raising his hand up to gesture to the young Avatar.

"Just spit it out already! What is it that's so special about her?"

"She's his descendant."

* * *

The look on Azula's face was enough to tell Ty Lee that Azula didn't approve of the fact that she was supposedly the descendant of the last Avatar, who was an enemy of the Fire Nation, despite having originated from it; at least, that was what she had heard, but she had learnt to doubt what she had learnt at school by that point.

"Wait, what?" she raised a brow, just wanting to clarify she had heard what she had, "Avatar Roku's descendant?"

"Y-yes." Aang nodded, making her eyes widen; if she was the descendant of an Avatar, that would explain her amazing firebending, which had to be the best in the world- nobody else bent blue fire, only her.

The Princess gave out a sigh, looking toward Aang with an uneasy look, "I mean it makes sense, but how?"

"He didn't explain. I guess it must be your mother's side." he concluded, making her scoff, sounding unamused by that point; Ty Lee knew how much of a sore point her mother was for her, and knew that of all things was going to set her off.

"My mother wasn't even a firebender... you're saying she's a descendant of an Avatar?" she asked her, sounding skeptical of the fact.

"Bending isn't really hereditary." Katara clarified, "I got waterbending, but none of my parents or grandparents are benders."

"Well that explains... a lot." her voice quietened to a mumble, glancing back toward Crescent Island as Appa flew further away from the danger that lay there, before she narrowed her eyes, "You're trying to say that I found you because of some mystical connection?" she asked the young Avatar, who glanced around, unsure what to say, but simply nodded.

"I- uh- think so."

"I seriously doubt that, but then again... I was born lucky. I didn't really think what my father meant when he said that, and now... now it makes a lot more sense."

"Maybe it was on purpose." Sokka guessed, grimacing slightly, "That your father married your mother just so he could have children with more powerful abilities."

"That definitely sounds like him." the Princess almost laughed, before turning her eyes toward Aang, "My father has never been the most altruistic person."

"He burnt his son's face." Katara added with a snide, almost despising tone, before chuckling, "What did you say about amusing fates, Azula?"

"Oh, I'm well aware that my father is completely responsible for his own downfall, even if Zuko was the one to beat him. He never would have had to fight my brother if he had simply... restrained himself."

"You say that like he wanted to do it." Sokka looked at her with disgust, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"He probably did. He really hated my brother... and even if Zuzu's always been incompetent, even I can say he overreacted." she admitted, before sighing, "But none of that matters anymore. What matters is that we do... something." she trailed off at the last part; Ty Lee hadn't taken much notice of it before, but her friend seemed to be uneased by the very fact that she was actually going against her father.

"That's what we're going to do." Aang confidently declared, turning his head in the direction they were flying, "We're going to fix the world."

"And get some rest in between." Sokka piped up, before he raised his arms up, letting out a loud yawn, "I'm gonna lie down for a bit."

"I'm the one who got hurt and you want to sleep?" his girlfriend quipped in return, making Ty Lee giggle; she could tell that Sokka, despite his skills, was pretty lazy.

"Hey, hey, you can sleep too. I'm sure you'll need some after that hit." he suggested, the Princess raising her chin up with indifference.

"I don't need to sleep yet." she argued, "The sun's still high in the sky." she gestured up with her right hand, cringing slightly as she obviously ached from the bruises that Ty Lee guessed were forming all up her shoulder.

She turned her eyes to Azula, unsure what to say, given the revelation they had just heard; the fact that she was a descendant of Avatar Roku didn't make her any different as a person, but it must have made her think about her life in a different way. If the whole reason she existed was because somebody wanted to use the bending potential of a bloodline, it would be enough to even unnerve her; she had always been the cold, tough one, but even then that didn't mean she didn't have feelings. She could become jealous, angry, sad or afraid, just like any person; just because she wasn't always kind and cheery didn't make her a bad person, and Ty Lee knew that for certain. Before, she had been just as cold and calculating, but she had never really been like her- she had never had any romantic fun like she had; she had once felt bad for her, but now seeing her friend with a caring and dutiful boyfriend, she was the one feeling jealous. Not that Azula ever said she was jealous of her, but she could tell that she had been.

"Are you asleep with your eyes open or are you really just staring at me?" Azula quipped, making the acrobat break out of her trance; she had just been idly glancing her way, but now she realised that she had perhaps made her friend feel a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Zula." she apologised, trying to think of the best way to ask what she had been thinking, "Are you... okay? I mean, I can see that you're sore, but- urgh- I can't speak straight." she grumbled, frustrated that she couldn't just get across what she wanted to.

"I'm fine." she raised her left hand up, "I know we're safe, as long as we keep moving, that is."

"I was thinking more... about you. Your aura isn't that bright anymore."

"My shoulder feels like it's been ripped apart. Do you expect me to be in a good mood after that?" she quipped, Ty Lee shaking her head.

"N-no... sorry, I just- I want you to be okay."

"You can't do much, Ty Lee." she conceded, "Unless you know how to heal bruises or make some herbal pain medicine, of course." she raised her left hand up.

"Well, what are we doing next?" she asked her, "You must have a plan... you always have a plan."

The Princess pursed her lips into a smirk, approving of her judgement, "I certainly do." she agreed, "There's only one way we can go now?"

"North?" Sokka asked her, jumping into the conversation after he had been lying down nearby.

"No, idiot. To my people." she chided him, the Water Tribesman snickering at her, rather than even considering her insult.

"You mean all those soldiers that may or may not support you anymore?" he asked, the Princess, raising a finger to the side of her head.

"Not just them. My guards must be out there too, and if they are, they can provide me with what I need."

"What you need?" Ty Lee raised a brow, unsure exactly what she was referring to.

"Appearances." she simply told her, "I need to look and lead like a Princess would if I want to get my fleet back."

"You don't mean Zhao, do you?" the Water Tribe warrior cringed, "You can't seriously be considering going to get his help? He still wants to conquer the Northern Water Tribe, remember?"

"I know." she nodded, "That's something we can use to our advantage. He has a motivation, and therefore, he'll be a lot more willing to support me if I offer to assist him."

"Assist him?" Katara raised a brow, obviously worried about what she was saying, "You remember this is the guy who wants to kill some spirits to get rid of waterbending. You said it yourself, he's insane."

"I know he's crazy, but he's the only person I believe would be cocky enough to join me. Most of the other forces who had the choice would have gone to join the coalition against my brother, but Zhao's a different breed of soldier. He wants to be remembered, not to fight it out in a long and bloody civil war."

"So, he wants to show off to the entire Fire Nation?" Ty Lee asked her, the Princess nodding.

"Essentially." she confirmed, "He's probably still trying to conquer the North Pole as we speak, and the quicker we get to him, the quicker we can intervene."

"So..." Katara mumbled, "You want to actually stop him."

"Of course I do. I never agreed to his plan in the first place. But, without his ships, I can't exactly take control of the colonies, let alone end the civil war." she argued, Ty Lee sighing, realising that her friend had something sketchy in mind.

"So you wanna trick him?" she asked, the Princess smirking, not nodding to confirm this time.

"I want to make sure there is peace. A massive fleet poised to conquer the Northern Water Tribe isn't going to help us achieve that; we need to be careful, however."

"You don't want him catching on, you mean." she argued, the Princess smirking.

"If he doesn't arrest me, we will win, no matter what, and that's assuming that he had the balls to do it."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Katara asked her, "That's a whole fleet of ships you're talking about."

"I trust that those men are loyal to the Fire Nation and not to him." she raised a finger, "I might not be the Fire Lord yet, but I'm sure that some might be persuaded to our cause. It is a simple proposition; if they fight for me, they will never have to fight again."

"Tell that to those men we fought with the rebels." Sokka spoke up, "They didn't agree with you, did they?" he asked her, surprising Ty Lee; of all the people in the group that could be skeptical of her intentions, it was her boyfriend.

"They were set on getting rid of Zuko, because they didn't care for my plans." she argued, "I will offer these men something better."

"That they'll be out of the job?" he raised a brow at her, the Princess crossing her arms.

"They won't be. Not for a while, at least. I'll need them to do the exact opposite of what they've been doing for the past few years." she conceded, "They will be our way of restoring your tribe to its former glory. We can use them to destroy the Southern Raiders, scrap their ships and bring the resources your tribe needs to rebuild itself. Trade will give them a new purpose, one that requires a lot less violence." she explained, the Water Tribesman scrunching his lips up, rather impressed by her exposition.

"Well then, I guess that's what we'll be doing then." he conceded, before narrowing his eyes, "I still don't trust Zhao, though."

"We don't have a better choice. All the other fleets are loyal to Zuko. Admiral Chan might be a choice, but for all I know, he's probably courted himself with my father's loyalists." she explained, Ty Lee narrowing her eyes in thought; where Azula was going with her plan sounded a lot more like the old Azula than the new one she had been getting used to.

"So, we're going to use the Fire Navy to take control of the colonies?" she recounted what Azula was actually trying to say.

"That was my original intention, and it is still mine to this day. The colonies are wealthy, and will provide me with the power I need to place myself as a true challenger to the throne. I can't just go around calling myself Fire Lord without some Fire Nation citizens to rule."

"But... Azula, what are we going to do?" Aang asked her, sounding a little uneased by all her talk of politics, "I'm the Avatar. I can't exactly get involved with your take over, even if I want to. I don't think the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes would be very happy if I did."

"I understand that, Aang." she nodded, "I don't need you to do anything like that, what I need you to do is ensure that my father's loyalists aren't the ones in control of the Earth Kingdom." 

"So you want to work with Bumi and any other people we find in the Earth Kingdom?" he asked her, the Princess nodding.

"Yes. They will be necessary, seeing that I don't intend to be the Earth Queen. Somebody needs to take charge over the Earth Kingdom, and I'd prefer if it were someone we could trust."

"Bumi's trustworthy." he assured her, "I know he can help. And I'm sure he must know some people around the Earth Kingdom who could help us."

"We'll need more than just him. There must be some remnants of the Earth Kingdom Army somewhere." the Princess noted, turning to face her boyfriend, "Sokka, how many groups did you and the warriors meet with before you came after me."

"A few." he mumbled, "You want to go find some of those guys?"

"Well, I want to know about the kind of people you were dealing with."

"Mostly Earth Kingdom troops. Those that kept on fighting, or at least, were holding onto what land they had left. We mostly stole Fire Navy supplies for them, and in exchange we'd get a little money." he explained, the Princess nodding.

"Hmph... so if we could go around the Earth Kingdom and coordinate with these groups, we might actually have a chance of making a somewhat united Earth Kingdom against my father's loyalists and Zuko's forces."

"Uh... yeah." he nodded, not looking too sure of himself.

"That sounds like a lot of work." Ty Lee admitted, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"We won't need to do all the work ourselves. The Water Tribe ships will be coming north soon enough, and if they split up, they can gather as many allies as possible. I'm sure that with news of the Avatar's return, they might be a little more willing to put their chances in with us."

"Ah..." Aang raised a brow, "So we really don't need to do much fighting. We're just sending out the message?"

"Well, there will be fighting, no matter what." she conceded, grunting as she tried to move her right arm. "Look at today, or last night."

"But stopping it all, that's our goal." Katara added, "That's what all of this will achieve. And once Aang's mastered the elements, we'll have even more bargaining power."

"Precisely." the Princess smirked, "We've just got to better our odds."

"Better get back to working with that scroll, Aang." the Water Tribe girl admitted, the young Air Nomad's expression brightening up.

"I'm looking forward to that." he admitted, "I don't know how long it'll take us to get back to the Earth Kingdom, though."

"Well, it took us all night to get to Crescent Island." Sokka spoke up, raising his head up from the saddle, "So, by dinner-time, we should be getting close to the coast."

"Your favourite time of the day." the Avatar added, Sokka wincing as he grasped at his gut.

"We need to go buy some more food. As skilled a hunter I am, I really can't be bothered looking around for berries and some little forest creatures." he conceded, Ty Lee's eyes narrowing in thought.

"Well, are we going to head to another town anytime soon?" she asked the group, who looked amongst each other with unsure faces; Azula was the first to speak up, as she had expected.

"We won't go to any town we don't need to, and when we do, we need to ensure we're in disguise. The Fire Nation- whether loyal to Zuko, my father or fighting for themselves, control almost every city and town in the colonies, according to what I've heard so far. We've attracted the wrong attention by intervening in that battle." she conceded, the young Avatar's eyes moving down in shame.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this all to happen. It's my fault you got hurt." he argued, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I was the one who suggested we even go to the temple in the first place. It was my idea." she conceded, "I'm not letting you feel guilty for something I had complete control over."

"I mean... you didn't have complete control. We could have-" Katara began to argue, the Princess raising a finger to silence her.

"Shut up. You know I'm the one who comes up with ideas around here, because the two of you can't read maps, know anything about the military threats, and Sokka's..." she trailed off, eyeing her boyfriend with suspicious eyes, "You didn't suggest against this at all, actually."

The Water Tribesman shrugged his shoulders, seeming indifferent to the whole ordeal, even if he had been, only minutes prior, panicking about how she had gotten hurt, "In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best idea." he conceded, "But I didn't have the power of hindsight. I thought you were making the best decision."

"It was still a good decision." Aang assured them, "I got to speak to Roku, even if it wasn't for that long."

"I have a feeling we could have gone without it." Azula narrowed her eyes; even if she didn't say it, she would have obviously preferred to have never found out about her ancestry- it must have only confused her, and brought up feelings that Ty Lee was sure nobody would ever want to experience.

"Don't worry." Sokka raised a hand up, "We just got divine confirmation that your dad's an arsehole and we're going to give him a beating if he ever decides to leave that prison cell he's cowering in."

"You're assuming we could even fight him." the princess noted, obviously skeptical that she could beat her own father; the acrobat didn't know too much about Fire Lord Ozai, but she knew for a fact that he was the one who had guided Azula's training, and his level of bending was what she had aspired for.

"Aang's going to master the elements before we have to worry about that." he argued, before smiling, "At least we don't have to worry about Sozin's Comet or anything like that. I have a feeling this whole civil war thing would have been a whole lot worse if every firebender was as powerful as you."

"That would have been the most poetically stupid way for my country to destroy itself." she argued, her expression becoming more serious, turning to face Aang, "If Roku said my father is the greatest threat, then where does that leave Zuko?"

"He didn't mention Zuko." he conceded, before his expression became more tense, "Uh... is that a good thing?"

"It depends." the Princess conceded.

"Depends on what?" the Avatar prodded her, Sokka rising up once more, clearing his throat.

"It depends on whether he's okay with the fact Azula's going to overthrow his arse." he declared, stating what Ty Lee guessed he would; he was pretty defensive of Azula's claim for the throne, and though that didn't surprise her, she didn't know how much he really knew about Zuko, at least to make a fair judgement of his character.

"My brother doesn't have the stomach for the things needed to establish peace. If that's what Roku and your other past lives want you to do, then I'm sure they could tolerate my intentions." she declared confidently, her smirk assuring her friend that at least for a moment, she was focused on the future and not on the past.

The silence that fell on the saddle clearly showed the divide in thoughts on the matter; Katara and Aang were probably a lot less enthusiastic about Azula taking the throne than Ty Lee and Sokka were. The acrobat knew the old Azula, and she was getting to know the new one too, and she could say without a doubt the new Azula was the kind of person she knew who could rule the Fire Nation. She was fairer, and more importantly more sympathetic to others, much more than she had once been; even if she was the confident, cocky Princess she had always been, that didn't mean that she couldn't see where she might have gone wrong.

"So... are we just going to sit here?" she asked out, the others glancing her way; the Avatar shrugged his shoulders, lying himself back on the saddle, patting the fur of his sky-bison.

"Uh, yeah." she told her, "It's not like we can do anything up here, anyway."

Katara's expression suddenly shifted to a snarl, which seemed to have come out of nowhere, and she pointed toward her brother accusingly, "Sokka, we're not playing that game again." he warned her, making Ty Lee raise a brow; she liked games, and that was going to be better than having any kind of serious conversation.

"What game?" she raised a brow, Azula lifting her left hand up, gesturing toward her as to warn her.

"We can't play it anymore because I scared them." she clarified, making her giggle.

"Oh, you scared them." she smiled, amused by the idea of some antics her friend might have gotten up to, "I can't imagine what you did."

"It's not what you think." Sokka cringed, "I'd rather not say it."

She became nervous, realising that she didn't know what he was referring to; it must have been something Azula hadn't spoken to her about, which suggested it was a serious matter.

"Ummm..." she mumbled, trying to think of a way to get everyone in a better mood, "Maybe another game then. Something that won't scare anyone."

"The silent game." Sokka joked, although she couldn't tell if he was just playing around or if he really wanted them all to shut up.

"I'm being serious." she stressed, turning to face the Princess, "You wouldn't happen to have any good ideas, Zula?"

"The last thing I'd know anything about is games." she conceded, before turning her eyes to her boyfriend, "Have you got any decent ideas for a change?"

The Water Tribesman shrugged his shoulders, "Not really." he mumbled, "I don't think we'll do anything like last time."

"What actually happened?" Ty Lee prodded once more, "You guys obviously learned something- uh, bad."

"Let's just say there's a reason we're all okay with fighting Azula's dad when it comes down to it." Katara told her vaguely, but what she implied was enough for her to connect the dots; she knew her friend too well, and she knew also that her father wasn't the kindest man.

He had obviously done something, or perhaps, was going to do something, and the group didn't approve of it; the way the Water Tribe girl had gotten angry, the disgust in her voice, it told her it must have been bad.

"Well then..." she mumbled, "I guess we won't play whatever game you did that time." she conceded, Azula chuckling.

"It was more of a mutual interrogation session." she joked, which earned a few chuckles from the others, though they weren't sounding that amused- dry laughter was never a good sign.

"How about some kind of laughing game? You've got to make the other person laugh, and they've got to try and not to." she suggested, knowing that was something that would certainly brighten up everyone's auras.

"MNot a bad idea." Sokka conceded, before he glared at his girlfriend, "Though I already know who's going to win."

"Oh, I do have a sense of humour, savage." she warned him; her insulting way of referring to the Water Tribesman didn't seem to faze him, and he turned around to look at his sister and the young Avatar.

"Well, do you two want to join in?" he asked, Katara crossing her arms, looking rather unimpressed.

"You're right, Azula will probably just win this no worries." she concluded, the Princess smirking.

"I will, and my injuries help. Pain makes it so much harder to laugh." she argued, before turning to face her boyfriend, "Sokka, you can go first." she suggested, before glancing around, "Who wants to try and make him laugh?"

"I think I've got an idea." Aang piped up, before turning to face the Water Tribe warrior, clearing his expression and straightening his posture; it was like he was about to interview him, but instead, he actually intended to make him break down laughing, "Sokka, I think we have to talk about the whole Wang Fire thing."

"oh, so you caught onto the joke?" he raised a brow, Aang shaking his head.

"uh, no, I mean you're Wang Fire." he gestured to him, before pointing to Azula, "She's Saila."

"Zaira." she clarified, "If we're in Fire Nation territory, that is." she clarified, the Avatar nodding, before he turned to face Katara, "Have you got a fake name?"

"Uh... Rataka?" she asked; flipping her name around was a good trick, and surprisingly enough, that was almost enough to make her brother laugh, "I nearly got him!" she hammered her right fist into her open left palm.

"Sorry... I'm not going to fall that easily." he raised his hands up, his smug expression making Azula roll her eyes; she obviously didn't think he was going to last as long as he claimed he would- Ty Lee was inclined to believe her judgement, knowing that if anyone had a good understanding of his sense of humour, it would be her.

"Wait, so what about you?" she raised a brow, the Avatar placing a hand on his chest, feigning surprise.

"Oh me?" he asked, before he smirked, turning around to reach over the side of Appa's saddle; though it seemed like a dangerous move, given they were up in the air, she could tell that he had something amusing in mind.

When he turned back to face them, his head was covered with a tuff of Appa's fur and he had a fake moustache to go alongside, making him have the appearance of a very clear skinned old man, though she guessed if he was dirtied up a little, he'd really look like one, "The name's Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis the Third, I'm your grandpa." he pointed to his chest proudly, imitating the voice of an old man.

Sokka snorted under his breath, covering his mouth as he realised he had just made a sound that could be considered a laugh.

"Forfeit, I know you were about to laugh." she declared, pointing at her boyfriend accusingly.

He raised his hands up, conceding that Aang had indeed humoured him, "That was pretty good, I won't lie. I do recommend figuring out a better outfit though, 'cause the guards or soldiers or whatever are going to see right through that."

"Sorry." he conceded, "That's why I got the bandana, and that Fire Nation disguise."

"Now all you need to do is grow out some hair." Katara noted, before raising a brow, "Speaking of which, I noticed you're getting a little fuzzier on top."

"Really?" he asked her, before his expression became more dumbstruck, "I can't remember the last time I actually had hair."

"What colour is it?" Ty Lee asked, leaning closer, "Is it curly? Or straight. I'm just curious." she asked him, the Avatar leaning back in return, obviously a little unnerved by her curiosity.

"Uh... I think it was straight, and coloured black." he conceded, "I don't know if it's going to look any good.'"

"Hey, would you rather be getting spotted out in every town we got to or have a bad hairdo for a bit?" Sokka quipped, making the Avatar shrug his shoulders, scratching at the fake moustache he had given himself.

"Who are we going to try and make laugh next?" he asked them, the group looking amongst themselves.

"You won." the Water Tribe warrior conceded, "You can go next."

"Good luck." Aang smirked, pulling the fake wig of fur off of his head and tossing it off the side of the saddle, letting it be pulled apart by the wind as it fell down into the sea below.

"Well, who can make him laugh?" Ty Lee spoke up, Katara raising a brow with thought.

"Hmmm... I think I might have a few stories that could crack a smile." she suggested, her brother's expression widening.

"Oh no." he mumbled, "Please, just don't make fun of me."

"I can see where this is going." Azula conceded, raising her left hand up to her chin, "Please, amuse us, Katara."

"It would be my pleasure." she grinned deviously, suggesting that she had a story in mind that would be insanely embarrassing for her brother, "So, you know that Sokka's a warrior, right?"

The Avatar nodded, "Yep. He went to fight with your dad and the other warriors against the Fire Nation." he just reminded himself of that fact; the fact that had eventually led to him and Azula meeting, and from that to Aang being broken out of an iceberg in the South Pole.

The more that Ty Lee thought about it, the more she thought fate was certainly skewed in their favour, though perhaps not in the most straightforward way; Azula did not defeat her brother, but instead travelled to the most isolated place on earth and released the Avatar from his century long icy slumber.

"Well, before he did any of that, Sokka was the only man in the village, and... he attended to his duties as a warrior."

"Like what?" he raised a brow, "Did he have to go around and club innocent little animals or something like that?" he asked, making Katara giggle; if she'd been the one playing, she would have lost at that point- her brother was less amused, crossing his arms as he held a serious glare toward the young Avatar.

"I, for one, think seal tastes pretty good." Sokka argued, the young Avatar grimacing with disgust; his vegetarianism meant that the Water Tribesman's apparent love of meat was something he didn't like, though he seemed to be tolerant of it.

"It's better than stewed sea-prunes." Azula added, making the acrobat raise a brow.

"Sorry, what? Sea-prunes?"

"Trust me, you're better off not knowing what they taste like... but seeing we're heading to the North Pole, I have a feeling we'll be eating it." she grimaced, both Sokka and Katara smiling at the thought.

"Sounds good to me." the Water Tribe teen piped up, before he turned his eyes back toward his sister, "Please... just don't say what I think you're gonna say."

"Oh, yeah, so warrior duties." Aang realigned their conversation back to the original topic, "So, what was it about warrior duties that's meant to make me laugh?"

"Well, Sokka took his job very seriously. If you haven't noticed, my brother's a very serious guy." she acknowledged, the last bit obviously sarcastic and mocking of her brother's character; he frowned, all while Aang forcefully straightened his lips.

"Nearly got you." Ty Lee grinned, before turning to Katara, wanting her to make him laugh, "Well, how serious are we talking?"

"Training the next generation of warriors serious." she clarified, her brother face-palming with embarrassment, "He made sure to give them drills and tell them about what they'd have to do in the case the Fire Nation attacked. I thought it was a waste of time, but Sokka, he was very vocal in arguing otherwise."

"How old were these 'warriors'?" she asked, Katara smirking.

"Oh, the eldest had to be about six." she acknowledged, making Aang look at her with confusion.

"What, so he was training a bunch of little kids to fight the Fire Nation?" he asked her, "That's not really that funny."

"Oh, I know it's kinda disturbing that he had to do it in the first place." she conceded, her expression becoming more serious for a moment, before she smiled, "But Sokka's little warriors, they didn't really like his training regime. Drills and sparring is something that four and five year olds don't really like."

"A drill sergeant for little kids." Azula scoffed, "Sokka, you've always been into bossing people around, haven't you."

"Not as much as you, your highness." he retorted, Ty Lee snickering, though she covered her mouth, not wanting to offend her friend.

"Well, Sokka was bossing these little boys around, and he demanded they didn't take their toilet breaks during training... because for some reason, peeing is the most disgraceful thing for a warrior to do." she eyed her brother, who raised his shoulders up, seeming indifferent to her claim.

"They kept using them as an excuse to get out of training." he argued, Katara sighing for a moment before turning back to Aang.

"So, Sokka had built this watchtower. He really was proud of it. Trust me, it was the greatest structure in our whole village." she assured him, though Ty Lee realised a few moments later that she was being sarcastic as she saw Sokka's frown grow more intense.

"Oh, okay." Aang tried to hold back a smile, realising exactly what she had meant; her brother wasn't very good at his 'job', from what it sounded like.

"The little warrior boys would take watch there, and Sokka would too." she explained, before clearing her throat, "So, one afternoon, he went up to take watch, checking if my father had returned yet, and he sat down on the wall, right next to his watchtower."

"Were the boys there?" the young Avatar asked, Katara shaking her head.

"Oh, no, they weren't, but they had left him a little gift. Sokka realised soon after he sat down, that he was sitting in a puddle, which is a rare sight at the South Pole. A yellow puddle." she clarified, Aang unable to hold back a laugh, Azula and Ty Lee joining in with him, all finding the turn of events hilarious; he'd sat in a puddle of urine, which was only there because he demanded the boys didn't pee when they were doing their duties.

"Ah, that's a good one!" he exclaimed, slapping his thigh, "I can't believe you sat in pee. Why didn't you look?"

"Because everyone pees in the tent, where they're supposed to." Sokka crossed his arms.

"So, did you think that was a good story?" she asked them, Azula smirking.

"I love the fact my presumptions about him keep getting confirmed." she crossed her arms, "Though, then I realise he's my boyfriend... who sat in a puddle of piss."

Sokka turned his face down with embarrassment, before his glare moved to his sister.

"Sometimes I wish I was born a waterbender so I could throw snowballs into your face when you act like an arse."

"I thought you hated waterbending." she crossed her arms, the Water tribesman turning his eyes away.

"Oh, I don't like any bending... but I do wish I had it."

"Who needs waterbending when you have the coolest skill ever, chi-blocking?" Ty Lee grinned at him, the Water Tribesman's grimace shifting to a small, appreciative smile.

"Thank you, Ty Lee. Seriously, thanks to you, I was able to share my first intimate moment with my girlfriend." he told her, the acrobat's eyes widening as she realised what he was saying.

The first time they had kissed, it had been when he had chi-blocked her, maybe for the first time; something that she was indirectly responsible for, by training her abilities with Azula.

"Wait! I thought you weren't going to say it!" she exclaimed, pointing at him accusingly, Azula face-palming with frustration.

"For fuck's sake, Sokka." she mumbled, looking at her boyfriend with a despising glare.

"But it's true! Chi-blocking got me a girlfriend!" he exclaimed, Ty Lee grinning at them; she had finally gotten what she had wanted, and a lot sooner than expected.

With her arms crossed, Azula turned to face her boyfriend, obviously disapproving of what he had said, "That's a gross oversimplification."

"Says the person whose favourite hobby is beating me up." he crossed his arms, the Princess sighing; the slightly open mouth and exasperated expression on her face was a rare thing for Ty lee to see- a concession that she was the one who had been wrong.

"Why of all times is it now that you have to be right?"


	12. Chapter 12

Reapplying the herbal medicine she had bought, Azula cringed slightly from the stinging it made as it touched her bruised shoulder; though she had been injured nearly two weeks prior, she still found it fruitful to continue applying medicine to it, knowing that it would hamper her in any fighting situation. Her bending style required her to be agile and quick on her feet, somewhat like the young Avatar who she was trying to guide; though she hadn't taught him firebending yet, she was still trying her best to teach him in the way of leadership and decisiveness. She wanted him to be the kind of Avatar that would not fail, that would be considered in his actions and do what was right; she knew enough from what she had learnt of the previous Avatars that a number of them were fools, either too arrogant or too light-handed. Wisdom was the one thing she had learnt with her experiences that the old Azula might have respected her for; she wouldn't have been so happy about most of the other things she had become, however.

She felt her boyfriend's hand on her shoulder, knowing that he was the only person who'd approach her without speaking, "Does it hurt?"

"Not as much as before." she simply told him, turning her eyes to face him; his warm and considerate smile was something that she'd grown to appreciate, even if part of her was infuriated that she could even fall for something like that, "I see you're all dressed up."

He ran his hands down the tunic he was wearing, the same Fire Nation garbs he had worn during their time at sea, "Oh, do you get nostalgic looking at me wearing these?" he asked her, the Princess scoffing at his words.

"I preferred you out of it, actually." she raised a finger, making him blush, her words obviously a surprise to him; making him flustered was something she could enjoy, knowing that it showed his adoration of her and his fears at the same time.

"Don't say that too loud. Ty Lee will be hounding us all day." he warned her with a whisper that was clearly too loud to be considered an effective one.

"Then maybe you should whisper a little quieter, savage." she chided him, before gesturing to the bandage that sat in the bag she had in the ground in front of her, "Could you dress the bandage over?"

"Uh, yeah." he nodded, "That's what I thought you might need help with." he conceded, the Princess chuckling.

"Oh, I don't need the help, your laziness has just rubbed off on me." she pursed her lips upward, her insult not fazing him.

"My laziness is something you need to pick up. Maybe then you'll be less worried about wasting time." he raised a hand to suggest that she was actually better off being lazy; she scoffed at his words, completely disagreeing with such a presumption.

"We waste most of our day on a sky-bison or looking for food. You really think we should be lazier?"

He pulled the bandage out of the bag, shrugging his shoulders as he looked her way, seeming indifferent, "As long as we're on the move and getting to the North Pole, then I'm not worried about being lazy."

"We're getting closer now." she conceded, before sighing, "But we've still got some distance to go... and some people to find."

"That's why we're going to this town, right? You think your people might have passed through here?" he clarified; he already knew the fact of the matter, but it made sense that he was questioning the fact specifically- certainty was hard to come by when it came to figuring out exactly what happened to her supporters.

"We're east of the colonies, and Pohuai. It's only natural that my men would have been here at some point. If that messenger hawk you sent got through in time, maybe they didn't get beat by my brother's forces." she considered the possibilities; she didn't know anything for certain, given her knowledge on the matter had dissipated after Sokka got his last bit of intelligence by sneaking into Pohuai Stronghold.

As he began to wrap the bandage around her shoulder, he couldn't help himself from asking, "Do you think your guards got out?" he asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders; she didn't have the answer to every question he asked her, unfortunately.

"I know they would have fought Zuko's forces, though I don't know if they would have escaped. If they did, maybe they'll be around. I guess they'd have gone to Zhao, if they really thought I was dead."

"Zuko had wanted posters for you, so I'm guessing he publicly stated you were alive. The guards must know that."

"I feel you're overestimating their loyalty to me as an individual. Sure, they respected me, but I doubt they have been waiting around for me." she conceded, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"Well, let's just hope they're not dead or anything." he conceded, making her chuckle; her laughter covered up the guilt she might have felt over letting her guards die.

Even if they were sworn to protect her and would eagerly give up their lives in her name, her loss at Zuko's hands would be only made more painful by the idea that her guards had then perished because of her failings.

"I doubt they're that incompetent, Sokka." she quipped in return, the Water Tribesman crossing his arms as he finished applying the bandage to her back.

"Well, I would say the warriors fought well against them." he argued, the pride in his voice something she immediately wanted to squash; he and his fellow warriors, no matter their skills, definitely lost the fight, even if they had sunk her Royal Barge.

"And lost." she added, her boyfriend scrunching his lips up as she turned around to face him.

"Well, maybe we lost, but the Captain's pride will never be the same." he joked, reminding her of the rage said guard had after he found out the Water Tribesman who she had recruited was the one who had beat him up on the deck of the ship.

"I thought he had an acute overreaction." she conceded, before she stood up, pulling her shirt back up so her shoulder was covered.

"I mean he's probably not like what we ended up doing." he conceded, the Princess smirking.

"He can't argue against my judgement. That'd be borderline treason. "she argued, the Water Tribesman narrowing his eyes at her, slightly amused by her words.

"Oh, really? Then how come you let me commit borderline treason every single day?" he asked her, the Princess raising a finger to her chin.

"I'm saving up all of the acts you've committed so I can hand down an even worse punishment when I finally decide to rid myself of you." she joked, the Water Tribesman scrunching his lips up.

"Well, that'd be a sad day. I'd actually have to chi-block you for real." he conceded, the Princess raising her chin up.

"You say like that you could actually do it." she suggested, Sokka raising his hand up, putting his fingers in the position they would be to immediately jab her.

"I can." he argued, "And I might."

"I don't recommend it." she warned him, the Water Tribe warrior tapping her collarbone lightly.

"Oh, I thought you liked it when I take charge." he suggestively told her, making the Princess look up at him, their eyes locking together; she held back any blushes or uneasiness she might have felt, just accepting for that moment that she wanted him to be strong- even over her, at times.

"I do." she conceded, tracing her finger up his chest, "But only when it's appropriate."

"Ah..." he leaned back, trying to hold back a grin, "I see."

"You're going to be waiting for a while." she conceded, "It's not even midday."

"Aw..." he mumbled, "Well, at least we might go down and get some snacks in the town in the meantime."

"I never said I'd let you buy anything." she crossed her arms, the Water Tribesman smirking.

"Hey, who said I was paying." he suggested, the Princess raising a finger.

"I will concede I am impressed by your idea, but I don't recommend your reason for getting thrown in jail for stealing some jerky."

"It won't be." he assured her, before he turned his head the other way; she followed his own gaze, taking note of Aang, who was still getting changed into his disguise on top of Appa. She had to take a moment to realise he had started to actually grow some hair; a short black scruff, but it was something to cover his tattoos. It framed his face and made him seem a little less like an Air Nomad and more like some random kid, though his arrow still sat right there for all to see on his forehead. Sokka glanced back the way she was looking, before he let out a light chuckle.

"Oh, so you're just as weirded out by the hair as I am?"

"I don't regret telling him to grow it, but I won't lie, it just doesn't look right." she admitted, making her boyfriend cover his mouth, not wanting to laugh.

"Uh... yeah." he nodded, awkwardly turning away from the Avatar, who hadn't noticed they had been looking at him as he dressed himself up in his Fire Nation disguise.

"Are you two ready to go?" she heard Ty Lee ask out, striding around past Appa; she had a bag strung over her shoulder, but other than that, she looked exactly the same, though Katara, who was right beside her, certainly looked a lot weirder than usual- dressed in Fire Nation clothes, imitating Azula's own hairstyle, she looked as far as possible from the Water Tribe girl she actually was.

"Yeah." Sokka nodded, "Azula's shoulder is done, so, Aang, we're waiting on you." he turned to face the young Avatar, who glanced over as he tied the bandana around his head.

"Just gimme a second." he raised a hand as he reached over to pull out another article of clothing; when he pulled it out, he revealed it was a dark red sleeveless vest- he slung it around his shoulders and buttoned it up, completing his Fire Nation disguise.

"Now we all look like a bunch of Fire Nation teenagers." Azula acknowledged the fact of the matter.

"That's exactly what we're going for." Ty Lee grinned, "Now nobody will bat an eye when we walk into town."

"Says the person who's wearing the same clothes they always do." she crossed her arms, her friend shrugging her shoulders with a smug smile.

"My clothes are right for any situation." she argued, the Princess narrowing her eyes, thinking that was a claim she shouldn't make before they had gone off to the Northern Water Tribe.

"You will regret saying that at some point." she warned her, before glancing up toward Aang, "So, are we going?"

"Well, you're the boss. Are we?" he asked her in return, making the princess roll her eyes.

"Yes." she simply told him, striding forward as Sokka followed behind her; she threw her bag back up onto Appa's saddle before walking past Ty Lee and Katara, who in turn, followed her as well.

"Were we going to buy anything?" her boyfriend asked her, to which she shot him a glare.

"Don't you dare think about wasting our money. We're nowhere near the North Pole yet." she argued, Sokka not giving her the expected quip in return; instead, he raised a finger to his chin, considering the situation.

"If only there was a way for us to make money." he mumbled under his breath, Azula turning her eyes away.

She knew that they might be able to sell their labour, but that'd just be a waste of time, in her opinion; she wasn't going to stoop as low to do peasant's work when she didn't need to. Glancing down the hill toward the nearby town, she took note of its size; it was the biggest town they'd visited that week, and the first that seemed to be anything close to a Fire Nation colony. Most of the other towns were just occupied Earth Kingdom settlements, while the one before her seemed to be a little closer to what she was used to in the homeland, though obviously a lot poorer, which made sense, given the nature of the Fire Nation colonies- it was where the poorest of her country went, even by choice or force, to live new lives, though they weren't necessarily much more prosperous. She began to make her way down the hill, winding down through the lightly wooded terrain below, and the others, as she expected, followed right after her; Ty Lee sped up and began walking alongside her, obviously wanting to talk about something, as she usually did. After spending nearly two weeks together with her again, she was pretty sure her friend was up to speed on most things that had happened to her in the interceding years, even the things that she had preferred to stay secret.

"So, Zula, what are we going to look for today?" she asked, the Princess glancing her way idly.

"If there's been any anti-Zuko forces in the area... as of recent or in the past few months. I need to figure out exactly where my supporters went, and I'm still struggling to piece everything together." she admitted, the acrobat furrowing a brow in thought.

"You know, they might have just gone into hiding. Maybe that's why you can't find any information on them." she suggested, Azula shaking her head; that was unreasonable, at least in the case of the army that had been heading for the colonies- it couldn't have just disappeared.

It either had to have disbanded or joined up with some other forces; she couldn't see them joining Zuko, though joining some of her father's loyalist forces or even joining Zhao, who was probably her most powerful supporter to begin with. She didn't know whether Zhao had even considered to make himself the leader of her rebellion after she had been forced to flee, given that he had been thrashed by Zuko's forces; it was a possibility, but she didn't know for sure.

"Maybe Zhao's got them. That'd explain why he's still fighting the Northern Water Tribe... all that fresh manpower must have given him more of a chance." she conceded, before shaking her head, "Not that I even know what he's been up to. The military reports I was lucky enough to steal didn't help me that much."

"Sounds like you need to find some more information." Ty Lee concluded, "You don't want to break into a military base or something like that?"

"That's the last resort." she conceded, knowing such an option was still on the table, though only if she was still unable to find her allies after crossing over the north western portion of the Earth Kingdom; they did need to get to the North Pole, but she could tolerate one more detour, if only to ensure she could find the supporters she would need to ultimately retake the throne, "I just hope there's some chatter around here. Somebody has to know something. People don't just disappear." she argued, before chuckling, realising such a counterclaim was walking a few strides behind her, "Unless you're Aang."

"Hah, true." Ty Lee's brows rose up, though she wasn't as amused as she was by the idea, "Are we going to get some food, though? I could go for something other than nuts, rice and random forest creatures that your boyfriend keeps killing."

"Hey, don't act like the taste of fresh game isn't good." Sokka piped up, the acrobat shaking her head.

"No, it's really not that nice. I prefer roast komodo rhino." she argued, the Princess licking her lips.

"Well, I could go for some of that." she conceded, her friend turning back to face her.

"You wanna go find some?" she asked her; it was as if she was desperate to procrastinate, and Azula had to concede that once they were done looking for information, she could tolerate going to look for some place to eat.

"Fine. But only after we've scoured the markets and taverns of this town for any useful information. Got it?" she told her, the acrobat nodding, clenching a fist as she declared her victory non-verbally by raising it up into the air.

She turned her attention back ahead of her, keeping her pace steady as she made her way down the hillside, winding around the trees the lined in; they were good cover for Appa, but they made it a little harder for her to get down to the town if there was no path through the woods. They did quickly reach a small, well-trodden path, and she led the group along down it, eyeing along toward the edge of the town. Nobody seemed to bat an eye as they got closer to town, Azula turning to face her friend.

"Well, at least nobody recognised us on the spot." she conceded, "Now, I want us to split up. I know that we fucked up the other time... but I think I can trust Katara and Sokka to behave by themselves."

"Wait, does that mean I'm going with you?" Aang raised a brow, the Princess shrugging her shoulders as she gestured to him to follow.

"What did it sound like?" she quipped in return, the Avatar taking the drift and following after her; she did know that Katara was the one at fault, as she had incited them to steal the scroll, but she was sure that if Aang was by himself, he'd get up to antics that she couldn't foresee; it was simply safer to have him tag along and keep him out of any unnecessary trouble.

"So, uh, to the tavern, you said?" Sokka asked out, the Princess glancing back toward him and giving him an affirmative nod, "Well, I'll go there." he concluded, "Are we going to have a meeting spot?"

"There'll be a public square in the centre of town. That's where the Fire Nation authorities like to give their speeches and publicly humiliate criminals." Azula clarified, making both Aang and Katara look at her with surprise.

"Oh... that's a thing?" the Water Tribe girl asked her, sounding uneased by the idea.

"You're lucky if you get humiliated and not executed." she simply clarified, knowing that humiliation, no matter how degrading, wasn't death, "So, we'll meet there. Got it?"

"Yep." Sokka confirmed his understanding, the others nodding along; a few moments later, they all split up, with Katara and Ty Lee going off in one direction, while Sokka went in another.

As she made her way down the street, moving toward the centre of town, Aang remained behind Azula, exactly where she wanted him to be. It wasn't that she didn't think he couldn't help, but when it came to the matter of persuading others, she'd prefer to try and teach him a few things instead of letting the Avatar loose on some random colonial town that would probably not appreciate his presence.

"Uh, what are we looking for?" he asked her, Azula unsure whether he was just trying to make conversation or whether he was just wanting to know what they were doing; if it was the former, she would ignore him, and if it was the latter, she'd just feel disappointed that he was unable to conclude their intentions after a number of campfire talks about exactly what they were looking for by going to Fire Nation occupied towns and villages.

"My people, obviously." she chided him, "The men who I trusted to help me take down my brother, who I failed." she spoke with a colder tone, which clearly unnerved the twelve year old boy.

She wasn't as concerned about her failure as she had been in the past, and she preferred to use it as a justification for her constant serious attitude; in reality, she simply wanted what she had always wanted, her rightful place as Fire Lord, and she was willing to do or say whatever it took to achieve that.

"Do you think people are actually looking for you?" he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Have you seen the bounty?" she asked him, "I'm pretty sure 'the personal thanks of the Fire Lord' is a great justification for every man and his komodo rhino to come hunting me down." she joked, the Avatar scrunching up his lips.

"Do people really want to meet the Fire Lord that badly?" he questioned once more, Azula shaking her head; she hadn't been thinking about the thanks of the Fire Lord literally.

"I didn't mean his thanks like a pat on the back. He'd give whoever caught me whatever they wanted. If they wanted a castle to live in, he'd probably concede it just for my capture."

"Oh..." he mumbled, his eyes glancing around the street nervously, looking at all the pedestrians they walked by; there was a lot of people, and now she had just given him the thought that any of them could be in to take her bounty, "So, I guess that explains the disguises."

"You heard those sailors, aiding me is an act punishable by life imprisonment." she spoke with a stern but quiet voice as she raised a finger toward the young Air Nomad, who cringed back with fear, readjusting his bandana.

"Okay... well, at least we've got Appa." his expression brightened up, before his voice dropped to a near whisper, "We can get away from anyone that tries to capture you."

"That's what we're trying to avoid, Aang." she added, "We're looking for people that are going to be hard to find, and it doesn't become any easier if we're running from every settlement we visit."

He simply nodded, before he pointed ahead of them toward a street-market, which seemed to have just opened up for the lunch hour, "We can start right now." he suggested, the Princess simply striding forward, agreeing with him without having to say a thing.

As they approached the stalls, she was able to hear people's conversations, though none of them were awfully interesting; she heard a few things about a bridge collapse, and something else about a local's farm being burnt down, supposedly by thieves. Though those things were information, they didn't exactly tell her anything about the military situation; the commoners had to know something, even if they weren't directly involved in the military. She glanced to her right, taking note that Aang was walking on ahead; she decided she wasn't going to let him out of sight, and continued to pace along, a little faster, so she could catch up with him. She continued to eavesdrop as she made her way along, hearing a few new titbits of gossip; some earthbenders supposedly rioting and being sent to prison a few days earlier, and a military group moving through the town in the past week. The last bit intrigued her somewhat, but the two individuals discussing the matter only touched on it briefly, which meant she didn't have much hope of listening to them any longer. Continuing along, she could see that Aang's attention had been drawn by something, and he looked back toward her, gesturing for her to come closer with the tilt of his head. She sighed, deciding to increase her pace further, and thus, lost track of the conversations she could hear around her; she just hoped whatever the Avatar had to show her was helpful in their efforts.

"What is it?" she asked of him, his right hand simply pointing to a nearby alleyway that parted through the block to their left.

Stepping a little closer, past a stall, she was able to make out some graffiti on the walls that lined the alleyway; she scanned around, taking note of a few bits of graffiti, mostly just names tagged or obscene insults to individuals, but one stood out amongst the rest. It was a bit of painted text, that stood out in bold against the more simplistic carvings and markings.

"'The blue dragon lives'." she read it aloud, her eyes widening as she realised what the graffiti was referring to, or rather whom; it spoke of her, giving her a rather impressive epithet.

It made sense, of course, given her blue firebending, but the relation she felt to her uncle's own title, the Dragon of the West, certainly amused her.

"Well, well, I'm impressed. People really do still think about me. I'd say I was flattered, but I am the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation." she pointed her thumb to her chest smugly, the Avatar raising a finger to hush her.

She realised she might have spoken slightly too loud and cringed upon looking behind her; nobody seemed to be paying attention to them, so she made a sigh of relief before turning to face Aang, who had a worried look on his face.

"I should have spoken a little quieter." she conceded, her friend looking toward the market stalls with an uneasy look on his face.

"Uh... so are we going to keep looking?"

"Listening." she clarified, "We need to listen. If we hear anyone speaking about something that sounds anything like that," she pointed her finger toward the graffiti, "then we'll be one step closer. We can find new supporters or old ones; they both give me the same thing in the end."

"But you'd prefer to find that army that just," he raised his hands up to gesture as if it had just blown up and dissipated into the air, "disappeared."

"They didn't disappear. They simply got away from my brother... from what I can tell. Assuming Sokka's message worked." she conceded, the Avatar raising a brow.

"His message?" he asked her, the Princess stepping closer as she moved back toward the main street, "When did he send a message?"

"That was when he snuck into Pohuai." she clarified, "Originally, he was just going to get some food, but when he found out our former ally was going to turn against my forces and trap them, he sent a message to warn them."

He nodded along as they made their way back out onto the street, turning to head back in the direction of the town centre, "Well, how do you know they got it?" he asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't." she conceded, "Let's just keep listening, maybe we'll hear something actually half-useful." she directed, turning around and continuing to walk along at a slow pace, pretending to browse the stalls, when in fact, she was just listening into the conversations of those who were actually browsing.

She heard much the same she had heard the first time; a bridge collapse kept coming up, and she decided to ignore any mention of it and move on. She didn't know how something like that could be worth so much talk, until she considered the fact that everything came overland, and a bridge becoming inaccessible meant supplies couldn't reach the village. That made her furrow a brow, considering whether rebel forces could have had something to do with it, viewing such a move as an underhanded way to weaken the local Fire Nation forces by limiting their supply lines.

She shook her head, knowing that she was overthinking it, and paid attention once more to the conversations she could hear; then she heard something she'd expected to hear- somebody talking about her, or more specifically, her escapade with the Fire Sages. She instinctively touched her bruised shoulder, remembering how much it had hurt when she had first been hit; she paid closer attention, actually trying to distinguish what they were saying.

"And now the Fire Sages are off in some prison." she heard one of them, a young man speak with a cautious, almost fearful voice, "The Fire Navy declared them traitors."

"Huh... they can do that?" the other person asked, a slightly older man, the first nodding along, Azula turning her eyes away to make sure they didn't realise she was listening.

"Yeah, you know the Princess is wanted for treason, right?" the first man argued, his voice dropping to a whisper; Azula could hear her young friend gasp behind her, and noted that he covered his mouth, obviously not expecting to hear what he had.

"Didn't she just do an Agni Kai to contest the throne? I forgot the part where she committed treason." the older man argued, the other raising a finger up to hush him.

"Don't say that too loud. You could get accused of shit. You know what they did to the last people who declared loyalty to Ozai in public? They were executed." he warned his friend with an almost panicked whisper, the other man cringing with fear; Azula turned to eye him for a moment, and he didn't realise that he was looking at the very woman he spoke of.

"Executed?" she mumbled under her breath, continuing along, letting the men have their conversation, "Now, we're getting somewhere."

Aang increased his pace, walking up beside her, looking at her with an uneasy eye, "Did he just say somebody got executed for supporting your dad?"

"You heard correctly." she confirmed, keeping her eyes ahead of herself as she kept her focus on listening out for any more interesting conversations.

She didn't hear many more interesting things after that, only hearing a few mentions of random, more trivial gossip, like how some man had been arrested for running around the streets naked, or that somebody was supposedly followed by a spirit when walking through the nearby woodland. None of these interested her, at least not in the sense that they'd get her anywhere closer to her supporters. Azula came to a halt as they reached the end of the street market, finding themselves at the public square, in the centre of which stood a currently unused stage, probably for travelling troupes and the local government whenever they had an announcement to make. She took note of a few benches that sat by the side of the square, looking inward, away from the various businesses, mostly workshops and eateries, that lined the outer edge of the square. She walked over to the bench, sitting down, hoping that if she remained there for a bit, somebody might walk by with a useful conversation.

"Aang, here." she simply gestured to the seat, the young Avatar's expression turning to one of surprise.

As he sat down beside her, he looked at her with interest, "Oh, are we waiting for the others already?"

"No. I just realised it's easier to sit here and listen to people as they walk by than walk around ourselves." she clarified, Aang nodding, before he glanced around the square.

"Do they have festivals here?" he asked her, seemingly out of the blue.

"Festivals?" she raised a brow, not remembering the last time she'd actually witnessed one, "Perhaps." she guessed, turning her head slightly to the left so she could eye the pedestrians as they came by nobody seemed to stand out as being shady or secretive, and she guessed that if there were rebels in the town, they'd conceal themselves with ordinary clothes.

She didn't even need to find them, only evidence of where they were, more specifically than her current, six-month out of date intelligence, alongside the small amount of information she was able to gather from General Zhang's documents. He did have information on her father's public supporters, that being parts of the military in open revolt, as well as the general structure of her brother's forces and where their strengths were found, and in converse, their weaknesses. That was the extent, however, of what she could find. Nothing about her allies, and nothing about what had happened to them. Zhao was alive, and that was all she was riding on at that point; if he was, then he must still have support, whether from his naval forces alone, or from her former supporters as well.

"I'd like to see a festival." he admitted, "It's been a while since I've had some actual fun." he added, more quietly than the first bit, obviously not wanting to annoy her; he knew that she wasn't the kind of person concerned with fun, though that didn't mean that she didn't find certain things enjoyable, she just wasn't going out of her way to go do things that would be clearly dangerous for both her own safety and the safety of their group.

"There's no need to complain, Aang." she chided him, "We're staying safe. Once you're in the Northern Water Tribe, maybe... but until then, we're staying on task. Got it?"

"Y-yeah." he gulped, giving her a curt nod before he turned his eyes away from her, looking over to the other side of the square.

She turned her focus back to listening behind her, making sure she was paying as much attention as possible to those who were conversing amongst each other; once again, she didn't find anything interesting. A few more mentions of the bridge collapse, and some other things such as a musical performance by the local school. Azula rolled her eyes, really not caring for most of the things they talked about, and decided that she'd try Aang's tactic of looking rather than hearing.

Glancing over to the other side of the square, she watched as people walked around it, taking note of their dress and general appearances. The population of the town seemed to be slightly in favour of the Earth Kingdom inhabitants, though everyone's clothing was rather similar. Drab, brown and gray, sometimes with a little more colour, especially in the case of the more wealthier looking individuals. Nobody looked out of the ordinary, which was frustrating; she was certain the town could not be as mundane as it first looked, given what she had already heard and seen. People were fearful to speak of her, and somebody was drawing graffiti in her name; people knew of her, and she was sure that some people might have favoured her over her brother. But even then, she was more interested in finding those who she already knew had sworn themselves to her, even if it had been before the events of an Agni Kai duel.

She wasn't even considering trying to find those who were in Ba Sing Se, knowing that the Dai Li had either retaken the city, or had brainwashed whoever she had put in charge so it wouldn't even make a difference. Either way, she would need to find her supporters, or try her luck with gathering new ones, which would seem a lot harder when there were already two contenders to the throne; even if her father was in prison, he was alive, and thus, she was not the rightful Fire Lord in the eyes of those that considered him, even if some might believe she was able to rule her nation. Aang tapped her on the shoulder, the Princess glancing toward him, slightly annoyed that he'd taken her away from her focus on the appearances of the people she could see walking by.

"What is it?" she asked, the Avatar simply gesturing toward a few individuals who were wearing drab cloaks, very similar, almost suspiciously so, to those Katara and Aang had worn in the town they had found Ty Lee; they all looked to be young men, none of them older than thirty, and all of them looked a little worse for wear.

She would say they were soldiers, but calling them that wouldn't make sense, given that they were in a town under her brother's rule; they had to be rebels, of some kind, though whether if they were her father's kind, supporters of the Earth Kingdom, or perhaps remnants of her own army, she had no idea.

"They look like Bumi's guys... kinda." the Air Nomad boy acknowledged, the Princess giving him an affirmative nod, watching as the group of men walked by; she waited intently to hear their conversation, and the first thing she heard already sounded suspicious.

"You'd think there'd be more guards." one of them noted, Azula clenching her fist, almost excited by what she had heard.

"This isn't Yu Dao or something. We're in the sticks." another quipped in return, the Princess turning her eyes toward Aang, who was obviously thinking the same thing she was.

"Never mind the guards. Where's the tavern?" one of them joked, making her feel a little less confident in her assumptions; she still held them close, knowing that if she was right, the people she just saw were probably some kind of rebels, perhaps even the kind that would be supportive of her.

She didn't know whether she ought to get up and follow them, but she was interrupted by the sound of her boyfriend's voice, "Guys!" he called out to them, giving a wave, "You won't believe what I found out." he told them, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"No, I'm pretty sure I will." she quipped in return, Sokka cringing slightly, before he stepped closer, standing in front of them.

"Well... I heard these two guys in the tavern. They're Earth Kingdom farmers who've come in to trade or something like that. They were talking with some other people at the tavern about these refugees that have been helping about in their village."

"So?" she raised a hand, to gesture for him to continue, confused why he had stopped speaking.

"So, they think that they're not refugees. At least not the Earth Kingdom type. They think they're Fire Nation, and that they're trying to get away from the colonies because they're rebels."

"Well..." the Princess raised a finger to her chin, "That does correlate with something Aang and I just saw."

"Oh, you guys saw something."

"Suspicious looking guys. Maybe rebels." Aang clarified, gesturing in the way they had gone, "They went that way. Did you want to follow them, Azula?" he asked her, guessing what she might have had in mind.

"Actually, no, I just want to know something first." she conceded, turning to face her boyfriend, "Do you know where these farmers came from?"

"Uh, a village called Hungu." he clarified, "I don't know exactly where it is, but I'd assume it's within a day's walk of here."

"Hmph." she raised a finger to her chin, "Well, we ought to find where this village is, and then we can head off to it."

"Wait, like right now?" Aang asked her, the Princess tilting her head slightly.

"I promised Ty Lee we'd get some komodo rhino for lunch... so maybe not."

"Do we have the money for that?" Sokka asked her, making her shoot him an annoyed glare; he was the one who was usually eager to buy things, so she felt offended that he'd suggest that she was being a spendthrift.

"Excuse me?" she asked him in return, the Water Tribesman clearing his throat.

"Sorry." he mumbled, the Princess waving off his apology.

"I'm the one who's been watching over the budget, so you ought to trust me when it comes to spending." she argued, rather calmly, not wanting to get actually angry with him; she wasn't angry, but he did tend to annoy her, and it was just one of those times.

"Yeah, I think getting one lunch can't be that bad. We still have money left, right?" Aang asked her, to which she smiled.

"Yes, we do. I made sure that we didn't spend much after you and Katara got those disguises... but that investment seems to have paid off. Nobody's looking at you twice."

"Huh, I guess you're right." he patted down his vest, "I look like any Fire Nation twelve year old."

"I'm pretty sure most twelve year olds don't wear headbands, unless they're part of some youth gang." she suggested, not knowing much about such things, only remembering that she had been warned about it at the Academy by her teachers, who told her that delinquency was a great dishonour to oneself and one's family.

"I mean, we're a pretty cool gang, if I say so myself." Sokka sat down beside her with a smug look on his face.

"Where are the other two?" Aang asked Sokka, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Probably still looking around. They'll be here quickly enough." he acknowledged, "So... these guys you saw? They looked like rebels?" he returned them to their previous conversation topic.

"Yes." Azula nodded, "I doubt anyone would wear such drab attire on purpose if they were just travelling to town." she acknowledged, "The cloaks were what made it look really out of place. They were big and clunky, like they were trying to cover their own whole body below their heads."

Her boyfriend raised a finger to his chin, "Yeah, sounds suspicious." he agreed with her, "Did you hear them speak?"

"They said something about going to a tavern." Aang spoke up, the Princess thinking there was one more important thing to add.

"And that there was a lack of guards." she clarified, the Water Tribesman raising his eyebrows up.

"Well, well, it sounds like they could be investigated a little more." he suggested, "Should we go look for them?"

"Perhaps." she conceded, "But, I know that we shouldn't leave without the others knowing where we're going."

"I can wait here, if you like, and then when Katara and Ty Lee get here, we can meet you at the tavern." Aang suggested, the Princess raising a finger, realising there was one flaw in their plan.

"We don't know what tavern they're going to." she noted, "I think we should remain here for the time being. Just, wait, and listen for what the people of this town might have to say."

"I never thought eavesdropping was your style, Azula." Sokka whispered to her.

She pursed one side of her lips upward, acknowledging he had a point, "Oh, you're right, Sokka, but sometimes I need to do things differently, for our safety."

"Following bad people and beating them up when they're at their most vulnerable." he acknowledged, the Princess smirking, remembering their escapade in Ba Sing Se quite fondly, in hindsight.

"That sounds creepy." Aang noted, making him snicker.

"Hey, it's not that weird. They're bad people. We're just the bringers of justice." he assured him, "The Dai Li... they're as dirty my socks right now." he made a rather disgusting comparison, the Princess turning her head away from him, making a face of disgust; the young Avatar seemed to agree with her sentiment.

"Maybe you should wash them." he suggested, the Water Tribesman shrugging his shoulders.

"Maybe you should wash your hair." he quipped in return, Azula relenting to laugh; she knew her boyfriend really did know how to dish out quips when he wanted to.

"My..." he touched his scalp, running his fingers through his very short black hair, "My hair's fine, right?" he asked, the Princess raising a finger.

"I think what Sokka was trying to say is that when you have hair, it is a good habit to regularly wash it, otherwise it will look and smell disgusting." she rephrased his words, the young Avatar nodding.

"Uh, huh." he mumbled, "Well, it doesn't look bad, does it?"

"Good and bad isn't the issue." she shook her head, "I don't care what your hair looks like. As long as it covers what's underneath, it serves its purpose."

"But... does it?" he asked her once more, making her roll her eyes.

He didn't seem to get that she didn't care; she might have been concerned about her own appearance, but she didn't exactly give any interest to his own.

"Did you not listen to a word I just said?" she groaned, Aang turning to face Sokka.

"Does it?" he asked him instead, as Azula didn't care to respond.

"It's fine. It'll look a little less scruffy when it's longer... I wouldn't worry about it." he assured him, the Air Nomad scratching at the back of his scalp.

He turned to face ahead of them, "Uh, okay then." he mumbled, sounding a little nervous; if Aang was nervous about his hair, then he sure hadn't experienced that much stress lately.

Azula was still on the fence whether to judge that as a good sign or not; complacency was the greatest enemy of any good strategist, after all. They had learned some things, and now all they had to do was sit and wait around for the others, something that sounded like an utter waste of time.

"We're getting lunch, right?" her boyfriend spoke up.

"No, not until I've found the village you told me about." the Princess clarified, making him lick his lips, intently glancing off into the distance.

"Well, now I'm really eager to get that map."

"Is food the only thing you think about?" Aang asked him, his tone giving the suggestion he had the same opinion on the matter as Azula did; food was good and all, but Sokka's intent obsession on filling his stomach was at the point of being absurd.

"Yep. And that isn't changing any time soon." he argued, the Avatar furrowing a brow.

"You mean until you eat lunch." he corrected him.

Sokka, just for a moment, looked like he was about to grumble at the twelve year old for being a smartarse, but instead of doing that, he sighed, giving a conceding nod as his shoulders slumped over.

"Uh... yeah, that's what I meant."

* * *

"So what do you eat in the Southern Water Tribe, again?"

Katara turned her head around, realising that Ty Lee had begun talking to her; she was trying to focus in on any idle chit-chat she could hear as they made their way down a busy street, which was lined with various stores and workshops. She had gathered up a few rumours, but nothing much of note, at least that would help Azula find her former supporters. She knew that the acrobat was just trying to make small-talk with her, and instead of giving her a snappy answer to shut her up, like she might have if she had anything better to do, the Water Tribe girl decided to entertain her question instead.

"Well, uh, there's many different kinds of food. Fish, seals, penguins, sea-prunes, seaweed, sometimes squids or other rarer sea creatures, and rarely wolves or polar bear dogs."

"Polar bear dogs?" she asked her, surprised by the mention, her expression becoming almost worried, "Are they like actual dogs? You wouldn't eat something if they're cute, right?"

"I mean, seals can be cute, but that doesn't mean we won't eat them. I'm not as into the whole hunting and killing thing as Sokka, but we eat what we can, when we can." she explained, making the acrobat pout slightly, obviously not liking the idea of eating something if it was cute.

"That's... sad. I wouldn't ever eat anything like a dog. They're just too nice."

"Polar bear dogs are not nice." she stressed, "I know stories of hunters getting mauled or worse by them. Some people explain disappeared hunters by saying polar bear dogs or wolves ate them."

"Eck." Ty Lee cringed back, making a face of disgust, "So, not cute?"

"Yeah, not cute." she nodded, before glancing back ahead, "Should we start going back toward the town square or whatever it was called. I'm sure the others are already finishing up."

"But we didn't find anything." she lamented, her shoulders slumping down as she glanced back, gesturing behind them, "All I heard about was some naked guy and a bridge. That's not what we're looking for."

"I know." she admitted, "But we can't be sure if the others did either. This whole town mightn't have anything."

"Other than a place to get a tasty Fire Nation meal." the acrobat added, making her chuckle.

"That's what Sokka would say." she rolled her eyes, the acrobat striding a little closer, walking alongside her.

"Well, he's not an idiot. He knows where we'd best get food." she argued, the Water Tribe girl trying not to laugh.

"My brother isn't an idiot. But he sure does and says idiotic things from time to time."

"Don't we all?" she grinned at her, Katara scrunching her lips as she considered her words.

"I don't think my thoughts are idiotic..." she mumbled, before her eyes widened, realising what she was implying, "Hey! I know what I'm doing!" she argued, Ty Lee raising her hands up to block Katara's snarl, as if she were about to punch her.

"I never said you didn't... but everyone makes mistakes... even Azula, and she's the greatest Princess ever." she raised a finger, her thoughtful look making the other girl feel a little skeptical; she didn't know how anyone could say something so highly of Azula, even if she was her best friend.

"You really think that?" she asked her, the acrobat looking at her with an enthused grin.

"I know that. But nobody's perfect. What I can say for certain is that she's even better than what she used to be." she added, her tone still happy, though her expression faltered somewhat; something told her that Azula mightn't have been a good person by any measure before her time with Sokka, unless her goodness was measured by her abilities to deceive, bend fire and strategise.

"Yeah... I guessed that." she mumbled, before she decided she'd ask what she'd been wanting to know of her; she didn't know Ty Lee that much, but she could say that she was an acquaintance by that point, somebody that she found trustworthy enough to ask the rather personal question she had in mind, "Can I ask... what was she like?"

"You mean before?" she asked her, the Water Tribe girl giving her a curt nod to confirm, "Well, I mean, she was a lot less happy. Like, she used to get happy about learning a new firebending form, or when she excelled in a test at school, but usually, she was just... bleh." she explained, Katara unable to hold back a giggle at that specific description.

"Just bleh?" she asked, the other girl nodding, almost grimacing as she did so, before her expression brightened.

"She was confident, and cool and always ready to outclass everyone, but she wasn't like me. And I had my own problems at home."

"I'm sure your problems weren't like hers." she conceded, having heard only fragments about Azula's childhood, but she could understand from those that her childhood had been anything but sweet and happy.

"They weren't. But having six sisters who look and act pretty similarly to you is really annoying after fourteen years." she acknowledged, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow at that specific mention of her age.

"Was that when you left for the circus?" she asked, realising that was when she must have gone.

"Yep. That was nearly three years ago." she conceded, "That was the last time I had seen Azula."

"Did you miss her?" she asked, the acrobat nodding, her eyes filled with a look she hadn't seen before- it was regret, or a similar kind of pain.

"Yeah... but I knew she had her own things to do. I didn't worry that much, but when I heard about the shipwreck, I was worried, and when i heard about Yu Dao, my sisters had to stop me from going north to go find her. I didn't want her to be hurt, and alone. But I know she wasn't, 'cause she had Sokka."

"I know that." she nodded, "But Azula, back when you still saw her- did she ever care? I mean like how she does for Sokka." she clarified, the other girl's eyes narrowing.

"She cared about Mai and I. No matter what she might tell you... I know she did. We were her best friends- we told each other everything... well, mostly me and Azula, Mai was pretty quiet."

"Like what?" she asked, the acrobat making a puzzled look.

"You want gossip from like four years ago?" she asked in clarification, the Water Tribe girl shrugging her shoulders; she just wanted to understand the enigma that was Princess Azula, and if that was what she could get from Ty Lee, she'd take it.

"Uh... yeah, I guess." she confirmed, the acrobat placing a hand on her shoulder, her expression shifting from one of interest to enthusiasm.

"So, when we were at school, we were the top girls. Everyone respected us, because we had Azula, and she was the Princess. When she actually became Crown Princess, that was because-" she began, the Water Trbe girl raising a hand.

"You don't need to defame the Fire Lord in public." she warned her, her eyes widening for a moment as her jaw dropped.

"Oh, yeah, that's a thing." she noted, before shaking her head, returning back to her story, "So, anyway, when she was formally made her father's heir, Azula demanded that every single student bow to her in respect whenever they came across her, and all the girls had to comply." she explained, making Katara giggle- that certainly sounded like Azula.

"That's Azula for you." she smiled, the other girl's lips widening into a grin, obviously finding her story quite amusing.

"Yeah, that's right. well, the gossip part was that Azula had found out some girls didn't want to bow to her. So she found them at lunch time, and oh... it was hilarious. They were on the pavement, hands to the ground. She didn't have to say much either. I didn't see it myself, but I saw the aftermath- those girls were afraid of her for the rest of the school year."

"Yeah... that's not surprising." she conceded, knowing that the description she had given of the Princess, though amusing, was suggesting that her behaviours of power-play were even worse; she could see how a girl like that got to the point of basically forcing her brother to be her servant, though a well treated servant at that.

Katara realised that they had gotten to the end of the street, meaning that they only had to turn left, and they would be heading right toward the town square, "This way, right?"

The acrobat gave her an affirmative nod, and took the lead, increasing her pace, "I'm sure they're waiting for us."

"I'm sure Aang's feeling uncomfortable... somehow." she guessed; the Princess had a knack for making situations awkward, whether through saying something disturbing, or acting so cold and serious that it scared everyone talking with her.

Following after Ty Lee, she made her way down the street, eyeing the people she walked by; they didn't take a second look at her, suggesting that her disguise had paid off well- she looked like any other Fire Nation girl, even if she was swarthy. She had seen a few FIre Nation colonials in the towns they had already visited that were of a similar complexion to her, so she realised that it might be relatively easy to play herself off as being from the colonies. She didn't see anyone who looked overly suspicious, either; in thinking about her own watchful gaze, she realised she was acting a little hypocritically, being disguised as a colonial when in fact she was Water Tribe, looking for people that were disguised as civilians that might actually be rebel fighters. Glancing ahead, she realised that they were quickly approaching the town square, and kept her eyes focused on it, trying to spot out her friends, if they were indeed waiting for them; before she could find them, Ty Lee pointed out to their left, and she took note of Sokka, Azula and Aang, all sitting on a bench by the edge of the square.

"There they are." she simply acknowledged, striding across the square toward them; they immediately took note of the pair, and the young Avatar giddily waved at them.

When they got close enough, Aang got up from his seat, and looked at them with an eager expression, "Did you guys find anything?"

"Uh... not really." Katara conceded, "Did you?"

"Well... yes. But Sokka got a real good lead." he gestured to her brother, who glanced up, looking out with an indifferent expression on his face before he realised he was being talked to.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I did. There's a village where, according to some people I overheard, there might be some refugees, refugees that they think have fled because they don't support Zuko."

"Whether that's my people or will take an investigation to discern." Azula added, "But we need to find out where the village is. It's called Hungu, and I assume that it's nearby, but without a map, we'd just be blindly flying around on Appa."

"What about lunch, though?" Ty Lee asked, Sokka raising a hand toward her.

"Exactly, what about lunch?"

"After we get the map." Azula chided them both, who pouted with disappointment; Katara giggled at their reactions, but turned to face Aang, feeling a little concerned, given how she had acted in past, how the Princess had treated him.

"Now, Aang, did she make you feel uncomfortable while we were gone?" she asked him, his eyes widening with surprise.

"What?" the referred individual growled, obviously offended by the suggestion she was going to make him feel uncomfortable, "I did not do such a thing."

"Uh, no, she didn't." Aang almost laughed, scratching the back of his scalp, "Some random guys did, though."

"How?" Ty Lee raised a brow, "Were they acting all inappropriate in public?" she asked, Katara looking at her with amusement; she guessed she was thinking of the story about the man who had run around naked.

"You mean if they were naked?"

"N-no!" Aang almost squealed, shocked by such a suggestion, which proved that the acrobat's guess was far off, "They just were talking about how some people got executed for supporting Azula's dad."

The Water Tribe girl's jaw dropped, as she tried to think of a response, "Well, that's not a complete surprise." she acknowledged.

"They were all trying to kill each other at sea. They must do it on land too." Sokka deduced, his sister wincing at the comment.

"That's not our issue." Azula spoke up, "We're looking for this village." she refocused their conversation, standing up as she turned to face Sokka, "Are we going to go find that map?"

"I want lunch, so yes, let's go." he told her as he stood up, turning his heels and immediately beginning to walk to their left, toward the street that led off in that direction.

"Uh, Sokka, do you know where you're going?" Aang asked him, the Water Tribesman raising one of his eyebrows as he came to a halt, obviously realising that he did not know where to find a map; Katara wanted to laugh at his twitching eyebrow as he tried to restrain his annoyance.

"You don't know where we have to go, do you, Aang?" he retorted with a cold voice; she could tell that he wasn't that angry, but he wanted to make sure.

"Uh... no." he acknowledged, the young Avatar turning to face Azula, "Do you?"

"I can make an educated guess." she argued, gesturing in the direction Sokka had been walking, "We need to find some kind of general store. The kind that would be tending to the need of travellers. Travellers need maps, don't they?"

"Maybe some people just walk around with no plan of where they're going." Ty Lee suggested, Aang chuckling.

"Yeah, that's called being a nomad." he clarified, reminding them that he was indeed one of those people.

Aang did have possession of a map, though not a very detailed one, as it showed the entire world, meaning that it had the constraint of not being able to describe every single thing they might find across the wide expanse of the Earth Kingdom. Katara didn't understand them very well, not having had a need for them until she had hopped on Appa's saddle and flown away from her home for the very first time. She didn't need a map in the South Pole, only travelling where she knew she could get home from.

"I call that wasting time." Azula narrowed her eyes at the Avatar, before striding forward, following after her boyfriend, "Let's go."

Ty Lee tugged on her arm, suggesting for her to follow; she was intending to do just that, and made her way behind the Princess, striding alongside the acrobat and the youngest member of their group, who seemed to be slightly offended by her words.

"Being a nomad isn't that bad." he mumbled, "I get to see cool places, and cool things." he argued, though quietly, his words seemingly addressed to nobody.

"Some people just like a solid grounding." Ty Lee conceded, "I agree with you Aang. Being free to go where you want when you want is something that is great for some- other people just want somewhere where they can feel safe and comfortable."

"Like a warm igloo." Katara smiled, thinking back to her home.

She realised that she did miss it, even if she liked the experiences she had had so far; perhaps not all of them, but she'd certainly had some fun, something she didn't think would be possible, at first.

"Your igloo was pretty warm." Aang conceded, before turning to face her, his expression a little more serious than before, "Do you like travelling?"

"I mean, it's a little straining at times, but all these new places- it has its benefits." she admitted, Ty Lee intervening to give her own opinion as she stepped between the two of them.

"I love travelling!" she exclaimed, "I especially like the part where we get to fly on Appa. He's so nice, and soaring above the clouds... it's the coolest thing, honestly." she admitted, the Water Tribe girl chuckling at her wide grin.

She too had found it to be an amazing experience at first, but even something like flying up in the sky could become mundane and boring. After their first long flight across from the Southern Air Temple to Kyoshi Island, she decided that she preferred to sleep while they were on Appa, and if not, preoccupy herself with things like sewing up clothes.

"Well, at least you're not afraid of it." Aang conceded, "Some people who've flown on Appa haven't wanted to do it again."

"How could they?" she gasped, shocked by the suggestion, "I can't believe somebody wouldn't think it was great. Like come on, you're flying all the way up there." she gestured to the sky above them, Katara raising a finger to her lips.

"A little quieter. I know nobody probably gets what we're talking about, but if we talk about flying too much, we might get the wrong attention." she warned the acrobat, who cringed slightly, making a curt nod after she considered her actions.

"Sorry guys." she apologised, "I just can't believe someone wouldn't like flying on Appa."

"Motion sickness, I think. Some people's stomachs just can't take it." he noted, the other girl nodding along.

"Uh-huh, that makes sense, actually." she conceded, before turning her eyes ahead for a moment, glancing to Sokka and Azula, who were walking alongside each other, though they didn't seem to be talking at that very moment.

"Are you still obsessed with their relationship?" Katara joked, making the acrobat laugh off her words.

"Of course not... it's just gossip, Katara." she reminded her of what they had been talking about not too long before that.

"Ah, yes, gossip." she raised a finger to her chin, smirking approvingly; Ty Lee wanted to know everything about her friend's love-life, and seeing that she could simply observe it from a short distance, it wasn't very hard for her to achieve her aims, though she would admit, it did come off as a little stalkerish.

"I wonder what excuse they'll use to get away from us." she raised a finger to her chin, making Katara giggle; she knew that her brother did have a romantic side, and though he didn't try to show it in front of them, he certainly wanted to make time for his girlfriend.

It wasn't that hard when they were stuck together all the time, but that didn't mean they wouldn't want to have more private time to themselves. Standing a few strides ahead of them wasn't exactly private for Sokka and Azula, and she knew that; she thought they ought to deserve a little time to themselves, though she knew that somebody would say something if one or both of them wanted the other three of them to scatter off.

She sighed, knowing that her brother was almost lucky in a way; no matter her opinion of Azula, she knew that they cared for each other, even if she openly mocked him. It was clearly playful, and she did it with them all, because it was her way of being friendly without actually trying to be nice; a counter-intuitive method, but a way nonetheless. She knew that she would want something like that for herself some day, but until she found the right person, or perhaps, the right person found her, she would remain by her lonesome, at least in the most personal sense. She still expected to be stuck with her friends, and she had a feeling that their little group would only get larger, given Aang's dead set intentions to have Toph be his master. She chuckled at the thought of seeing the snarky earthbender again, knowing that she would be a more amusing member to join the group; as snarky as the Princess, but far less cold and serious- the kind of person that she could probably get along with.

Ty Lee tapped on her shoulder, snapping Katara out of her idle glancing, turning to face the acrobat for a moment, who gestured ahead, indicating that Sokka and Azula had made a left turn; the three of them followed after the couple, turning around the corner, finding them standing outside of a store, talking to each other quietly. They both stopped talking as soon as the acrobat approached, the Princess turning to face her with a rather indifferent look on her face.

"This store looks promising. We're going to head inside. You don't have to, if you just wanted to loiter instead." she suggested, Aang shaking his head as he stepped forward.

"Nah, there might be something else useful inside. We could find something even better than a map."

"What's better than a map?" Sokka raised a brow with interest, the Avatar becoming nervous as he realised all the attention was on him.

"Oh, uh, information?" he told them with an uncertain voice, the Princess raising her chin, seemingly proud of his response.

"You're right, though I doubt we'll find anything here. Good thinking, though." she commended him, before stepping inside, pushing the door open; Sokka and Aang both followed after her, leaving Ty Lee and Katara standing outside.

"You going in?" she asked the acrobat, who nodded.

"Uh, yeah, I don't have anything better to do. Plus, lunch comes after we find a map." she added, making her chuckle; maybe it was just because she wasn't as hungry as the rest of them, having eaten a good amount of poor tasting but filling rice before they had set off to the town.

Following her inside, Katara stepped through the doorway, which rang out a little bell as the door was pushed open, obviously to tell whoever ran the store that there were customers inside. She glanced down the aisle she could see ahead of her, noting that Aang was idly looking at some merchandise while the couple had already gone further into the store, intent on finding a map. She made her way down another aisle, deciding that she'd help in the efforts to find a map, if only to make sure her brother didn't complain about food any longer- that was something she was sure she would quickly stop tolerating now that they were all back together.

Scanning along the shelves, she saw various items, such as bags of basic dried foods, as well as boxes full of what she assumed were camping supplies, though they were nothing like the ones she used; the Water Tribe liked to keep things simple, while the Fire Nation, with all their industrial power, decided to use it to make things like wooden boxes for spark rocks and kindling. She understood the function, but it just didn't make sense to put so much effort into its presentation. She tried to ignore the weirdness of Fire Nation design, and instead focus on finding what they had set out to. She couldn't see any maps, at least not from where she was standing. Heaps of random supplies, and even some paper, which she assumed was used by people to write letters or journals. Not that Katara had even considered anything like that. It wasn't like they had an abundance of paper at the South Pole, anyway, so she had the complete opposite of an incentive to do such a thing.

"Where is it?" she heard her brother grumbling in the distance, "They can't just be walking around the wilderness blind."

"That's why roads exist, idiot." she heard Azula chide him, making her giggle; even Katara could admit that she did have good points, at times.

The Water Tribe girl returned her focus to looking alongside the shelves, deciding to kneel down to get a better look at the lower shelves; she came across a stamped scroll with Fire Nation insignia- if that wasn't official stuff, she didn't know what would be. Pulling it out, she glanced at what looked to be freshly printed scroll, though it was clearly locked by design, probably to stop thefts; though she couldn't be sure it was a map, she could ask either Azula or Sokka, who would have a better idea in that regard.

Standing up, she flinched back as she realised that the Princess was standing right in front of her, "Ah!" she almost squealed, silencing herself before she embarrassed herself further.

"So, you found something. I have a feeling you're the more observant sibling." she suggested, making her boyfriend look at her with a betrayed look.

"A-Azula..." he mumbled her name, crossing his arms, "I can't believe you some times."

"Yeah, me either." Katara agreed with him, rising up to stand once more, handing Azula the scroll, as she had her hand out, waiting to receive it.

She scanned it for a few moments, before tilting her head upward, looking in the direction of the counter, "I'm sure the woman at the counter can tell us if this is a local map or not. I'm sure it was commissioned by the Fire Nation Army, given the insignia, so I have a feeling that this is the kind of thing we're looking for."

"Oh, did Katara find it?" she heard Ty Lee ask out, the Princess nodding as she stepped closer to her friend.

"I think so. I'll have it checked, and then we can purchase it."

"And then... lunch." Sokka licked his lips, "Komodo rhino... no, fried and spicy komodo rhino." he specified his desired meal.

"I could go for that." the acrobat grinned, even Azula tilting her head to consider the offer.

"I concur." she agreed, her boyfriend's jaw dropping with surprise.

"Sorry... did you just agree with me?" he asked her, almost looking like he was about to laugh; it wasn't often that the two of them agreed on the matter of food- Fire Nation cuisine seemed to be the one thing they could both agree upon.

"I'm not eating week old reheated rice for the third day in a row." she quipped, before gesturing for them to follow, "Now, come on." she told them, the three of them following after the Princess as she approached the counter.

She cleared her throat, catching the attention of the woman who had been sitting by the counter, idly looking at a piece of paper, "Oh..." she mumbled her eyes focusing on the rolled up document Azula held in her hand, "Did you want to purchase that?"

"I want to know what it is." she asked, the clerk raising a brow, before she chuckled.

"It's a map, obviously." she rolle dher eyes, obviously thinking the Princess's question to be stupid, seeing that it was self-evident what she was holding in her hands; Katara thought for a moment that she might have gotten annoyed and quipped back at the clerk, but she simply placed the rolled up map on the counter.

"Does it show the local area?"

"It's a regional map of the northern colonies." she clarified, before giving her an affirmative gesture toward the map, "Yes. It shows everything around here. Is there somewhere you're trying to get to, girl?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular. I'd rather just stay on the right roads. That's all." she lied, the clerk glancing along, taking note of the rest of them; the Water Tribe girl turned away, not wanting to be stared at, especially given the woman was Fire Nation, and certainly rude.

"You kids get here by yourselves?" she asked her, the Princess raising a brow, looking rather skeptical of her question.

"How much does it cost?" she simply asked her, refuting her question by flat out ignoring it.

"Sixty five ban." she told her, the Princess looking at her idly, with a slight glare, for a few moments, silently telling Katara that she was not happy with the price.

"Fine." she conceded to the price, picking a few silver coins out her pocket, "How'd you get the maps, anyway?"

"Bought them from the town barracks. They're for the Fire Nation Army, but they're willing to sell to Fire Nation civilians for travel purposes." she explained, before raising a brow, "You're all Fire Nation, right?"

Azula cleared her throat, obviously thinking what would be the right response, before Ty Lee interceded, pointing first to herself, "Homeland," to her friend, "homeland," then back to the two Water Tribe siblings, "colonies," then finally back around toward Aang, who wasn't visible at that moment, probably still glancing about the shelves, "And our other friend, he's from the homeland too."

"Uh... okay then." the clerk mumbled, obviously surprised by her forward response; Katara was simply glad that she could bullshit so effectively- the cheeriness that she always had on her face was very good for disguising blatant lies, it seemed.

The Princess placed the currency on the counter, and in return, the clerk pulled out a small, blunt knife, flicking it through the stamp that closed the map into its roll. She then pushed the map forward, which unrolled it, revealing it in all its detailed glory to Katara; though she didn't really understand it at first, she could clearly recognise the shapes of the coastlines that were in common with the larger scale map Aang owned. As soon as it was revealed, Azula rolled it back up, and raised her left hand upward, gesturing toward Sokka, without even looking his way; he stepped over, and took the map into his hands, sliding it into the bag he had slung around his shoulder.

"Is that all you'll be getting today?" the lady asked them once more, the Princess shooting her a contemptuous glare.

"That's all." she told her with a seemingly indifferent voice, but her expression showed clearly that the woman had annoyed her.

She turned to face Ty Lee and Katara, before tilting her head toward the door, telling them that they were going to leave; with that, she followed after the Princess and her brother, who led them to the door, which made a ringing noise once more as they opened it. Aang paced up behind them, obviously just having realised that they were about to leave, eagerly smiling at the group.

"So you got the map?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl giving him an affirmative nod.

"Yeah, and now we're going for lunch." she confirmed, the Avatar licking his lips.

"So, Fire Nation food?" he asked, Ty Lee turning around to face him with a grin.

"That's right. The best food in the world."

"That's arguable." the Water Tribe girl added, Azula turning around to face her as she made her way out of the door.

"It is indeed arguable that is the best. Spices. Fine meats. Crisp texture and soft, chewy insides." she listed off the things she thought were good about Fire Nation cuisine.

"And varying degrees of setting your tongue on fire." Sokka added, making Aang and Katara both snicker, agreeing with the sentiment; she had tried the meal she had procured for Azula back when they had taken down the Southern Raiders together, and she didn't approve of the strong, spicy flavour, though it seemed that her brother did, even if he was presently making a joke of said flavour.

"Do you want me to actually set your tongue on fire so you can make a reasoned comparison?" the Princess offered, raising her finger toward her boyfriend, which might have had a blue torch on the end of it, had they not been in public.

"Uh... no thanks." he refused her absurd offer, pacing along down the street, "Where are we gonna eat, anyway?"

"You were at a tavern just before." Azula argued, gesturing around them, "Where was that?"

"Uh, back that way." he gestured in the opposite direction to which they were heading, "I thought you were going to try something a little more fancy."

"We're trying to save money, not have a meal rightfully fit for mine and Aang's positions." she argued, Ty Lee snickering, obviously taking her words as a joke.

"That's a good one, Zula." she pointed at her friend approvingly.

"That wasn't a joke." she narrowed her eyes, the acrobat shrugging her shoulders.

"Still funny." she added, the Princess rolling her eyes before she began to pace in the direction Sokka had pointed.

"Let's go to this tavern. If it's really just crappy peasant food then we'll go somewhere nicer, I promise, on my honour as a Princess."

"Hmmm... what can you tolerate?" Sokka made a puzzled face, before smirking, "Quite a lot- you ate Water Tribe food for six months straight."

"And hated every minute of it." she snarled, before raising a finger, "Though, your grandmother was a good cook. Better than Katara."

"Hey!" she growled, "I didn't mean to stuff up the komodo rhino."

"I wasn't talking about that. That was old navy rations, not your cooking." she clarified, making her narrow her eyes, her offence not lessened by the Princess's addition of information.

"Shut up." she demanded calmly of her, before she turned her eyes away, not wanting to have to look at her as she derided her cooking abilities; she was the one who worked all the time to try and make sure they were fed, and to be insulted just made her wish there was some water nearby so she could show the Princess how she'd perfected the water whip.

"Azula, that was a little mean." Ty Lee commented, coming to Katara's side, which surprised her somewhat.

"I was complimenting her grandmother's cooking, not insulting her." she argued, the Water Tribe girl crossing her arms; she was certainly insulting her, and her second comment proved it.

"Spirits please, don't fight right now." Sokka asked of them, his voice sounding genuinely afraid, though he tried to cover it up with a stern look, "If you really want, we can go find some field where you two can spar... but please, Katara, don't throw a snowball at her- that'll just get the wrong attention."

"I agree with Sokka." Aang added, "This is not a good place to argue." he glanced around them, nervously looking at pedestrians who were walking behind them.

"Wait, Aang, where's Momo?" he asked, seeming out of the blue, the young Avatar's expression shifting to one one confusion.

"Huh, now that you mention it, he wasn't on Appa's saddle. Maybe he went off to look for some snacks."

"If he's been eating all our other food... I'm going to have a fit."

"That'd be fun to watch." Katara admitted, "Though you really love complaining after you get angry, so maybe not."

"Everybody's loving the insults today." Ty Lee observed, "I think you're all in dire need of some good lunch."

"Hear, hear." Sokka raised a hand to agree with her, before he pointed it ahead of them, down the length of the street, toward an intersection in the relatively narrow street they were walking down, "I think we take a right turn here and it'll be up ahead."

Her brother's assumption was correct, and as they turned around the corner, she was able to make sight of the tavern, which stood out as a free standing building of exceptional size, amongst the rest of the buildings on the street. As they made their way toward it, she turned her focus to it's entrance, where she could see a board of wanted posters; Azula's expression had clearly shifted upon seeing them, obviously knowing that her face would be among them. Katara's suspicion was confirmed as she neared the doors of the tavern, noting that the couple had come to a halt to gaze at the wanted posters. Azula's face was there, and her bounty was written right there for all to see: the Fire Lord would endow a personal thanks and fulfil the wishes of any person who is able to return his sister to him, alive, as well as a lot of ban- twenty thousand to be exact. Katara guessed that was a lot of money, though she really didn't have any way to qualify that assumption. If her clothes were three hundred and fifty ban, then twenty thousand had to be quite a lot.

"Wow, okay, that's a lot of money." Ty Lee mumbled, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"You're obviously not acquainted with the Fire Nation Treasury." she joked, Sokka raising a brow.

"Huh, good point. How much money is that... I mean out of all the money he has?"

"Barely anything." Azula simply told him, before pointing down to some smaller text by the bottom of the document, "I think that was what you were looking for, Sokka."

Leaning down to look at what she had gestured to, Sokka murmured under his breath for a few seconds before his expression turned to one of excitement, "Finally! I have done something noteworthy! Literally!" he gestured to the document, "She is accompanied by a Water Tribesman of lanky build, swarthy complexion, who is also to be captured on site, accused of the crime of aiding and abetting the enemies of the Fire Nation, and assaulting the Fire Lord." he read it outloud, grinning as he turned around to face them, "Did you hear that? I'm on a wanted poster."

"I don't think that's a good thing." Aang conceded, making the cocky Water Tribe warrior shake his head, stepping forward to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh that's where you're wrong. I'll be able to use it to mock the Fire Nation once Azula becomes Fire Lord. From wanted criminal to the Fire Lord's most trusted advisor." he declared confidently, pointing toward his chest, his girlfriend immediately whacking him right in his face with her knuckles; he grunted in pain as he stumbled back, landing on the board of wanted posters.

"Ow! What was that for?" he growled at her with a muffled voice as he covered his now bleeding nose.

"If you spoke any louder we would have had a mob on us you fucking moron. Did you learn nothing from Fuchang?" she held back a shout, snarling at him with a frustrated glare, "Please, just shut up." she demanded, Sokka slumping down on the board, as he realised how much he had annoyed his girlfriend.

"I agree." Aang nodded, "That was a really bad idea."

"As do I," Katara added, before looking at her brother with a disappointed look, "but you already knew that."

"Yeah, I did." he mumbled, with a disenchanted and clearly pained voice, glancing toward the Princess as she walked into the tavern, pushing its front doors open as she strode inside.

She approached her brother, eyeing him for a moment, before tilting her head toward the doorway, waiting for him while Aang and Ty Lee walked inside, "Come on, Sokka. I'm sure she's not that angry."

"I really act like an idiot sometimes." he mumbled, before he let go of his nose, turning to face her, "Sometimes I just wish I'd shut up."

"I do too." she agreed with him, which obviously offended him, though he just laughed her words off.

"Ha, ha." he made a monotonous laugh, "Very funny."

She reached an arm out toward him, "Come on, don't be so thick-headed. I'm sure Azula will forgive you soon enough, especially if you let her beat you up this afternoon."

"I thought you wanted to fight her?" he raised a brow, making the Water Tribe girl scoff; though she'd like to test her skills, she doubted she could stand a chance against the agile and tact Princess.

"I'm not that cocky." she crossed her arms, "But, I'll watch. One day, I want to be able to beat her."

"That's going to be a funny day." he made a light snicker, which suggested she'd gotten him in a little better mood; he accepted her hand, and she helped him back up to his full height, "But is there anyway you could beat lightning-bending?"

"We'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Looking up toward the clouds above them, Aang couldn't help smile at how pretty they were; the scattering of the late afternoon sun through the clouds was something he found to be rather entrancing as he lay on Appa's saddle. He wasn't concerning himself with where they were flying, or what they might find when they arrived, but rather just taking a moment to appreciate the calm world they had for themselves up on top of his sky-bison. There were full stomachs abound, and there was no shouting to be heard. A little earlier in the day, before they had gone flying, the group had done some sparring, out in the woods, nearby the town they had visited; Azula had clearly come out on top, though he wasn't surprised by that in the slightest. His and Katara's waterbending had improved greatly since they first began learning, and they were both capable of using all of the basic forms with increasing speed and precision; chi blocking was just as dangerous as before, and Aang found that the only way to stop it was to evade.

His bending style had never been very offensive based, so he found it challenging to go off against Ty Lee and Sokka, the former's acrobatics and the latter's mastery of a multitude of weapons making them both dangerous opponents. He could beat them both, though by beat, he could only really knock them down or throw them around a little bit, not actually incapacitate them or anything of the likes. Going against Katara was even harder, as it was much harder to evade water whips; even if he could bend the element himself, her rapid movements were hard to predict, let alone find a chance to bend her water. He didn't even consider Azula, who he couldn't face head on, due to the overwhelming strength she wielded; her acrobatic skills meant it was harder to push her away or knock her down with airbending, and he found the only effective tactic to be to use his staff as a means of dispersing her attacks, and waterbending shields when possible.

His thoughts about bending stopped when he saw Ty Lee's head peer over his own, "Aang." she addressed him, the young Avatar's eyes widening, raising a hand to cover the sun's rays as to get a better look of her expression.

He realised that she had an eager smile on her face, "Uh, yeah, did something happen?" he asked her, the acrobat gesturing ahead of him, the young Avatar raising his head up from the saddle.

Though he had to cover his face from the sun as he faced it nearly head on, he was able to see what she was pointing to; ahead of them, in the distance, lay a village, presumably Hungu. It sprawled over a few small hills, by the side of a river, and was surrounded by even more mountainous hinterland, the peaks of said mountains interspersed with patches of snow that brightly reflected the afternoon sun's rays. He made a small smile, realising that they were about to arrive in the village; whether they would find what Azula was looking for was still unknown, but the fact they had arrived was good enough news for him. He grasped the bandana, which he had tied around one of the handles on Appa's saddle, and put it back around his forehead. Turning to face his friends, he noticed that they were all rather tired, and that made sense; sparring tired people out, and they had done so for a few hours. He wasn't that tired, given he had been resting on the saddle ever since they got up into the air; Katara yawned, and idly glanced in the direction of the village.

"Huh... so are we going to drop Appa down?" she asked him, the Avatar's eyebrows rising up, remembering the fact that they had to get his sky-bison out of sight.

They didn't want the villagers to realise that they were who they were; even if there weren't bounties for him out yet, Aang had a feeling after his escapade with the Fire Navy, he certainly would be getting some posters up sooner rather than later. Azula raised her head up from the saddle, and glanced over the same way the Water Tribe girl had and gestured downward.

"Are you deaf? We need to get down." she chided him, the Avatar raising his hands up to assure them that he was listening, before he turned himself around picking up Appa's reins and pulling them downward, indicating for the sky-bison to drop down toward the ground.

"Come on buddy, just down to the ground and then you can rest for the rest of the day." he told his friend, who groaned positively, obviously liking the sound of resting even more.

They had flown only twice that day, once in the early morning to reach the town they had visited for lunch and finding intelligence, and then later in the afternoon, the flight that was just coming to an end. Flying bison could stay in the air for days at a time, but he knew that would unnecessarily strain Appa out; he didn't want to be mean to his bison, who deserved all the rest he could get. He reminded himself that he ought to treat him to some more food and maybe a little clean when they next visited a nice flowing river. The village they were moving toward did have a small stream running through it, but that was about it, and it certainly wasn't big enough to clean a massive, six-legged creature with. As they moved down into the lightly wooded area just below the village, he aimed Appa to land by a rock formation where they could take cover and set up camp; the sky-bison settled his feet down on the light, fluffy green grass, and immediately took a bite from it, before he settled himself down.

Patting him on the neck, he turned to face his friends, "See, we're good. Now we can set up camp and go look at his village."

"Oh, we weren't just going to camp and do that tomorrow?" Sokka raised a brow, having been half-asleep until they began their descent.

"No." his girlfriend simply refuted his question, "We need to check what's here. Because if it's just nothing, I'd rather we leave at daybreak tomorrow, so we can visit some more of the villages and towns on this map." she raised the map up in her hand, "We're still heading in the direction of the North Pole, but we can't waste anymore time. We already spent the afternoon sparring, when we could have been flying."

"But you said you wanted to spar, Zula." Ty Lee argued, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"I did. That doesn't mean we can do something like that everyday. Training our bending and other skills, perhaps for a short period in the afternoons and mornings, but other than that, we need to keep moving." she argued, before turning her gaze to Aang, "You agree with me, don't you?"

"I mean... I don't know if I'm the best judge." he conceded, "I'm twelve, remember?"

"I don't think I could forget." she sighed, before rising up from the saddle, "Well, what is it then? Are we going to set up and check out this village, or do it in the opposite order?"

"Tents are easier to set up when you're awake." Sokka declared, pulling himself up, "Let's just get it done. Then I can rest while you wander off and do your investigating."

"But I thought you said you loved investigating." Aang prodded him, the Water Tribesman sighing.

"Why do you have to use my own arguments against me?" he sighed, before he grasped the edge of the saddle, jumping down to the ground; he fell into a crouched position, rising up and stretching out his arms and legs.

As he turned back to face them, he gestured to be given a bag, Katara reaching over to pick up one of the tent bags and throwing it down into her brother's arms; he grunted as he received it, and Aang decided he ought to help on the matter of setting up their camp. He climbed over to the back of the saddle and picked up the bag that contained all of their cooking equipment and jumped down with it in his arms, using his airbending to soften his fall. He paced over to the centre of the small clearing they had landed in and placed the bag down, realising they'd probably need to make a campfire as well, if they were to be cooking some of their food for dinner. They certainly had enough rice and dried food, like nuts and jerky to eat for dinner, though he guessed it wouldn't be the nicest meal to eat.

He turned back around and saw Azula picking up another tent bag, taking it into her arms as she began to climb down via Appa's tail; he glanced over to see that Ty Lee had picked up two sleeping rolls, and he raised a hand, gesturing for her to hand him one. She cocked a smirk, throwing one of the bags over-arm right at him; Aang lifted his hands up in front of his face, using his airbending grab hold of the bag, which he shot up into the air above him before he allowed it to drop down into his hands. Looking back toward the saddle, he took note that both Ty Lee and Katara were climbing down with bags in hand, suggesting that they had gotten all of the bags off of the saddle, or at least those that would be of use to them. He turned around and noticed that Sokka was setting up one of the tents, or more accurately, taking out its parts from the bag he had taken. The young Avatar approached him with a smile, offering his help without a word.

He acknowledged his presence with a cock of his chin, "Aang." he simply addressed him, before he pulled out the rolled up mat from the bag, "Could you just quickly get all those pins into the ground?" he requested, Aang giving him an affirmative smile as he approached, kneeling down beside the bag, out of which he pulled the bone pins that would be used to hold the canvas in place.

Taking the pins into his hands, he began by jamming each of them into the soil, digging through the grass that lay across the surface; once each was deep enough, he moved along to the next, all while Sokka propped up the frame of the tent. Once he had pulled out the canvas and dusted it off, Aang had already gotten the pins in place, and the Water Tribesman indicated toward the end he wasn't holding for him to pick up. Taking it into his hands, the pair moved the canvas over the frame, before both of them knelt down, pulling the canvas over the center pole in the process. As he knelt over, the young Avatar tied the pins to the canvas, tightening the canvas and holding it in place. After rising back to his feet, he glanced over toward the others, who were preparing the other tent.

"Do we need to get some sticks for a campfire?" he asked out, Katara glancing back his way, shaking her head.

"Not yet. We won't need the fire until we start cooking." she noted, the young Avatar turning to face Sokka.

"So, we're going to the village?" he asked him, the Water Tribesman shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess." he mumbled, "We better be quick, though. Once we have dinner, I'm going to sleep. That sparring really tired me out." he added, trying to justify his laziness; the sun was still above the horizon, so Aang couldn't see why he'd want to already go to bed.

He turned around, pacing over to the other tent, which Azula and Katara had just finished propping up, while Ty Lee had placed down everyone's bedding in between the two tents, along with their bag of food and cookery. The acrobat turned to face him, obviously having the same idea in mind as he did.

"So, we're going to check out the village?" she asked him, the Avatar smiling, glad that she was a little more enthusiastic about it.

Even though he wasn't as determined as the Princess was on finding her supporters, he knew that doing so would help them out greatly, ensuring that they had some more friends. Fire Nation ones were actually going to be very useful in the long run, considering that to establish peace, he needed a bit more support to his efforts than the Southern Water Tribe and a powerful, but small group of Earth Kingdom rebels.

"Yeah, and then we can see if these rumours are true." he added, knowing that there was still a chance they'd taken a false lead.

"They're most likely true." the Princess spoke up as she finished putting the canvas in place, "As I said, a whole army can't disappear."

"Yeah, I got that." Aang nodded, before turning to face Katara, who was just checking out the tent, to ensure it was properly set up, "So, are you coming too, Katara?"

"Uh, yeah." she nodded, dusting herself off, before stepping forward, "Luckily I didn't change out of my disguise." she noted, "Are you all ready to go?" she asked the others, Azula instinctively raising a hand to her bangs, which she had readjusted after they left the town; Aang was amused that she had so much attachment to that specific part of her hairstyle, and she sighed as she pulled her tresses out, pulling the bangs back with the rest of her hair into a low bun.

She stepped closer to him and gestured up in the direction of the village, "Let's go." she confirmed that she was indeed ready to go, before she turned to face Sokka, "That includes you, lazy-bum." she added, making him pout exaggeratedly at her.

"Aw... come on." he grumbled, before rising back up to his feet, "This better not take too long."

"The village can't be that big. We'll just say we're travelling through, and we want to see if there's any places to get supplies. Start conversations, and hopefully, these people won't be too suspicious and will tell us what we want to know."

"How do you know they're going to talk about your missing army?" the Water Tribe girl asked her, understandably skeptical that they'd get exactly what they wanted to find just by small talk.

"If I know anything about small villages like this one, it's that the locals will talk about the most interesting things. And I'm pretty sure the most interesting thing is going to be a number of Fire Nation 'refugees' showing up." she argued, before she turned her heels making her way ahead of the group and aiming right toward the nearby stream, "The path will be this way."

Aang followed after her without question, knowing that she would be the best when it came to directions, and the fact she had the map slung around her back. Katara and Ty Lee followed right after him, and Sokka slowly trudging behind last.

Momo made a chitter and followed after them, climbing onto Katara's shoulder, reaching for the bag she had slung around her shoulder, "Momo, there's no food in here. Sorry." she apologised to the flying lemur, who made a light growl before he took flight, gliding over toward Azula; the Princess ducked to avoid the lemur landing on her head, and he dropped to the ground ahead of her.

He sniffed at the ground before glancing back their way; maybe he had found traces of some food or something, though Aang couldn't be sure. The lemur took flight once more, now flying through the woods, alongside the stream, in the direction of the village which they were walking to. The group continued along, making their way onto the path that Azula had been gesturing to, though it clearly wasn't the most well travelled one he'd seen on the journey so far. The young Air Nomad could see the tracks distinctive of an ostrich-horse, but that was all he could make out, other than the lack of grass, to distinguish the path from the woods around it.

"So, do you think we might be able to get some more money around here?" Ty Lee asked the girl who was leading the group, the Princess turning to face her with a skeptical look.

"You mean doing manual labour?" she asked her, the acrobat shrugging her shoulders.

"I mean, maybe. I don't know what kinds of work we could do around here. Anything to make sure we don't run out of money, that's all I'm thinking." she suggested, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I, for one, don't want to be working on some dirt poor Earth Kingdom farm for a few days just to get back a few coins. Even if they gave us free food, it's money that we need to get by with if we're still heading north."

"I don't know, some free food sounds nice." Aang admitted, "The last time we got that was New Omashu."

"Wait, you guys have been getting free food?" the acrobat gasped, before she pouted, "Aw, I really missed out on that?"

"Uh, well, we'll be getting more free food at the Northern Water Tribe." he admitted, "Because I'm the Avatar and all."

"I'm unsure if that's how that works." Katara conceded, "But, you do have a point. People like to give you free stuff."

"Maybe we should just go into every town we visit and ask for free food." Sokka suggested, his girlfriend turning around to point at him.

"That'd be begging, Sokka."

"Says the person who literally got free crap her whole life." he argued, the Princess rolling her eyes, obviously not wanting to partake in that specific argument.

"Even if I did, I'm not going to stoop as low to beg for food from people."

"But you're not willing to work either." Katara argued, "So, which one will it be?"

"I am willing to work." she clarified, "Just not doing that. Maybe I could do some bounty hunting or something. That's more my kind of work." she argued, making Sokka scrunch his lips up.

"I mean you would be good at that." he conceded, before cringing, "It doesn't help you're a fugitive yourself."

"Well, I can always register under a fake name." she suggested, before Aang decided to intervene, thinking they were going down a proverbial path that wasn't really leading anywhere.

"I think we should just stick to working in villages or helping people out. I'm sure they'll be willing to help us out in return."

"You're so naive." the Princess rolled her eyes, before raising a finger to her chin, "Though Sokka did get us free lodging by carrying jugs of water across a village, so your point has some merit."

"I think this is a pretty stupid thing to argue about." Katara spoke up, "Let's just focus on the whole looking for your people part." she suggested to Azula, who crossed her arms as she looked back ahead.

"I wasn't arguing." she simply told her; Aang tilted his head in thought, quite skeptical of that claim.

"Well, what are we going to look for?" he asked the Princess, wanting a more specific kind of thing to be searching for when they talked to the locals.

"Any mention of Fire Nation arrivals, especially if they're not explicitly colonists." she clarified, "And the civil war. If rebels have come through or fighting has occurred nearby, then we must be getting close."

"Seems simple enough." Ty Lee nodded, before smirking, "I hope there's some cute boys in this village."

"Of course you do." the Princess rolled her eyes, "Just keep the flirting to a minimum. I'd prefer if we actually find information from the locals instead of... other things." her voice dropped to a mumble, the acrobat giggling at her friend's reaction.

"Ah, don't worry, Zula. I was just kidding!" she reassured her, before turning to face Katara, "But you never know, right?" she elbowed her, making the Water Tribe girl blush, covering her face with her left hand.

"Uh... yeah." she mumbled, Aang turning back to face Sokka.

"Do you get what's going on?" he whispered to him, the Water Tribesman simply rolling his eyes.

"Girls." he simply told him, "Doing girly things."

"What was that?" his sister asked him, sounding offended by his description.

"Nothing." he raised a hand up, turning his face away as the Avatar turned his attention back ahead of them, looking toward the edge of the village which they were quickly approaching.

The village seemed to be cut out of the woods, cleared land giving way to pens which housed various livestock and small gardens that had various vegetables and herbs growing in them. As they approached the actual centre of the village, the villagers glanced their way, obviously surprised by new arrivals; Aang guessed that the village was mostly isolated from the rest of the world, even if it was theoretically under Fire Nation occupation. Azula turned back to face the rest of them with a serious look on her face.

"I want each of you to go check around the village, and ask around where we can get things like rice and dried food. And then... find out what you can. We'll meet back here before sundown, and then we can make dinner." she gave them a rather simple set of directions, each of them nodding along, confirming that they understood what she wanted them to do.

"You mean then I can cook dinner." Katara clarified, the Princess raising a finger.

"If you want to be our cook, then feel free." she simply told her, before striding along down one of the diverging paths that led through the village.

Aang glanced around and decided to head in the opposite direction, making his way toward a more built-up part of the village; he guessed that wherever there were businesses, people would be meeting up, and that would give him people to talk to. He continued along in that direction, and realised quickly enough that Katara was following after him; he didn't know if she just had the same idea as he did, or whether she just wanted the company. He didn't want to question her, feeling a little too embarrassed to say anything, just glancing back her way and giving her a curt wave. She smiled in return, and he returned his focus back towards heading into the village. Of all things, Aang could talk to random people- that was his speciality; he could talk to Fire Nation soldiers that he had fought, so he was pretty sure he could talk to some random villagers and elicit some kind of response.

As he approached the part of the village which seemed to house the most things, he noticed that the number of people out on the path was increasing; maybe they were socialising after a long day's work. He didn't really know, but he did intend to find out; he glanced about, looking for a store to buy some more supplies, knowing that even if he didn't have the money, it was a valid excuse to talk to the villagers.

"Excuse me, do you know where to buy travelling supplies in this village?" he heard Katara ask out from behind him, a few villagers idly looking their way; he felt nervous with all their eyes on them, and one of them, a middle aged man with sun-tanned skin and a trim goatee, stepped forward.

"You talking to us, kid?" he asked him; he didn't sound very antagonistic, rather just suspicious, which made sense, since they were some random travellers who had shown up in their village, dressed as if they were Fire Nation.

"Uh, no that was my friend." he gestured to Katara, who nodded as she stepped up beside him, "But if you do know where to buy stuff, that'd really help us out."

"Where are you two from, anyway?"

"The colonies." the Water Tribe girl immediately responded; it was better to stick to the same lie than make a new one up, "We're going north." she clarified.

The villagers looked at them with surprised expressions, "So you're not colonists?"

"Uh... no." Aang shook his head, "We're just going through."

"I thought you'd be here to meet with the other ash-makers." one of them spoke up, "They'll take to your kind a little nicely." she argued, making Aang's eyes widen momentarily; any mention of Fire Nation people was good news, when otherwise it mightn't have been, given their rather odd situation.

"Hey, just because we're from the colonies doesn't mean we're firebenders." the Water Tribe girl snarled back at his comment, obviously trying to play up their new 'roles'.

"Then what are you?" another villager asked, stepping a little closer to him.

"Uh... orphans." Aang lied, even if in his case, it was certainly true.

"What's your name kid?"

"Kuzon." he lied, knowing that was the first Fire Nation name that came to his head.

"Sounds Fire Nation." another villager snarled, "You really think you want to talk to us, kid?" he scoffed at the suggestion that Fire Nation people would want to interact with them.

"I'm not going to hurt anybody. I just want to buy some rice and other things."

"Yeah, so we don't, you know, starve?" Katara added, "And we never said we have a problem with you. I think you're confusing us for the Fire Nation Army."

"Hmph..." the man with the goatee crossed his arms, before gesturing his head toward a nearby building, "That store sells those kinds of basic supplies. I'm sure if you spoke to one of the landholders, they might be willing to give you some of their produce in exchange for work. If you're willing to get your hands dirty." he explained, the young Avatar shaking his head.

"We still have a little coin to spare. But thank you for the advice." he gave him a little bow of respect, making him snort, before he and the other villagers broke down laughing.

"Did he just bow to you, Deng?" he asked the man, who raised a hand to his face.

"There's no need for that here." he assured him, "Just go on, kid. You're gonna weird people out with the bowing."

"I don't think I've ever seen any ash-makers bow before. I thought they were too cocky for that."

"Respect for your elders is something we take very seriously." he raised a finger up, "I know you must be wise after all your years."

"Wise is probably not the right choice of word, kid." one of the villagers added with a snicker, making Deng look back at her with offence.

"Come on, I know what I'm doing. I gave the kid advice instead of being a dick."

Aang tried to hold back a laugh, Katara stepping forward and grasping him by the shoulder, speaking up before he had the chance, "Thanks for your advice. We'll go check the store now."

"Uh, I don't think it's open until tomorrow, actually." Deng added, the Water Tribe girl cringing, tilting her head back as she made a disappointed look; as her face couldn't be seen by the villagers, she let out a small smirk that only Aang saw.

He realised that if they couldn't get what they needed, they could still talk to the villagers, and thus find out what they wanted to know; she turned her heels and looked back at the villagers, returning to a frustrated look.

"Aw, well that's a pain. I guess we'll have to just wait until morning." she conceded, "You said there were other Fire Nation people here. I didn't see any when we were walking in."

"Oh, there's a few metalworkers that came out from Huangcha a few years ago." one of them, an older woman, explained, "They live down the street, that way. They're friendly, but they keep to themselves."

"Don't forget those refugee fellows." Deng raised a finger, "There's a few people... a bit like you, though they're older. Don't know why they came here. But they offered to work on the farms and none of them have given us any trouble."

"What kind of people?" Aang asked, making a nervous face on purpose, "Like... rebels?"

The villagers gave each other a few odd looks, "Rebels have been about these parts. The civil war hasn't been very kind for our part of the country, but luckily, our village isn't that rich, so they didn't attack us." one of the villagers, an elder man added, making an uneasy face, "These men, they're probably just like you. Leaving because nobody wants them. I haven't seen a weapon on one of them- they're not soldiers."

"No weapons... that's good." Aang sighed with relief, though he realised that meant something else; they were most likely firebenders then, and must have been good at hiding their element, even if they weren't soldiers.

If they were coming to live in an Earth Kingdom village, they must have had a way to defend themselves from any people that gave them strife.

"You don't have any, do you?" one of the villagers narrowed their eyes at him, pointing accusingly toward the young Avatar's outfit, which he realised probably could disguise a dagger or two; not that he knew how to use those, but looking like he was part of a youth gang seemed to have its drawbacks.

"Uh... no, sir." he assured him, emptying his pockets, "Just a few coppers." he told him reassuringly, the man waving his hand, obviously doubting that he was any kind of threat.

"What's with the headband, anyway?" Deng asked him, "It looks a little weird."

"Oh, I have a bad scar on my forehead." he lied, "I get really conscious about it, so I cover it up." he explained, the villagers cringing, obviously feeling a little sympathy for his fake story.

'Who did that to you?"

"Uh... somebody." he mumbled, not able to think of an answer.

"He doesn't like to talk about his childhood, that's all." Katara tried to cover him, the villagers looking away with grimaces, near looks of disgust on their face.

He looked toward her, unsure why her words had made them so uneasy, "Uh, K-" he began to ask her, before she grasped him by the shoulder, turning him around.

"Sorry for inconveniencing you. We'll be on our way." she apologised, pulling Aang along, though he didn't resist for any longer than a second, knowing that she had good reason to leave, even if he didn't understand it.

He turned to face her and decided he just had to ask, "Why did they get all weird?"

"Because they think that one of your parents or something did that. Or maybe whoever made you an orphan did." she clarified, the young Avatar grimacing as he imagined the thoughts that might have been going through their minds.

"I am an orphan, though." he mumbled, the Water Tribe girl placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder; Monk Gyatso still weighed heavily on him, not even considering the fact that his actual parents must have been killed by the Fire Nation as well, whoever they were.

"I know. But, at least you've got us." she made a small smile, "We're gonna look after you. We promised."

"I know you did." he made a small smile, appreciative that she was thinking about his own pain, despite how far it was from his mind- as far as he could keep it away, that was.

"I'm sure the others have talked around as well. We should go find them, and then we can make dinner." she suggested, the young Avatar scrunching his lips, unsure exactly what constituted dinner for that evening.

"So, rice and some random vegetables?" he asked her, making her giggle.

"I did buy some from the market earlier today. We better eat them quickly, before they go bad."

"There's three of us, then we have Sokka and Momo. We'll eat them before them go bad." he assured her, knowing that they were more than capable of chowing through whatever she'd bought within the span of a single dinner, especially if his flying-lemur was feeling a little greedy.

He saw said lemur sitting on the road ahead of them, trying to bite into some kind of nut; Aang didn't know what he was doing, so he decided to approach and get a better look. Momo screeched with frustration, whacking the nut into the ground, successfully breaking it into a few pieces, allowing him to bite into it.

"Speaking of Momo." Katara gestured toward him, before kneeling down in front of him, "What have you got there?"

The lemur didn't respond, simply chewing down on the shards of nut; Aang patted him on the bag and gestured for him to climb up, which he did, scaling up Aang's left leg and arm before he perched himself on his shoulder.

"Seems like it's tasty. Maybe you can find some more in the forest." he suggested, the lemur piquing his head up, glancing around, probably looking for some more nuts.

He leapt off of his shoulder, and glided off in the direction of the woods, the edge of which was quite close to the path that ran through the village; he could still see him as the little lemur searched around for some more food, though the young Avatar turned his attention back ahead of them as he remembered what they were doing.

"So, where are the others?"

"Probably off talking to people for information," Katara acknowledged, before she giggled, "or in Ty Lee's case, flirtation."

He raised a brow, remembering who had been the most unenthusiastic about "What about Sokka?"

"Probably looking for some meat to buy." she conceded, the Avatar narrowing his eyes.

"But can't he just go hunting?" he asked, thinking that was a more straightforward way for him to get the meat he loved to eat, as well not spend any of the money that Azula had chided them about using.

"Sokka's the laziest person I know. If he can avoid hunting, he'll pay for meat."

"What wouldn't he pay for?" he suggestively asked her, wondering what more amusing jabs at her brother he could get out of Katara.

"Somebody to protect Azula. He'd declare, no matter what, he could do that himself." she noted, speaking with authority he could trust; if anybody knew what Sokka would do or not, it'd be his sister, who'd been stuck with him her entire life.

"I don't think she'd like that." he noted, knowing Azula was not one to like being protected, or treated in any way lesser than her station as Crown Princess of the Fire Nation.

"She wouldn't. But he's stubborn like that." she noted with a shrug of her shoulders, Aang making a small smile as he realised something about the couple.

"Well, at least they're stubborn together."

* * *

Sokka had decided that if he were to keep up the act of looking for supplies, he ought to look for something he'd actually want to buy, even if in the end, he didn't get anything. There were two reasonable options there: a new weapon, or some meat for dinner. Seeing that the former was far too dear in value to buy, even with the decent sum of coins they had, he decided that the latter was a more reasonable choice. He also realised that looking to buy a weapon of all things when dressed as a Fire Nation colonial didn't make a whole lot of sense, given they were in a village of rather timid Earth Kingdom people. He had interacted with only a few of them, having gotten the directions to the butchers, which was unknown whether to be open at that late time. He guessed maybe some people might go out late to buy some meat for their dinners, though he realised people wouldn't be regularly exchanging money in a place where they didn't just farm for a living, but farmed to feed themselves.

He sighed, knowing that he might soon reach a dead end, but decided he'd go anyway. It was a way to spend some time before Azula inevitably came and dragged him back to camp once she too was hungry and tired. Given all the sparring they had done, he guessed that would happen sooner or later. Making his way along the path, he tried to avoid eye contact with any locals he came across, knowing that agitating them was the worst possible idea. He hadn't brought his weapons, barring his boomerang, which was underneath the cloak he was wearing over his shoulders, given that he didn't want to show it off. He loved his boomerang, but being preemptively jumped by a bunch of fearful Earth Kingdom peasants had to be the worst way he could end up in a fight. He'd prefer the next fight he had to be against some evil, nasty Fire Nation rebels who were ravaging the countryside and oppressing the locals, though he knew, given their past experiences, he mightn't get much of a choice in the matter.

When he made sight of what he thought was the butchers, he looked around for signs of activity. The front door of the building was still open, and it's chimney was billowing out smoke; what a butcher needed a fireplace for was beyond him, seeing that, despite his love for it, he knew little about how other cultures preserved meat. Ice and sea salt was the way to go for a Water Tribe hunter, but everywhere else, where they had no ice and limited access to salt, they must have done it a little differently. Stepping closer, he decided to just approach, knock on the doorway and hope that somebody greeted him; having a conversation about meat was probably the easiest thing for him to talk about. It got him away from touchy topics like the war and the Fire nation itself, though he just hoped that he could get some information about the Fire Nation a little indirectly. Confronting people about things was not the best way to go back, knowing that from experience with Katara and Azula. The former loved to agitate the latter, more than she did to him, and even if she came from a good place, she really did rile her up by making her question her own actions and moral compass, something that the Princess vocally despised.

So, he knocked on the doorway, not wanting to peer in and be rude; he waited for a response, and seeing that he didn't get one, he decided to glance inside. He could see a middle-aged Earth Kingdom man with an intimidatingly large knife, cutting at a thick bit of meat, slicing strips from it. In the corner of the room was a younger man, probably similar in age to Sokka himself, who immediately turned around, surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Oh, uh, sorry, I don't think I know you. Did you come to pick up some meat?" he asked, the Water Tribesman shaking his head.

"Uh, no, I wanted to see if I could buy some meat. My friends and I are passing through town, and we need some supplies."

"You want some salted meat, boy?" the elder butcher asked of him, placing his knife down on the bench; his leather gloves were covered with blood, which in any other context, would be rather disturbing to see.

"I love salted meat." he simply responded, the younger butcher grinning.

"Ah, who doesn't." he commented, before stepping closer, "Uh, how many people are you feeding?"

"Uh... well, I don't have that much money. I'm trying just to get a few rations." he lied, knowing that they had enough money to buy a decent amount of salted meat if they really wanted to, but Azula demanded that if he was capable that he had to hunt.

Setting up traps and sneaking around forests after small game wasn't something that he necessarily disliked, but it was straining and a lot less enjoyable than other things he could be doing. He preferred sparring or spending time with his girlfriend, either having intellectual or more personal debates; the latter almost always devolved into each of them arguing via anecdote why one of them was better at something than the other. Not that it wasn't fun, he just didn't like Azula grilling him for things she had no part in, like all the times he'd done something incompetent while hunting or fishing with Katara.

"Okay, a few rations it is." the younger butcher acknowledged, before gesturing for him to come over to a bench, where he could see bundles of jerky and other salted meats.

Sokka approached, licking his lips at the sight of the meat, but tried not to salivate, wanting to make conversation, as was his original intent. He wanted to find out about those Fire Nation 'refugees' in the village. If the farmers hadn't been joking around, he had a lead. A vague lead, but it was a start. He knew that finding Azula's supporters was the first step in actually getting her to the throne, something that seemed so far away after they'd been forced to flee from the Fire Navy at Crescent Island.

"What kind of meat do you and your friends like?"

"Uh, you wouldn't happen to have some komodo rhino, would you?" he asked, knowing that Azula and Ty Lee would appreciate to eat some more, even if they'd only had some at lunch; some jerky would last them longer and satiate the acrobats desire to dance into every colonial town they visited, intent on getting food that would continue to bite into their budget.

He realised a few moments after he'd utter his request, the boy had stiffened up, seemingly unnerved by his mention of that meat- perhaps because it was only Fire Nation people that ate it.

"Komodo rhino?" he mumbled, before shaking his head, "Sorry, no. We don't have any of those around here."

"Umm... pig-chicken? Or pig-cow?" he asked, thinking of those creatures off the top of his head as being made into jerky.

"Ah, we have both of those." the younger butcher nodded, his tone a little more enthusiastic, "Do you have a preference?"

"Uh, not really. I'm not an expert on all meats, though I wish I could be." he noted, raising a brow in thought, "What do you think is better?"

"Pig-cow's a little more flavourful, but if you want something palatable for anybody's taste buds, pig-chicken's better." he explained, the Water Tribesman raising a finger.

"I'll take some pig-cow jerky, then." he decided, before picking out a few coins from his pocket, "How much will this buy?"

The butcher looked at the coins in his hand, and cringed slightly as he counted them, "Uh... that'd be two bundles. Not much. It won't last you until the next village."

"We have other food." he raised a hand to stress, "I just needed some meat as well. If I don't get enough, I just get in a crappy mood."

The other teen snickered, nodding along as he accepted the coins into his hand, "Uh, yeah, me too. Is that all you need?"

"Well, that's all my money." he conceded, the young butcher giving him an affirmative grin.

"Okay, well then, enjoy your evening." he gave him the two bundles of jerky, before he tilted his head, "Oh, Yi. Are you here to get some meat for dinner?" he spoke to somebody behind him; the Water Tribesman turned around to leave the butcher's, realising that the person who had just entered was Fire Nation, or at least he assumed he was from his appearance- grey clothes, sharp golden eyes and near black hair.

The man, whose name he understood to be Yi, looked at Sokka with a rather disinterested look, before his eyes widened, looking at him nervously for a few moments, before he approached the younger butcher.

"Uh, yes, I am." he told him, Sokka raising a brow; the man before him seemed somewhat familiar, just from his voice, not his appearance, but he couldn't put it down where he had seen him before.

He stepped out of the butcher, deciding to wait for Yi to collect whatever he had to go buy before he asked him; if he had something to do with Azula, then he was exactly who he wanted to meet. He put the jerky into his bag, glad that he had got some extra snacks, just in case he was in need of food while they were up in the sky on Appa's saddle. He guessed that would be something they'd be doing a lot until they finally reached the North Pole, which was at least now closer to them than his home, but still some distance away. He turned his attention back to Yi, the thoughts of how they might have met crossing his mind; perhaps he was one of the various officers that had come to that meeting in Ba Sing Se, commanding a part of the army that had come west. That would explain why he was in Hungu. The butcher had spoken to him like he was with others, which suggested that maybe he was with a group of other survivors of the army, which may have battled with Zuko's forces before dispersing. He could have even been part of Zhao's forces, perhaps fleeing Yu Dao after their fleet had been sunk in the harbour outside the city.

He heard a little bit of speaking inside, before Yi stepped out of the butcher, closing the door behind him, turning to face him, "So, how the fuck did you get here, snow savage?"

"Sorry?" he asked him, realising that he was being referred to by an insult that sounded a little too personal, "I think I know you from somewhere. I just don't know where."

"Oh, well." Yi raised a finger to his chin, "You knocked me out on the deck of a ship that soon after sunk to the bottom of the Eastern Sea, and then I had to listen to you and Renshu argue for a week straight, and that was after you fucked off around in Ba Sing Se- I was actually the one who found you wandering about near the market." he recounted, Sokka's eyes widening; though he didn't recognise him personally by name, the man before him was certainly one of Azula's guards, as he had told him things that only one of them would know.

"Ah, Yi!" he gestured to him with open arms, "Sorry, I wasn't very good with your names."

"I didn't give it to you." he crossed his arms, "So, maybe you could answer my question." he suggested, the Water Tribesman nervously rubbing the back of his scalp, realising he'd have to condense a lot.

"Oh, yeah." he mumbled, unsure how to phrase it quickly, "Uh, so Azula is definitely not dead, if you were wondering that."

The guard rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, "I've heard the news. General Zhang got his arse handed to him by the Avatar... and Princess Azula. I'm more wondering what happened between there and you know, the somebody getting shot with lightning."

"Shit." he mumbled, realising there was a big gap he had to fill, "Well to sum it up, the Avatar has a sky-bison, and that makes it really easy for us to cross the world. I mean, that's compared to a shitty little fishing boat."

"Oh, so that's how you two got out of Yu Dao. We got some intel a few weeks later about a break-in at Pohuai Fortress the day after the battle, and I had a feeling that it was you two." he clarified, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"Yep." he confirmed, "Well, it was just me. The Princess was out of commission at the time. That's who was shot with lightning."

"The Fire Lord can generate lightning?" he looked at him with genuine surprise, "I mean, Fire Lord Ozai is very skilled at generating lightning, according to the other guards, and her highness is also good at it."

"He didn't. He redirected her lightning back at her. It nearly killed her."

"Oh." Yi's eyes widened, "That's fucking insane."

"I know. I think Iroh taught him the technique."

He crossed his arms, nodding along with a clearly uneased face, "The Dragon of the West is a crazy bastard. I'm not surprised he was the one to make up a technique like that." he conceded, before narrowing his eyes, "How did you two end up with the Avatar of all people? That's either great or terrible luck."

"Great luck." he chose one of the options he'd been given, "She broke him out an iceberg he'd been stuck in for a hundred years."

Yi's eyes widened, and he raised a finger to scratch his chin, thoughtfully looking off into the distance, "So, Zuko had no chance of actually finding him?"

"It was extremely unlikely." he conceded, "Possible, but he'd already given up after five years. It might have taken him another five to find Aang."

"That's his name?" he asked, Sokka tilting his head downward to confirm, "So is he really twelve?"

"In appearance and mind, yes. Technically, he's a hundred and fourteen." he clarified, the guard's jaw dropping.

"Well, that has to be the weirdest turn of events possible." he tried to treat what he'd been told at face value; Sokka knew it was pretty much unbelievable, given that the Avatar had been missing for a hundred years, "And she's helping him now?"

"They're helping each other. If everything goes to plan, together they'll pacify the Earth Kingdom, and then, she will be able to take her rightful place as Fire Lord." he explained, Yi scrunching up his lips.

"Well, this is going to be a hell of story for the men." he admitted, Sokka tensing up as he realised that he hadn't even considered what had happened to the other guards, though he guessed that they might have been okay.

"So, is everyone okay? I didn't see what happened to you guys when I made a run for it in Yu Dao."

"We got roughed up a little, but the Yuyan Archers saved our arses. They even shot the Fire Lord." he admitted, before sighing, "But these past few months haven't been good on us."

"Did you try and link up with the rest of Azula's army?"

"We did. Most of them have been under Zhao's command, and the rest flat out defected or returned to their former command posts in the east." he explained, before glancing up the hillside, "We didn't stay with Zhao for long, and Renshu was able to get us an excusable posting here. To watch over the village and report on loyalist and rebel activities in the area; the Admiral wasn't happy, 'cause he wanted us to go search for the Princess, but we told him that she had to be safe, and that it would be better for us to just go undercover."

"Sorry, but who's Renshu?"

"Oh, the Captain. We just call him by his first-name now, seeing that we're not really guards anymore." he explained, making him chuckle, realising he'd never learnt his first name.

"Oh, yeah, he has a name, like any other human being." he conceded, amused that he had once thought otherwise.

"I think he'll want to see you. And the Princess at that. He's the one who's been in contact with Zhao, so I think he'll have the best intel to give her." he explained, the Water Tribesman gesturing down toward the centre of the village.

"If you want, we can go see her right now. That'll save me having to try and find where-ever you live." he conceded, not wanting to waste any time, seeing that he'd actually found one of Azula's supporters, let alone one of her personal guards.

Yi scrunched his lips, before giving the Water Tribesman an affirmative smile, "I'm sure the Princess is going to be surprised to see us."

"I wouldn't say surprised. We were looking for you guys. Or anybody really. Anyone who came west." he explained, the guard scratching his chin.

"Well, yeah, I can understand why." he admitted, not going into detail; they both knew the dire situation the Princess was in.

She was a fugitive to the Fire Nation, ruled by her brother, a mere pretender to her father's supporters, and an enemy of the Earth Kingdom, purely by association of herself with Ozai, though her rather intimidating public image did not help for that. She was woman who crushed the Dai Li's uprising in Ba Sing Se, and whose forces nearly destroyed Yu Dao; he guessed that they would be spinning Zhao's actions as her responsibility, if only to make her look worse in the eyes of the common people, to turn them against her if she did try to gather support once again.

He gestured down the way he'd come, "So, are we going to go?" he asked, Yi giving him a curt nod.

The guard followed as soon as Sokka began to make his way back toward the woman he was thinking of; Azula would be in a good mood to find out her men were okay, though he guessed whatever news the Captain had for her would not be asking of a smile. Even if Zhao was still alive and kicking, which meant he still had forces that could be used for their cause, that in and of itself caused problems; they'd have to deal with the Admiral, who he presumed was still intent on killing the Moon Spirit.

"So, what's the Avatar like?" the guard spoke up, probably just wanting to make conversation.

"Uh, well, think of a twelve year old, and then imagine if said twelve year old had the liberty to go anywhere he wanted in the world. No parents or anything." he explained Aang in the most succinct way he could.

Though it was unusual to simply argue that his circumstances made him a the free-thinking, fun-loving Air Nomad he was, he knew that deep down, he was a good kid, who might have always had it in him to be a great Avatar, even if he himself was doubtful of it.

"Okay, yeah, so he's not very mature, I'd guess." he mumbled, raising a brow in thought, "Why'd the Princess decide to go along with him, anyway?"

"He's the one way she can get what she wants. If it was just us coming back to the Earth Kingdom with nothing but our little boat and our wits, we probably wouldn't have lasted very long. Even if we had gotten all the way here, there's little chance we could deal with the whole Zhao problem ourselves."

"Oh, so you think he's a problem too." Yi noted, holding back a laugh, "That's what Renshu's been saying for these past few months too."

"The Captain isn't an idiot. He can see through that man's bullshit faster than I can see through Azula's." he argued, the guard's eyes narrowing at him, almost concerned by the way he was speaking about her.

"Uh, are you really comfortable saying stuff like that? What if I told her you said that?"

"She wouldn't be surprised." he argued, not thinking she'd be phased by learning that, "I just say things how I see them, and with Azula, she loves to cover up every bit of emotion she can."

"So..." the guard mumbled, "Are you..."

"Yeah." he simply answered his question, knowing what it was before he even muttered it; he then cleared his throat, "But don't talk about it." he warned him.

"I won't." Yi assured him, "I know that's a quick way to an early death when it comes to her highness." he noted, his voice as nervous as he'd expect.

Azula had always been a secretive person, and her relationship with him was no different; she didn't want the wrong people to find out about it, as it would clearly compromise her authority- people like Zhao, that was. Sokka turned his attention back down the road the two of them were pacing down, taking note of Aang and Katara, who were along a crossroads, obviously looking for them. He guessed that they might have learned something from the locals, though he doubted it compared to his discovery. Aang tapped his sister's shoulder and gestured to the Water Tribe teen, who waved to them; both of their faces became understandably confused as they saw the man he was walking beside.

"That's him." he gestured idly ahead toward the pair, Yi looking at Aang with surprise.

"Huh, that's the Avatar. He just looks like a normal kid."

"Well, that means his disguise works." he noted, "I'm sure Azula will be happy to hear that." he mumbled, realising that her intentions had succeeded.

Katara approached first, obviously confused about what he was doing with a seemingly random ethnic Fire Nation man, "Sokka, who's this?"

"His name is Yi, and he's one Azula's guards." he explained, her eyes widening with utter shock; she obviously hadn't expected that turn of events.

"Wait, seriously?" she almost gasped, before her expression became more serious.

"Uh, yes." the guard placed a hand on his chest, "The rest of the Princess's guard are living here in this village."

"Oh, well, that's really good luck." Aang grinned, "And I thought what we found out was helpful. I mean it was, actually." he conceded, gesturing toward Yi, "They don't know you're soldiers."

"We're not soldiers." he clarified, Katara clearing her throat, gathering the attention of those present.

"Yi, I'd just like to know one little thing, seeing that unlike Azula, you'd have no reason to lie to me." she admitted, the way she prefaced her question making Sokka gulp, already worried what she might ask, "Were you and your men going to kill my father and the other warriors if they hadn't sunk your boat?"

His eyes widened, and he turned to Sokka, slightly surprised by what he was being asked, "Uh... well, we hadn't been told to use lethal force, so no. We would have wanted to interrogate them to find out what they were doing attacking our ship. We figured it out eventually, though."

"By beating the shit out of Long Feng." she noted, already having heard the story.

"Well that was Sokka... I'm guessing you're his sister?" he asked, sounding a little unsure of himself, though he had certainly guessed correctly.

"Yes." she confirmed, before she turned around, "I don't know where Ty Lee and Azula are." she conceded, her eyes momentarily turning to meet her brother's, "I assume you wanted Yi to meet her?"

"So he can direct her to their house." he clarified, "I'm sure that the Captain will want to speak with her. He's been getting all the intelligence reports from what's left of Azula's supporters."

"So, they actually exist?"

"Yeah, but most of them are under you know who's command." he simply acknowledged, his sister rolling her eyes.

"Of course they are."

"So, I'm guessing you really told her everything that happened when you were with her highness." Yi noted, before shaking his head, "So, we need to find her."

"Yes." Sokka nodded in agreement, "Let's just go down the road. She's just looking for information, like me."

"So you weren't just buying jerky... again?" he asked, the Water Tribesman chuckling, remembering that the guards must have picked up on his habits.

"Uh, of course not. I don't just joke around. I'm a warrior."

"So she really took the disguise thing to the next level, I'm guessing." he mumbled as they began to walk back down the road, Aang looking back at him with a nervous look.

"Uh, yeah." he confirmed, "I'm usually bald."

"I know what an Air Nomad's supposed to look like." he clarified, proving that he wasn't ignorant of such matters; he was guarding the Fire Nation Royal Family, so it made a lot of sense that he did so.

They all made their way along the road, and Katara glanced towards Sokka for a moment, eyeing his bag; she pursed her lips upward, before turning away, looking back in the direction they were all walking in.

He raised a brow, confused why she would be laughing by merely looking at him, "What's so funny?"

"You did go buy some meat. I guessed right." she explained, making his jaw drop slightly as she considered what she just said.

"Huh, so you predicted what I'd do. You've got some good instincts, Katara." he conceded, his sister rolling her eyes.

"No, I just know you far too well." she argued, before she gestured ahead of them, "They went this way. They can't be far." she explained, Sokka taking note of Yi clasping his palms together, and looking downward, as if he was nervous.

"Are you worried about something?"

"We gave up." he conceded, the raw honesty on his tongue surprising, "We should have gone south and looked for her, but we didn't."

"I don't blame you. That would have been dangerous. We could have gone looking for you and the other guards, but we didn't because it was just insanely dangerous. If we'd gone out this way and made one mistake, the Fire Nation Army might have come down on whatever village we were staying in and captured us. I know she's tough, but even Azula couldn't beat a whole army."

"She'd argue against that claim." Katara snickered, obviously agreeing with him.

"Well, yeah, of course she would. She has her dignity and pride as a firebending master to protect."

"Huh, so the Princess is the Avatar's firebending master." Yi mumbled, realising what her role was in relation to Aang, before he snickered, "Well, I guess that might annoy the Fire Lord."

"Yeah, she's said that a few times." the Avatar himself acknowledged, before he made a small smile, "She's a really good bender."

"Oh, I know." he nodded, "Us guards got our arses handed to us on a daily basis by the Princess." he called back the sparring that they did regularly, back when they had a whole ship deck to use, and before that, the massive courtyard of the Earth King's former palace, "Has she been kicking your arse for the past nine months?" he asked Sokka, who covered his face with embarrassment; now that he was with someone who had regularly faced off against Azula, he found himself far more self-conscious about the fact he couldn't win against her.

"Uh..." he mumbled, looking toward Yi, unsure what to say; his dignity was on the line, and as much as he'd prefer to be honest, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Katara decided to make that choice for him, grinning as she raised a finger to stress, "Yes, yes she has." she assured him, making the guard look toward the Water Tribe warrior, understanding why he was cringing so badly.

"Urgh." he grumbled, pulling both his hands over his face, "I'm incompetent."

"I heard you knocked out the Fire Lord." Yi commented, placing an affirmative hand on his shoulder, "That's something to be proud of, even if you're the Princess's punching bag."

"It was a surprise attack. Surprise attacks don't really count." he conceded, knowing that in a fair fight, back when he barely had any skill in chi-blocking, with only his club and boomerang to defend himself, he would have been screwed; Zuko was obviously not of the same calibre as his sister, but he was very close, and his bending was indisputably powerful- the kind that made a lot more sense, given the revelation that both he and Azula were direct descendants of Avatar Roku.

"There they are." Aang gestured ahead, toward Ty Lee and Azula, the former eagerly chatting to a villager while the other idly stood behind her, arms crossed with a slight frown.

The group began to approach them, and the Princess turned to face them, her expression immediately shifting to one of confusion as she made sight of Yi; she tapped Ty Lee on the shoulder to get her attention. Sokka strode ahead, deciding that he'd explain who he had found, though it seemed she already understood what was going on, as she spoke up first.

"Ah... so you found somebody of use to us." she acknowledged, eyeing the guard for a few moments as she scratched her chin, "You're one of my guards, aren't you?"

"Uh, yes, your highness." he clarified, before bowing, his head down in shame, "I am sorry that we could not serve our duties by your side."

"I don't need your apologies." she retorted, "What's your name?"

"Yi." he clarified, the Princess nodding, before turning to face Sokka.

"Where'd you find him?"

"The butcher." he told her, the Princess's expression shifting from one of intrigue to amusement.

"Of course you did." she held back a laugh, turning back to face Ty Lee, "Ty, it looks like we won't need to look around any longer."

"Did you want to see the other guards?" Sokka asked her, the Princess looking at him like he was an idiot.

"What do you think, savage?" she quipped; her tone was suggesting exactly what he guessed would happen.

She was to play down her association with Sokka for the sake of ensuring she retained her authority over the guards; he'd told Yi, but he was only one guard, and he certainly seemed afraid enough of the Princess that he wouldn't say a word.

"Where are they?" she asked her guard, who gestured up the hill.

"We're staying in some old stables that we're renting off some farmers. I'm sorry if the accommodation isn't to your liking."

"We already have a camp set up downhill from here." she clarified, "I do want to see my men before I retire for the day."

"Uh, do you need us?" Aang asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him, before they crossed over all of the group.

"Yes. All of you should be there. It's better that we get the introductions out of the way." she explained, before she looked back to Yi, her expression more stern; whenever she pulled that face, Sokka knew that she was obviously going to say something more dark and serious than her usual mockery and commands, "How many dead?"

"Dead, your highness?" Yi's eyes widened, "Uh, nobody died." he reassured her, "The Yuyan Archers saved us from defeat by the Imperial Guards." he explained, making her raise her chin up.

"Did they try to kill you?" she asked, obviously assuming since they were under Shinu's command that they might have turned on the guards once they learnt of their new allegiances.

"They never got the chance. We ran off by ourselves, moving to a rendezvous point with Zhao's forces." he explained, before gesturing down the road, "I think it'd be better if Renshu- I mean, the Captain explained it all to you."

"Oh, so you're calling each other by your first names now." she concluded, making a smug face as she crossed her arms, "Did rank suddenly disappear?"

"We're fugitives, your highness. Our ranks were only recognised by Zhao's men, and we're no longer with them."

"As in you defected?" she raised a brow, sounding indifferent in her voice, which surprised Sokka.

"No. We simply did not seek to partake in his war effort. Our duty was to you, your highness."

"You assumed correctly. I did not want you working for him, no matter his rank." she admitted, before she began to pace ahead, walking past the four of them, "Let's go see them, then."

"Wait, but what about dinner?" Ty Lee asked, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Dinner can wait. I need to make sure my men are ready to do their duties." she explained, Sokka raising a brow, realising that she hadn't actually said what she wanted to use her guards for specifically.

"What can they do for you?"

"Oh, do what they didn't do in the first place." she conceded, "Kiss Zhao's toes, and hopefully he won't see my moves coming."

"Does everybody hate this guy or something?" Aang raised a brow, Yi turning to ace him with a slight grimace.

"Hate is the wrong word. Ever since- uh- Zuko, burnt his face, he's had a few screws loose in his head."

"More like he decided to give up any pretense of being an honourable soldier." Azula spoke up, now sounding a little more agitated; as a relatively stoic person, when she spoke with spite, Sokka could tell that she truly despised the man- outbursts of anger were reserved for chiding him, not pieces of shit like Zhao.

"The Admiral will soon regret his actions in Yu Dao far more than he already does."

* * *

Looking at a barn full of fully grown men, all kneeling before a girl, who if Ty Lee didn't know, might just assume to be a teenage commoner, she couldn't help but feel a little amused by the surrealness of it. She was Princess Azula, but at the same time, she was not. The time she had spent away from the palace had not lessened her gravitas, nor her sense of authority; she was looking for men to lead, not to simply be the Avatar's counsel, as great a position that might be. She watched as they, one by one rose back up to their feet as the Princess gestured for them to do so.

"I apologise that I took so long to get here, but I didn't believe it would be wise to remain in the Earth Kingdom." she conceded, her tone sounding genuinely apologetic, even if it still held the seriousness that she seemingly gave off naturally, as if it were part of her very being.

It wasn't the same as the stoicness of Mai, but she found it to be a parallel; she couldn't help but be serious, commanding and confident, because that was how she had been raised.

"You need not apologise to us, your highness. Your life was in danger." one of them addressed her, the man in front of the group, who she assumed to be the aforementioned Captain that the Princess had mentioned before they arrived- the leader of her guards, and somebody that she seemed to respect.

"The danger is still all around me. Bounty hunters might be on my trail at this very moment. I don't know if you have heard, but I made a scene at Crescent Island two weeks ago." she explained, the guards looking amongst themselves, confused by her words; news obviously didn't travel as fast as Appa.

"Crescent Island?" the Captain raised a brow, "That's the temple-" he began, before turning his eyes to Aang, "of the Avatar."

"The Fire Sages were surprisingly cooperative." she admitted, before turning to face Aang, "But what was more important was that he understood the role he has to plan in the coming months."

"Months?" one of her guards spoke up, "Your highness, do you intend to take the throne by the year's end?"

"If I can, yes." she nodded in confirmation, "But this is a three-way race, and I know that you swore your oaths to my father, so I can understand if you feel uncomfortable going against him."

"The Fire Lord was dead to the world for three whole months." the Captain explained, "By the time word got out, your brother was the one in the position of near victory."

"I know that." she admitted with a tense voice, "My father was the man who made me the Princess I am today, but now I have reached a crossroads. He stands in the way of my own victory, and I cannot tolerate that."

"It isn't treason." one of the guards spoke up, "Technically, he's not the Fire Lord anymore, so any action you take is merely dishonouring him."

"I don't expect to fight an Agni Kai with him anytime soon, so I'm not worrying about that." she argued, before gesturing to a table that looked to sit the whole group of guards, "I would like you all to sit now." she clarified, turning her eyes to the Captain, "The Captain has yet to explain exactly how you found yourselves in these circumstances."

Ty Lee stepped forward, along with Sokka, to stand behind the Princess, who stood by the head of the table, standing in front of an empty seat while she waited for the guards to take their own. When the group was all seated, she then took her own, and the acrobat placed her hands behind her, unsure what to do while she just stood there.

"Please, don't fail to regale all the details. It has been many months since I left you by that sparring ground." she admitted, the Captain clearing his throat.

"When your brother declared his victory, he claimed that he had you imprisoned in the infirmary of the barracks." he explained, before narrowing his sharp golden eyes, "But he lied. When fighting broke out, we were intent on releasing you from captivity, but the guards were unable to find you. We fled into the city, believing that you must have escaped with Sokka... which I assume you did."

"I was unconscious at the time, but, yes, that is what happened." she nodded, before gesturing for him to continue.

"The guards were injured from the fight, but we still searched. By nightfall, we hadn't found you, and the men were forced to hide from the guards, which further frustrated our efforts." he explained, before sighing, "It was when Zhao started his bombardment that we were forced to withdraw, as the guards began to mobilise. If we'd been found then, I doubt they would have given us mercy."

"Then you fled the city. Were you able to recover our supplies?"

"Some. We didn't have our komodo rhinos anymore, so we were forced to travel on foot back toward Pohuai." he explained, before scratching on his chin, "That's where we thought you would have gone."

"We did. But Shinu had already betrayed me by the time we arrived."

"We only learnt of his treachery after we met up with a few survivors of Zhao's attack on Yu Dao. We travelled south, past the stronghold, aiming to regroup with the forces you sent westward. We found them, but the pretender's men had already attacked them."

"How much of the force remained?"

"Enough to attack the colonies, if they had the stomach for it." he clarified, before sighing, his expression becoming pained, "We waited a month for you to return, but when it became apparent that you weren't going to appear, the men lost hope. The army moved north, regrouping with Zhao's fleet by their home port on the north coast of the Earth Kingdom."

"And how was our beloved Admiral after his 'great victory'?" she asked him, the Captain raising his chin haughtily; like Yi, the guard she had only had a brief chance to talk to, he seemed to dislike the Admiral.

"He believed that he had a chance to beat Zuko. And he had the army reorganised. They resisted, and when word of Ozai's survival reached us, some of the army defected and headed south to join with the other rebels that wanted to restore him to the throne." he explained, Ty Lee's eyes turning down to her friend, unsure how she'd react to that.

"I'm not surprised." she simply spoke up, "My father, while I was gone, was the only other choice for the throne."

"Some did not lose hope, or maybe they simply thought we were safer in numbers." he admitted, "The army remained, and continues to hold the areas of the Earth Kingdom north of us here."

"How'd you guys get here then?" Sokka asked, before making a smug look, "Didn't want to be Admiral Sideburns personal guards?"

The Captain rolled his eyes, obviously not amused by the Water Tribesman's comments; she knew from what Azula had already told her that the two of them had a history.

"We remained with Zhao for a while longer... but he remained focused on his whole invasion of the North Pole. Nothing happened. A few skirmishes with Zuko's forces, but eventually, I decided that it would be unsafe for us to remain with him, especially if his subordinates got fed up and decided to kill him. They haven't done so yet, but it might still happen. Instead of guarding him and his highest ranking lackeys, we instead moved here to serve undercover."

"And have you found anything of note?"

"We have reported on both loyalist and rebel operations in the area, as well as what Earth Kingdom resistance remains in these areas." he explained, his expression becoming more exasperated and annoyed, "The situation is ever-evolving, and I doubt that anyone will have absolute control here for a while. Is that what you wanted to know, your highness?"

"Yes." she nodded, "Well, I think you did good for yourselves. Instead of serving as Zhao's lackeys, you remained here, undercover, where you could await my return."

"We did not lose hope." one of the guards spoke up, "We knew you weren't dead, and when we heard about New Omashu, we had a party."

"Oh, you got drunk in celebration? I'm flattered, truly." she pulled a smug grin, the Captain raising a hand.

"We did not get too intoxicated, I assure you. But that was a good day for us." he admitted, before he placed both his hands down on the table, looking across it toward the Princess with a serious face, "Your highness, I don't mean to intrude, I must ask, what are your intentions now that you've found us?"

"The same as they already were." she raised her chin up, "The Avatar needs to go to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending, and I need my army back."

"As in, the men under Zhao's command?" he asked, the Princess giving him an affirmative nod.

"Precisely. That was my intention upon leaving the South Pole. It's only now that those men and their strength is within my grasp." she clarified, the guards nodding along.

"So you want us to help you ingratiate with him?" the Captain asked her, Azula scratching her chin.

"Well, that's a way of putting it." she admitted, her eyes darting to behind her shoulder; although she didn't look her boyfriend in the eye, she was obviously wondering what he was thinking.

Ty Lee dared to turn her eyes, spotting the grimace on his face; Sokka didn't seem as worried about Azula's intentions, but that didn't mean that he liked them. He obviously wanted them to remain on their original goal, to reach the North Pole, where Aang would be able to learn waterbending from the best master they could find. Going to play politics, dangerous politics at that, with Zhao, obviously wasn't what he had in mind; Ty Lee wasn't overly fussed on the matter, trusting Azula's judgement. She knew that she would only ever try something if she thought herself to be completely capable of handling it.

"Well then, I guess I didn't need to ask you to deal with him then." the Captain admitted, making the Princess chuckle.

"Oh, were you?"

"He nearly got us killed." he spoke with a spiteful voice, "And his fuck-ups have led to this situation to begin with. I bet his fleet could have stopped Zuko from reaching Yu Dao, but he just wanted to play king-maker."

Sokka leaned back, raising one of his crossed arms to his cheek, "Huh, now that you mention it, he definitely could have stopped him if he had that blockade set up."

"To think my brother could have simply drowned at sea nine months ago." Azula sighed; the way she spoke so lightly of her brother's potential death was disturbing to Ty Lee, but she knew that her anger was reasonably placed, if not a little harsh- he had done the wrong thing, but from what she had heard, he had had the right reasons to do so, "There's no point thinking about the possibilities, the only thing that can happen now is justice."

"Justice." Sokka mumbled, "Well, seeing that the Northern Water Tribe won't be experiencing the same pain my tribe as, I don't really think this is justice."

"Sorry, what?" she heard Aang ask out, obviously confused by the Water Tribesman's words.

"I mean, you're going to give them Zhao on a silver platter, right?" he asked Azula, who looked at him, nearly surprised by how forward he was being.

"What did you say, Captain?" she offhandedly spoke to her subordinate, "Ingratiate myself? I certainly will."

"You're not suggesting you're going to let a Fire Nation invasion fail on purpose, are you?" the Captain asked her, his voice giving off the concern he felt for his fellow soldiers; Ty Lee felt a momentary tinge of sympathy for those who they might harm in realising Azula's aspirations, even if she thought they were for the greater good- peace was good, she knew that, even if it was something she had never truly known.

"Of course not." Azula raised a hand up to stress, "I wouldn't dare let a good fleet go to waste. Sokka, could you indulge my guards on exactly what you learnt all those months ago?"

He cleared his throat, placing his hand down on the table, "Admiral Zhao has been planning for I don't know how long, to kill the Moon Spirit.

"Sorry, come again?" one of the guards looked at him, believing his words to be a joke, "How can a spirit even be killed?"

"The Moon Spirit has a physical form at the North Pole, in a special lake, along with the Ocean Spirit." he explained, the looks on the guards' faces shifting from confusion to fear.

"Why would he kill the Moon Spirit?" another asked, "What does that even do?"

"Supposedly, it would stop all waterbenders from bending, and probably a lot more worse things that I can't even comprehend." Sokka admitted, before turning to face Azula, "And I assume that you want to lead him right to the spirits."

"Well, he'll believe me. He still thinks I'm the Princess he once knew, even if I still wouldn't agree with his plan back then." she admitted, before clasping her hands together, "We will go to the North Pole, and assist Zhao with his plan, which may involve some kind of secret operation. I do not know what technology the Admiral has access to, but I understand that his resources mean it may be possible for a small team to move in and kill the moon spirit before escaping."

"And you want the Water Tribe to actually capture him?" the Captain presumed, to which the Princess nodded.

"Precisely. He doesn't believe that I would betray him, and when I offer him the chance to make the move, he will accept it. If there's one thing he wants more than anything, it's to see that dream be achieved. That's what he kept demanding an invasion of the North Pole from my father, for years, even before he became an Admiral." she explained, the guards' faces shifting from surprise to clear impression.

"That's... that's a plan." the Captain mumbled, looking down into his hands before he turned his eyes up to her, "When are we leaving?"

"As soon as you're all able to." she simply explained, "But I will give you the liberty to relax for tonight. I have an empty stomach, and I was promised dinner." she admitted, making Sokka snicker; that was obviously what was on his mind- dinner, as well as getting a good night's sleep, "Don't you start." she warned him, before rising up to her feet, "Well, that's it. I know you must all be surprised to see me, after all this time, but I assure you, we will see brighter days, and I will repay you for your patience."

"You need not, your highness." the Captain raised a hand to stress, "We will do our duty, and that is a reward in and of itself."

"As well as the royal accommodation." one of the guards added, jokingly, making the others snicker, though they held back their laughter, obviously self-conscious while the Princess was on the table.

"You will." she stressed, before rising up, out of her seat, "Now, if you may excuse me, my friends will start grumbling if we don't return to our camp soon. Tomorrow we will bring our things here." she explained, before turning to Aang, "Do you think Appa could fit in here?" she gestured to the rather large doors of the barn, to which he nodded.

"Uh, yeah, I think so." he nodded, before stepping closer, 'So is that it? You're going to go trick this Zhao guy?"

"Yes, that is the plan." she nodded, before sighing, "But knowing our luck, the plan will likely have to change."

"Hopefully not." Ty Lee admitted, before making a small smile, truly thinking they had the chance to avoid the kind of mistakes they had made in the past, "We can always hope."

"Hey." Sokka pointed at her accusingly, gaining Azula's attention, "That's Katara's line." he then joked, surprisingly enough, making his sister turn to face him with a frown.

"Shut up." she growled at him before she turned her heels, "I'm heading back to the camp. We really do need to start cooking dinner."

"Oh, I'm coming with, don't worry." her brother grinned, making her groan with frustration.

"I was talking to everyone, not just you." she chided him, before she began to pace back toward the entrance of the barn, the two boys following right after her.

Ty Lee remained by her friend's side, watching as she turned to finally farewell her men, even if it was only for the evening, "Thank you. I apologise for their behaviour- none of them are very well attuned to our formalities." she admitted, the Captain raising a brow skeptically.

"That's clear enough. The Water Tribesman didn't learn any manners while you were gone?" he asked, the Princess raising a finger to her chin.

"Not that I know of. He did, however, become an excellent chi-blocker." she explained, making her guards raise their brows with surprise; chi-blocking was not an easy skill to pick up, but supposedly, Sokka had worked very hard on his training for the past few months, and from no knowledge whatsoever, he built up a repertoire the acrobat could compare to her own, "What do you think, Ty Lee? You sparred against him earlier today."

"He's as fast as me, but he's not as flexible. So I just jump out of the way." she explained her own tactics, before she realised that wasn't the answer Azula was looking for, "I mean, he's very good. Just not as good as me."

"Of course he's not. You've been honing your skills for years, while he's only had a few months." she conceded, before turning to face her guards, "I wonder how you will all shape up against him."

"We did not forget our training, your highness." Yi spoke up, "Renshu had us work every day on our forms."

"Good, good." she smirked, appreciative of the effort that had obviously been going on despite her absence, "I haven't fought against a good firebender in a long time. I hope you do not disappoint tomorrow morning."

"We will not fail you." the Captain assured her, rising from his seat, after which the rest of the guards did the same.

"I don't doubt your word." she acknowledged, before she turned to Ty Lee, "I think we ought to catch up with the others."

"Oh, yeah." her eyes widened, remembering that Katara, Sokka and Aang had already left the barn, and were likely on their way back toward the campsite, "Well, let's go then." she suggested, before turning to wave to the guards, awkwardly smiling at them, "Uh, enjoy your night."

"Uh, thanks." one of the guards mumbled in response, with an equal amount of awkwardness; she didn't know how to address them, and from what she could tell, neither did they to her- she was a noblewoman of high standing, and Azula's best friend, or at least one of them.

She turned her heels, and was quickly followed by her friend, who readjusted her hair slightly, moving any stray hairs out of her face before she returned to follow the acrobat. She pushed the ajar barn door open, glancing outside, taking note that the sun had yet to set, though it was already quite low in the sky; it would be dark soon enough, so they had a lucky timing for when they decided to leave.

When she closed the door behind herself, the Princess let out a deep breath, "Why does the Water Tribe savage always have to be the one in my way when it comes to good plans?" she asked him, proving that she had the same presumptions that Ty Lee did; Sokka didn't approve of her plan, no matter how effective it would be getting rid of the threat.

"Well, it's a little... questionable, but I don't think it's a bad idea. You won't have to worry about Zhao if he's in some Water Tribe prison." she acknowledged, the Princess nodding along as she strode ahead, walking beside her down the path as they headed back toward the village proper.

"That won't change his mind." she conceded, "I don't think it'd be wise for him to come along in the first place."

The acrobat's eyes widened as she realised what Azula had just said, "Wait, you don't want him to go with you? After all the time you've spent together?"

"He has a point. It's dangerous. I'm a Princess, so there's a lot less of a chance I'd be thrown into the Northern Sea for betraying Zhao. Sokka on the other hand, he may drown for my sake. I don't want him to do that."

"I..." Ty Lee mumbled, realising what Azula was saying; the dangers involved with her plan were fatal.

"I still want to help you. You're going to need some company."

"I'll have my guards." she argued, before sighing, "But they're a bunch of bores. I'd be honoured if you joined me... but I do warn you. If things go sideways, you mightn't get out in one piece."

"I knew that when I left the circus." she reached out to her friend, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I will go with you. I know why you don't want to let Sokka go... and I think it's kinda sweet. You don't want him to get hurt."

"He can take care of himself." she leaned away, forcing Ty Lee to let go, "But even a Water Tribe warrior who's mastered chi-blocking can't fight off a whole ship of soldiers." she admitted with a grimace.

"I'm sure he'll understand." Ty Lee gave her a reassuring smile, even though she was actually unsure whether Sokka would understand; he was a caring and protective boyfriend, the latter meaning that he would probably not approve of Azula going through with her plan, let alone not letting him come along.

"I don't think he will." she admitted, letting out a sigh, "What happened in Yu Dao..." she began, before she idly looked out to the horizon, "It made him lose a bit of that fighting spirit. Perhaps it was because he thought I had died. I don't know what he thinks about it, but it can't be very good."

"He's still tough, Zula. Didn't you see him when we were at Crescent Island?"

"And he nearly broke down upon seeing me get injured. As thankful as I am to his assistance, I know that he is preoccupied with my safety. That clouds his judgement." she crossed her arms, the acrobat pouting.

"But... isn't that a good thing? That means he cares." she explained, the Princess taking a deep breath.

Of all the things that could make her break the serious, stoic face she had built up, it was love; that was both heartening and sad- she had never had it before, not in the way that Sokka had given it to her, and that made her crumble away, or more so, the facade she had built up crumbled.

"I know he cares." she mumbled, her voice quiet and solemn, in stark contrast from the serious, almost chiding voice she had been speaking with only moments earlier, "He can't jeopardise my plans because of his feelings and worries." she spoke more clearly.

"But Zula, what about your feelings? I know you don't want him to get hurt."

"Of course I don't want him to get hurt." she spoke up, glancing down the road, where she could see Aang, Sokka and Katara in the distance; she gestured in the direction of her boyfriend, "He's going to put himself in danger because of me, and I can't let him do that." she declared, sounding more confident that before, "Not after Yu Dao. Not after what he did." she added with an almost worried look.

For Azula, looking worried was not looking calm, and that meant she snarled slightly, but she could tell that her friend wasn't angry with the Water Tribesman; she wanted him to be safe, just like how he wanted her to be safe all the same.

"He'll be safe with Aang and Katara. They need to get to the North Pole, anyway." she explained, the Princess nodding along.

"That's true." she agreed, "Those two need to master waterbending, and though I know there may be some resistance from their conservative culture, it is necessary that both of them do so. Katara needs to master waterbending so she can continue to train Aang, who needs to learn it like he has to all the other elements."

"What do you think will happen if they don't train Katara?"

"Sokka's going to beat the crap out of some waterbenders with chi-blocking." she stated, as if it were a matter of fact; knowing Sokka as well as she did, Ty Lee trusted her judgement on that matter.

"That'd be funny to watch." she grinned, before her smile faltered, "Too bad we won't get to watch."

"Oh, who knows?" she shrugged her shoulders, before raising a finger to her chin, "Maybe Zhao will be able to get us to the North Pole really quickly. He might have some new technology from War Minister Qin, who probably didn't remain with Zuko. That man makes war machines for a living, so he's going to want to support people who want to perpetuate our conflicts with the rest of the world." she theorised, the acrobat scratching at her chin.

"Hmmm... what kind of new technology?"

"I heard about some kind of flying craft that was being worked on, but this was over a year ago. It might already be in use, and we just haven't seen it." she considered, "Though I would have thought General Zhang's reports might have mentioned it."

"That's something you can ask Zhao. Maybe if you come up with a good idea, he might let you lead his little plan to take out those spirits, so you can cross him even easier." she suggested, the Princess smirking.

"Well, that's what I'm hoping for." she conceded, before she turned her eyes ahead; they were already walking through the centre of the town again, and soon enough, they'd be on the path back down toward Appa and their campsite.

She glanced up toward the evening sky, seeing how it had shifted to an orange hue; Ty Lee smiled, appreciative of the beauty of the world, which was something always around her, ready to be seen. Azula looked at her like she was doing something unusual, obviously confused by her enamoured state.

"What is it? Is there something in the sky?" she asked her, glancing up above her, "I can't see anything other than a few clouds."

"It's pretty, that's all." she simply told her friend, who shrugged her shoulder.

"I don't know how you derive aesthetic pleasure out of something so bland. All it is the sky."

"The sky can be pretty, even if it's there all the time." she acknowledged, "See how the orange and blue go together." she gestured up, making the Princess chuckle, "What's so funny?"

"That's the colour of my fire when I'm ill." she acknowledged, making Ty Lee raise a brow.

"Huh, so your fire can go colours other than blue. I never would have known." she conceded, the Princess looking at her with confusion.

"Well, it was orange before it was blue. Remember?" she raised her hands up, leaning forward slightly, as if to suggest she was really that forgetful.

"I do. I just thought it was stuck blue."

"As did I." she admitted, before turning her eyes away, "But then I found my greatest weakness."

It didn't take a genius to figure out she was referring to Sokka, although Ty Lee was sure he would be offended if he found out he was being referred to as such.

"It's not a weakness to have love, Azula."

"According to Fire Lord Ozai, who was once the most powerful firebender alive, it is a weakness, at least in terms of one's firebending ability." she argued, the acrobat furrowing a brow, now interested in considering that Sokka made her bending change colour.

"So when did you make this orange-blue fire?"

"A few times." she admitted, "Whenever I'd think about him too much. Never in combat."

"Hmph." she furrowed a brow, unsure how to judge what she had been given.

She was no expert on firebending, but knowing what she did about auras, she was sure that one's aura could influence how their bending came out. Azula's aura was always so confident, and her bending was blue, but she couldn't be sure those two were correlating or it was just that it seemed like that.

"That's interesting." she commented, before raising a finger up, "Have you ever firebent... uh... you know when?" she asked her friend the most personal thing she possibly could; Azula looked at her with confusion for a few moments before her cheeks flushed red, obviously embarrassed by such a thought.

"Of course not. That'd be extremely dangerous." she argued, crossing her arms, "I don't know why you'd think I'd do that." she tried to speak seriously, though her red cheeks suggested she was thinking differently.

"Well, I didn't know. People get emotional, they bend. That's a thing, right?" she asked her friend, who nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, that is. That's why anger is best for firebending. You channel your frustrations into your bending, and you become far more powerful than you might have been otherwise." she clarified, turning away from cover her face.

"And how do you power your firebending?"

"Hate." she told her, almost snappily; that suggested that she was simplifying things- the new Azula, despite being still quite spiteful toward her brother and uncle, didn't seem to be as hateful as her past self.

"Really?" she asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes at her.

"Yes. That's it." she told her with a stern voice, suggesting that Ty Lee stop her prodding; as much as she wanted to understand her friend, she knew that it would be unwise to aggravate her.

"Okay." she mumbled, turning her eyes ahead, taking note that they were already in the woods again, making their way down the path, alongside the small creek that ran through the village.

As the pair made their way back toward the camp, she could see that the others were already gathering around what was to be their campfire, though it seemed to lack sticks or kindling to actually start a fire as of yet.

"Maybe we should get some sticks." she suggested, the Princess gesturing to the right side of the path, where there was some fallen debris from the tree.

"There they are. Pick them up." she commanded her, making Ty Lee raise a brow with confusion.

"You're not going to help?"

"Urgh." she grumbled, conceding her hypocrisy, "Fine." she agreed to her proposition, striding over before scooping up a few long sticks, bundling them under her right arm.

The acrobat did the same, picking up some twigs and larger sticks, bundling them up and holding them in both hands; she strode right over to the other three, who were cutting up the vegetables.

"Oh, thanks." the Water Tribe girl thanked them, before she gestured toward the nearby creek, "I'm just going to get some water. Could you guys set up the fire?" she addressed Aang and Sokka, who nodded.

"Got it." the young Avatar smiled, turning around to glance around the edge of the clearing, "We need more sticks." he concluded, the Princess gesturing in the direction he was looking.

"Then go get some. I'll prepare some of the meat separately." she explained, Sokka raising a brow with interest.

"How are you going to do that?" he asked her, the Princess looking back at him like he was an idiot.

Sparking a small flame in her right hand, she rolled her eyes, "With my firebending, obviously."

"But didn't you say you hate using your bending to cook?" he asked her, obviously confused why she had changed her mind.

"I want my dinner quickly so I can go to bed, Sokka." she stressed, her boyfriend looking at her with slight confusion.

"Uh-huh." he nodded, his eyes narrowing at her for a few moments before he reached into the bag, pulling out some salted meat, "So you just want to heat this up?"

"Yes." she growled, reaching her arm forward, her palm open to receive the meat into her hand.

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" he asked her as he handed the salted meat over, the Princess side-eyeing her friend.

"Oh no reason." she lied, before letting her flame covered hand cross over the meat, "You're just annoying, that's all."

"If I'm so annoying, why aren't you angry with me all the time?" he asked her, Azula's expression idly looking at the meat in her hand for a few moments as she heated it up.

"Because you're useful." she spoke with a calmer voice, before gesturing to the woods, "Now go get some more sticks for the fire."

He stood up, cleared his throat, and proceeded to bow exaggeratedly in her direction, "Of course, your majesty." he addressed her with a low, serious sounding voice.

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm." Azula narrowed at her, making him cock a smirk.

"You're the one who thinks it's sarcasm." he pointed at her, before he moved his arms out, as if he were trying to gauge the size of something, "How big a bundle?"

"We want the campfire going throughout the night, so the campsite's warm and the animals stay away." she explained, before idling flicking her hand in the direction Aang had walked off to retrieve some sticks, "Figure it out yourself."

"Okay, I'll take that as a lot." he concluded, turning his heels and walking over to do what was requested of him.

Ty Lee coughed, garnering her friends attention; she looked at her with a serious glare, "What?"

"You're really playing hard to get." she simply told her friend, who let out a rare Azula smile.

"Don't tell him that. He'll just get lazy."

"A Princess needs to be treated like a Princess." she agreed with her, before she reached over to glance into the food bag, "So, rice, vegetables and that bit of meat? It's a little bland."

"What did you want? A feast of duck, spiced rice and soup?" she asked her, as if that were going to be possible; of course, it wasn't, but that didn't mean Ty Lee would just start liking the bland food they were always eating.

"I mean, that doesn't sound too bad." she raised a finger to her chin, the Princess smirking as she raised a brow.

"Let's just hope Zhao still knows how to treat his guests."


	13. Chapter 13

"Thanks for cleaning the pot."

Ty Lee simply smiled at Katara, not having any kind of boasts to make for the simple chore she had completed; she had made them a decent breakfast, and she was obliged to help out around the camp somehow, seeing that they were all living together.

"Don't mention it." she assured her, before glancing around, "Are we going to do anything this morning?"

"Wait for Azula to get back from meeting with her guards." Sokka noted, "And then maybe train. I don't know." he guessed, the acrobat trying to keep a straight face; Azula wanted to leave as soon as possible, and from the indifference in Sokka's voice, it suggested that she hadn't told him that she didn't want him to come along yet.

"Well, do you want to spar me?" she asked, jumping onto her hands and standing on them, "I need somebody to work on my chi-blocking with, anyway."

"You kicked my butt yesterday." he mumbled, crossing his arms, "Why would I want to experience that again?"

"Because everyone learns from their fights, even if they lose." she suggested, before she dropped back down onto her feet, glancing at Aang and Katara, "What about you two?"

"I guess we could work on our waterbending forms." the young Avatar mumbled, "But maybe we should go actually get some supplies now. We'll probably need them if we're going to keep heading north."

"But what about the guards and Azula's whole plan?" Sokka asked him, "We aren't just going to up and leave because we can."

"I'm pretty sure even Azula would want us to keep heading north, even if she wants to do her crazy plan with the Admiral." Katara acknowledged, "Aang learning waterbending from an actual master is the first thing on our to-do list, at least that's what I think."

"No..." the Water Tribe boy mumbled, "You're right. We should just be heading north. How about you guys go shopping and I'll train with Ty Lee until Azula gets back?"

"Uh, well, actually I need to mend my sleeping roll. It's got a hole in it." Katara admitted, Aang standing up.

"Oh, that's okay, I can just go buy supplies for the journey. We just need rice, some vegetables and maybe some other dry food, right?"

"Uh, yep." the Water Tribe girl gave him an affirmative nod.

He glanced around, "Where'd she put the money, anyway?" he mumbled, Sokka gesturing toward his tent.

"In our tent. Just don't spend too much. We're still a week away from the North Pole at best, and that's if we don't have any more of these breaks." he warned, Aang nodding.

"Of course. So just enough more food to last us a week?" he asked, the Water Tribesman shrugging his shoulders.

"Uh, yeah." he gave his approval, though it sounded rather indifferent, "Katara, how much food do you think we'll need?"

"Two bags of rice for the five of us should be enough, plus whatever vegetables you can find." she simply told him, the twelve year old giving a curt nod before he paced over to Sokka and Azula's tent.

"So," the Water Tribe warrior addressed her with a serious look on his face, "You want to spar right now?"

"Of course. When else would we do it?" she questioned him; his indifferent expression suggested he wasn't opposing the proposition, and him rising to his feet told her he was ready.

"Let me just do my stretches first. I don't want to pull something."

"What are you, an old man?" his sister mocked him, the Water Tribe teen trying his best to ignore her.

"I'm just cautious, that's all. Ty Lee's really fast, and I've got to try and keep up."

"You're sure right I'm fast." she grinned, before cartwheeling away from the campfire, moving out to a more open spot for them to spar at.

When she came to a halt, she immediately sprung up and took form, the Water Tribesman following after her with a little less grace, stretching out his arms, and cracking his neck. He seemed to be suggesting just by how he moved his body that he was apathetic to their coming fight, though she could understand why; he had other things on his mind. She just hoped a little sparring might get him in a better mood.

"I'll let you take the first move." Sokka suggested, motioning with his right hand for her to approach.

"Oh, I will." she assured him; she slowly made her approach, and she could see his right hand twitching as he held it down by his waist.

She knew he'd try and throw his boomerang, and she knew exactly how to counter it, seeing that it was going to be intended to careen back around to hit her in the head. Ty Lee did not falter, and as she lunged forward, she somersaulted to Sokka's left, giving herself the space she needed to avoid being jabbed by his quick hands. When she retook her stance, he threw his boomerang around to the right, which made her guess it'd come back at her from the left. She ignored thought of it for a moment, instead leaping forward to strike his extremities. He weaved out of the way of her fist jab, but instead of trying to hit him again, she side-stepped around the Water Tribesman, who in turn reoriented himself, jabbing her right arm. Though she realised he had just paralysed it, she didn't worry, knowing that something was about to come back in to even up their fight. The boomerang flew straight into its wielder's head, as she had distracted him while it made its return approach; he grunted, stumbling forward, which allowed her to jab him in the gut and upper chest a few times, disabling his arms and winding him in the process.

"Urgh." he groaned under his breath, turning his eyes up to look at her, "Time out?"

"Maybe that'll teach you to use your hands instead of a weapon." she smirked, making him sigh as he fell down onto his behind, still trying to catch his breath.

She chuckled at his pained state, before she sat down in front of him, deciding that she'd at the very least give him some sympathy, "Don't worry, you can take as long as you like."

"If this happened in a real fight I'd be screwed." he admitted, making her grin.

"Well aren't you luck the Fire Nation Army doesn't have chi-blockers."

"I am." he mumbled, before he tried to raise his arms, "You didn't hit me that hard." he conceded, "I can already feel a little in my arms."

"Well yeah, I hit you to win, not to actually keep you down." she argued, "You'll be good to fight again, quickly enough." she suggested, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"Well, I want to get you back." he declared, making her laugh, now approving of his enthusiasm.

"I'd like to see you try." she grinned, before raising her hands, "No, really. I want to get a challenge."

"I got that when you told me you wanted to spar." he conceded, before sighing, "Well, I guess I'll- uh- just sit here until my arms work."

"Maybe we can talk."

"About what?" he asked her, sounding a little confused by her question, "No offence, but I don't think we have much in common."

"We have Azula and chi-blocking. Which of those would you like to talk about?" she simply drilled down the possible topics they could have a decent conversation about.

"How about my girlfriend, seeing that she isn't here to shut you up if I ask an unusual question." he decided, pursing his lips upward, "Tell me something funny that she's done. From back when you two were kids."

"Hmph." Ty Lee scrunched her lips up, trying to think what was an amusing story to give him, "Well, there was this one time when Mai and I came over to the palace to hang out. This was when we were nine, I think." she mumbled, trying to recall exactly when it had happened, "And we were playing around with Zuko... or maybe he was forced to play with us. He wasn't very happy about it, that was sure."

He snickered, "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. She and Zuko never really got along."

"Uh, yeah." she noted, finding that to be a rather sad truth of the matter; she didn't have the best relationship with her identical sisters, but they still cared and looked out for each other.

However, with Zuko and Azula, their relationship seemed to have always been tense, and it had only gotten so much worse since Zuko took the throne. One wanted the other in prison, and the other probably wished the other were dead.

"So, Azula had Mai stand with an apple on her head, and the goal was to knock it off." she explained, gesturing to the top of her head, "She showed us how to do it by walking a little away, turning around..." she explained as she imitated what Azula had done that day, before she imitated the motion of sending a bolt of flames out of her hand, "And shot a fireball at the apple. Instead of knocking it off of her head, instead, the apple caught alight."

"Ah, well, she mustn't have liked that." Sokka noted, not amused by the story, at least not yet.

"Well, she panicked a little, but what made her scream was Zuko charging at her to try and get the apple off her head. He ran into her and threw both of them into the fountain behind them. It was adorable, and they got so embarrassed about it." she giggled, "You should have seen the looks on their faces."

"Oh, I'm sure they were. Azula must really love humiliating people, because she sure does it to me a lot."

"That's just Azula being Azula." she assured him, "Plus, you insult her back, don't you? Zuko'd just run off and sob about it."

"Ah, yeah, you're right about that part." he raised his chin haughtily, before he tried to move his arms, successfully getting a little more movement with them; he was able to get his right hand to scratch the back of his head, which she was sure hurt at that moment, "So, again?"

"I'm ready when you are." she simply told him, standing back up and taking a few steps away.

"I'm ready to knock you over." he declared confidently, making her chuckle; he was as cocky as Azula at times, which made her realise why they were so perfect for each other- always ready to make something a competition, "Best of three?" he asked her, the acrobat opening her arms up.

"Well, that's assuming you can beat me once." she noted, the Water Tribesman rising back up to his feet, cracking his knuckles, though a little flimsily.

"I can." he assured her, making the acrobat laugh; he probably could beat her, but prodding him to get him more enthusiastic for the duel was the best way to ensure it was an equal fight.

"Okay, go ahead then." she gestured for him to approach, "Don't be shy." she added, making him sigh before he retook a fighting stance.

She paced forward, ready to jab him with the same speed she had before; without his boomerang, she didn't have to worry about anything but his hands. Sokka weaved to the left of her first jab, aiming first to strike her left leg, which she was able to block with her arm, oriented to ensure he didn't block her chi paths. She then thrust her right arm across to jab at his shoulder. The Water Tribesman simply leaned back, falling down onto his back, much to her surprise; she expected that he would be vulnerable after that move, but instead when she moved to jab his extremities, he kicked her in the gut; it wasn't hard enough to wind her, but she was forced to leap over him, somersaulting as she landed behind his head. He turned around sweeping his legs in motion, to strike her feet, forcing Ty Lee onto her behind.

"Ow." she grunted, before narrowing her eyes at him, "Did you just try to kick my butt?" she questioned him, hoping such an inappropriate suggestion would get him off focus.

He grimaced with disgust, jumping away from her and retaking his stance, "Of course not." he refused her idea, before gesturing for her to get up; instead of chi-blocking her while she was down, he did the honourable thing and gave her an opportunity to fight back- she probably wouldn't have done the same, but then again, she was far more into getting her opponents down as quickly as possible.

Ty Lee rose back up to a low stance, and readied herself for his next barrage of jabs; instead, he remained steady, waiting for her next move. She raised a brow, unsure whether he was just waiting, or if he actually had a plan in mind. She ignored that thought for a moment, leaping up to her feet, immediately sending a kick to strike him in the chest; though she was fast, he was able to raised one arm and block her foot, directing it past his shoulder.

"Close, but not fast enough." he advised her, making her narrow her eyes.

"I'm the chi-blocking master." she argued, retracting her leg before she kicked down, stubbing his toes; though his boots stopped her from actually hurting him, it was a sufficient distraction to give her enough time to thrust her arm forward and jab him in the right arm.

Without his dominant arm, she thought he'd probably lose at once, but instead, he swept his left leg out, tripping her over as she moved her stance; she stumbled forward and he moved to jab her once more. She grasped his left hand, and she smirked, realising that without his right hand to jab her with, he was stuck.

"Ah, what did I say?" she asked him, the Water Tribe warrior smirking.

"Actually... I don't just chi-block. What was it that Suki said... use your enemies strength against them?" he mumbled, which she ignored, moving her left arm forward to jab his chest and disable him.

instead of landing a blow right in his abdomen, she ended up slipping as his leg twisted under her left foot. She slammed face first into his chest, and a moment later, she felt a few jabs into her side, and she groaned with frustration as she realised her whole right side was paralysed.

He pushed her off of him with his left hand, Ty Lee struggling to stay on both feet, "I see you've got a few tricks up your sleeve."

"You weren't trying to grope me there, were you?' he asked her, the acrobat raising her left hand up.

"No, of course not. I swear on my honour as Azula's friend I wouldn't dare."

"Oh, so you're saying if you weren't, you would?" he raised a finger to his chin in thought; she turned away, embarrassed by what she was suggesting- maybe he was right, though she hadn't attempted to do anything of the sort.

"I wouldn't." she stressed, "Did you think that was groping?" she raised a brow, realising she had really only touched his chest, which was clearly covered by clothes.

"Well, I don't know. Azula's the only one who gropes me." he admitted; a few moments later, Katara's head peered out her tent, and she had a look of disgust on her face.

"You know I can hear you two, right?" she growled, Sokka turning to face her with a grimace.

"Uh... sorry, I guess." he mumbled, "Please don't mention to her that I said that."

"I won't." she assured him, "Just don't talk about that kind of stuff. It weirds me out." she mumbled with an uneasy look on her face, before her head moved back into the tent.

"Sorry about that." he turned to Ty Lee, obviously realising how weird the conversation had gotten, "So, best of three?" he asked her once more, making her nod.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt." she conceded, shaking her left arm to try and get it to move, only getting a sluggish movement from her shoulder area, "Just give me a bit."

"My arm isn't going yet either." he explained, trying to move his left arm also, "Well, got any more funny stories?"

"I mean, there was this one time Azula tried to cartwheel and firebend at the same time." she reminisced, finding that specific memory to be rather amusing; the Princess would do absurd things when she was bored, and inadvertently setting herself on fire was one of them.

"Oh, I guess that didn't end well." he mumbled, the acrobat smirking.

"Well, she could do it." she conceded, "Fire just happens to rise, so she set her robes on fire."

"And then did she get thrown into a fountain?" he presumed, the acrobat shaking her head.

"Azula got a little freaked out, but she was able to put out the flames with her own bending." she clarified, the Water Tribesman almost making a pout.

"Aw, I thought she was going to make a fool of herself." he admitted, making her giggle.

"Well, she did. She was so embarrassed about it that she demanded I never speak of it."

"But you just did." he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Ah, she won't really care about it that much. Azula's probably embarrassed you in worse ways than that."

"Yeah, she's set my pants on fire before when we were sparring. I had to sit on the snow to get rid of the flames, which... wasn't fun, considering that a few villagers, including my sister, were watching at the time." he noted, making her snicker; she could definitely see that happening in the thick of a spar with Azula.

"Yep! That happened!" Katara shouted out to reassure her that he wasn't making the story up.

Sokka rolled his eyes, "I don't need your input, Katara." he grumbled, before he tried to move his left arm again, getting a little better movement.

"So, could you give me some more juicy details." she asked him, the Water Tribesman looking at her suspiciously.

"That's an unsafe thing for you to ask me." he warned her, "Azula won't like it if I do."

"I know, so don't tell me anything too weird. Just anything that might have happened to you that is... cute! Happy! I don't know, I just wanna know something!"

"Oh fine." he mumbled, before raising his left hand to his chin, "Well, the first time Azula saw me without my clothes wasn't because she... you know." he mumbled, not wanting to mention anything indecent aloud, making the acrobat grin.

"Oh, I've got to hear this. What happened?"

"This was when we were stuck in that forest. I wanted to go wash myself, so I found a bit of a stream deep enough to do so, and told her to stay away while I cleaned myself." he explained, Ty Lee scratching her chin.

"And she didn't stay away?"

"Well, she did for a while, but I must have taken too long, because she showed up, and I was still cleaning myself. I don't know how long she was ogling me for... but I got a fright when I turned around." he admitted, "And then I fell into the stream."

"Ahaha!" she laughed at him, before raising a hand, still curious as to what had happened, "So, she was really ogling you?"

"Yeah." he nodded, "It was kind of creepy at the time." he mumbled, "But I guess in hindsight she must have found me attractive." he noted, a smug grin appearing on his face.

"Well, she wouldn't be wrong. The first thing I thought when I saw you was 'cutie'." she acknowledged, making the Water Tribesman blush, obviously embarrassed by the suggestion; she had made her thoughts known when she first met him, but she had tried to avoid mentioning it, knowing that it might annoy Azula.

"Oh, yeah, you and all your sisters were trying to hit on me." he reminded himself of that happening, "I'm not going to lie, that was pretty weird."

"We all have the same taste in men." she argued, "Which is really annoying honestly. You try and find a boyfriend and it turns out one of your six sisters has already snatched him."

"Well, that sucks." he acknowledged, before trying to move his arm again, "I think I'm ready to go again."

She immediately retook her fighting stance, gesturing with her left hand for him to attack, "Come on then. I want to see how fast you can get."

"Uh... okay." he nodded, almost sounding a little nervous; he didn't think he could beat her in that area, but he accepted the dare nonetheless.

Sokka charged at her, and looked poised to jab her; Ty Lee weaved out of the way, moving into a form where she could reach in and jab his gut as he came by. Instead of trying to jab her, as she had first expected, the Water Tribesman instead put his left leg out, moving to trip her over. However, her own stance was a little better placed than his kick was strong, and he was forced to roll to the ground as he lost his footing entirely.

She wanted to laugh at his blunder, but she was impressed that she had tricked him into thinking he was going to attack her head on. She then moved to jab at his legs, hoping to paralyse them before he could move into form again; he flicked dirt up with the tips of his boots, forcing Ty Lee to close her eyes for a moment. She grit her teeth, realising that it gave him the opportunity to move in an unpredictable fashion; to save herself, she stepped back in hoping that he wasn't as fast as she was. When she opened her eyes, she realised she couldn't see Sokka, but she felt his fingers jab the right side of her waist, making her right leg weaken somewhat.

She was relieved that it wasn't fully paralysed, and used the opportunity to whack him right in the head with her elbow as he had moved himself just a little too close to her arm. He grunted with pain as he stumbled away, giving her the chance to reorient her stance. Though her leg wasn't moving as well as it ought to, she was still able to ready herself for whatever he might throw her way. Ty Lee dodged the next jab Sokka attempted, trying to hit her right shoulder. She weaved to the side, and felt her leg slip, though she maintained her balance and raised her arms to block the next attempt he made to jab at her extremities. She then thrust both her hands forward, her finger tips hitting the chi-paths along his upper arms, leaving them paralysed; she smirked, realising her near victory, though she found herself falling to the ground as Sokka tripped her left leg, leaving her without the support to hold herself up. She blocked the fall with her hands while he stood above her, his arms paralysed.

"Okay... I surrender." he conceded the spar, "I can't exactly chi-block with my feet."

"That's actually possible." she claimed, the Water Tribesman's brows rising up as he considered the possibilities.

"Huh, well... I don't think I'd be very good at it. I'm always wearing thick boots to make sure my feet don't get hurt." he acknowledged, before turning around, "Maybe I should go find Azula now."

"Don't worry, she'll be back soon." she assured him, just not wanting Sokka to speak to the Princess before she had figured out what she wanted to do; that could make for an awkward situation or a fight very quickly, especially if he opposed her chosen path, "I can tell you more funny things about her."

"So could I." he noted, though he didn't sound amused when he said it; he was obviously becoming more cautious, or perhaps nervous, seeing that Azula wasn't at the camp, and had been gone for a good while, since she had an early breakfast before going off to see her guards, "This one time, we pretended to be married."

"Wait, was this before you were together, or after?" she asked, the Water Tribesman smirking.

"Before. That's when I became peasant farmer Wang Fire, and she became the doting wife Zaira. It was actually hilarious, but she really tried to ignore the fact that she had pretended to be my wife. It's a bit weirder, considering that we did end up kissing for the first time like two days later."

"Oh..." her lips opened up to reveal her wide grin, "That's adorable! So maybe you weren't playing pretend." she elbowed Sokka, whose cheeks flushed red.

"Uh... yeah, maybe." he acknowledged with a quiet voice.

Ty Lee turned away, realising that by not telling Sokka what Azula wanted to do, she was going to hurt him in the long run. She didn't want to hurt either of them, but she knew that Azula would be better to deal with him than she would be, even if she knew and clearly understood the Princess's reasoning. She didn't want to put her boyfriend in harm's way, and she knew he would be up in arms about it.

"I'm sure she really loves you." she mumbled, the Water Tribe teen's eyes widening as he realised what she had just said.

"Uh..." he mumbled, unsure what to say, before looking out into the nearby woods, idle in thought.

"Yeah, she does."

* * *

Carrying a bag full of rice and vegetables over his shoulder, Aang groaned with frustration, wishing he'd asked one of the others to join him on his shopping trip. He had gotten everything they needed, a price that he found to be reasonable, though that wasn't considering the burden of carrying the food all the way back to camp. He strode down the path, nervously smiling at the villagers he walked by, who all eyed him with suspicion; at least it wasn't suspicion of him being the Avatar, but it was still suspicion. He hadn't done anything wrong, though his attire didn't seem to be to their liking. He wondered if Azula's claim that he looked like he belonged to some kind of youth gang was true; it would explain why everyone looked at him weirdly. He thought momentarily it might have been about his hair, but he was sure that it couldn't have been that; back in the colonial village, nobody seemed to notice him, so he was sure that it had something to do with his outward appearance of a Fire Nation boy. He made his way back through the village, aiming to leave as quickly as he could, not wanting the peering eyes on him; he was about to reach the edge of the village, where he'd turn into the woods, but he was alerted by a voice calling out behind him.

"Aang." he heard a monotone, unenthused voice; one which could only belong to Princess Azula, who was never eager enough to shout.

He turned around and saw her walking up toward him, obviously having come back from meeting with her guards, "Oh, hi Az-" he began to greet her, before he cut himself off, remembering that he still ought to avoid mentioning her name, "Zaira."

"Are you struggling with the shopping?" she asked him, the Avatar raising a brow; if she was really offering to help him, she had to be in a good mood.

"Uh, I am." he nodded, "Did you want to help?"

"I thought I might be of use." she simply acknowledged it, not wanting to call it 'helping', even if that was exactly what she was doing; he offered her one of the bags he had, and she slung it over her shoulder.

The Princess idly looked up the hill, before turning her eyes back in the direction of their campsite, "So, who sent you shopping?"

"Nobody. I just decided it was a good idea." he explained himself; he knew that they needed food, and seeing that everyone else seemed to be tired, he put it upon himself to go get them what they needed.

"Well, good job." she commended him simply, her words still making him smile, even if she wasn't sounding too enthusiastic.

"So, what are we doing today?" he asked her, the Avatar furrowing a brow, "Are you going to train with your guards or something?"

"I'm going to leave." she told him, rather bluntly; Aang's jaw dropped, unsure what to say- he knew that she would eventually be going with her guards to go 'deal with' Zhao, but he didn't realise it would be so soon.

"Like... right now?" he asked her, the Princess turning her eyes toward the woods as they approached them.

"Not right now." she conceded, "But I will be leaving today. Ty Lee and I both, seeing that she demanded she come along."

"What about Sokka?" he asked her, knowing that as her boyfriend, he'd probably like to go along with her.

"I need him to stay and lead you and Katara to the North Pole. To keep you both safe." she explained, before turning her eyes toward him, with a stern expression; she seemed really serious, and that told Aang to not say a word, "Do you understand?"

He nodded, unsure why she needed him to acknowledge it, before he furrowed a brow, wondering what Sokka thought of being split up, "Have you talked about it?"

"Not yet." she admitted, "And I want it to stay that way."

That explained to him exactly why she was being so serious; she wanted to talk to Sokka herself about it rather than have him mention it.

"You are going to tell him... and not just run away, are you?"

"Why would I-" she began to question him, before her eyes widened; she knew his story, and the fact that was the one mistake Aang had made- the mistake that may have inadvertently led to The Hundred Year War, "I don't want to do that."

"Good." he nodded, grimacing as he turned away, trying to imagine what Monk Gyatso's reaction had been to his departure, "You should always say goodbye."

"Y-yeah..." she mumbled, obviously uneased by his mentioning of such a specific, painful event in his life, even only indirectly, "Sokka needs to know, but from me. So I can explain."

"I'm guessing he might argue. He loves to argue with you." he noted, though he considered that the coming argument would be something non-trivial; Azula was going to go and deal with some dangerous people, all in hopes that she could get the army she lost.

"Oh, he sure does." she sighed, "Sokka's not going to be happy about this."

"I'm sure he'll get it. We need him." he admitted, the Princess chuckling.

"You do." she nodded, before her expression straightened, "I also need to make sure he's safe. He'll be safe with you and Katara."

"What about you and Ty Lee... are you going to be safe?" he asked her, feeling a little nervous by the suggestion that she was willfully putting herself in danger.

"As safe as we can be." she noted, "Don't worry about us. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think I could succeed."

"But what if you don't?" he asked her, the Princess clenching her left fist, which was the only hand he could see, the other obscured by the bag she was holding.

"Then Sokka will force you to get on Appa to come find me." she acknowledged, the Avatar nodding along.

He knew that Sokka reacted badly when Azula put herself in danger by going into the Fire Nation campsite, disguised as a soldier, so when she went away for potentially weeks, then it made sense that he'd jump at the first chance to try and 'save' her.

"Yeah, he would do that." he agreed with her idea, his eyes turning ahead, looking into the woods, toward their camp, which wasn't visible yet, "Do you want me and Katara to get out of the camp while you talk with him."

"Uh, yeah." she nodded, before turning away, as if she were embarrassed, "That'd be helpful, actually."

"Well, we were going to go train our waterbending for a bit. Practice the forms on the scroll." he added, the Princess nodding along.

"That's good. You do need to work on your waterbending. That'll make it easier for you to pick it up when you learn from a master at the North Pole." she noted, before turning her eyes toward him, "Just don't get too into it, otherwise Katara's going to get all competitive or jealous, if you're better than her."

"How do you know?" he asked her, the Princess sighing as she moved her shoulder around to lessen the strain on her shoulder.

"I didn't learn firebending alone." she admitted; Aang guessed she was referring to Zuko, who must have begun learning his bending alongside her, and seeing that she was the prodigy, he must have been the jealous one.

Competition between siblings was something he could tell to sometimes get bad, as seen from Katara and Sokka's many spats, but he knew that with Azula and her brother, it had to be far worse.

"But yeah..." he mumbled, hoping to draw the topic away from that, knowing that her brother was a touchy issue, "I think I'm getting the hang of waterbending."

"You're good." she simply nodded, "But innate skill is not all you need to master an element. You need somebody to train you."

"Well, I hope Katara's as good as you think she will be once she's trained. I'm sure she'll be a good master." he admitted with a bright smile, truly hoping that was what would be the eventuality.

He would prefer to learn from her than some grumpy old men, as he'd already had to deal with enough of those back in the temple, so he'd want to steer clear of them. That was one of the reasons why he wanted Toph to be his earthbending master; someone young, in tune with their element, and with the added bonus of a sense of humour. He knew that Katara mightn't have been as well-humoured as Toph, but she was far better than the old grumpy men at the Southern Air Temple. Nobody could beat Monk Gyatso, of course, but then again, nobody was him but him; he grimaced slightly at the reminder that he was the last airbender, the last person who remembered what life was like at the Air Temples. The teachings of all the passed Air Nomads lived on in him, and he just hoped that he could ensure some continuity within his culture; Aang couldn't bear the thought of being the last Air Nomad ever.

"Aang, did something happen?" Azula asked him, waving her hand in front of his face, the young Avatar shaking his head.

"Uh, no. I'm fine. Perfectly fine." he assured her, not wanting her to worry about him; she obviously had more important things to be concerned about, given what she was about to do.

"Will you be fine for a few weeks while I'm gone?" she asked him, the Air Nomad raising his brows as he heard her time-frame.

"A few weeks? I didn't know you'd be that long." he admitted, the Princess turning away, considering his words.

"It's not that long a time. We're just lucky we're quite close to Zhao's base of operations, otherwise Ty Lee and I might have spent a few weeks simply walking." she admitted with a humoured voice.

"Huh, that would have sucked." he noted, "Not as bad as walking through that forest, though." he acknowledged her story, the Princess sighing as she was reminded of those events.

"That was a real pain." she mumbled, "Both the walking and Sokka." she clarified, making him snicker.

"He wasn't that bad, was he?"

"Sokka can get on my nerves very quickly if he's the only person I'm able to communicate with for days on end. The boat was a little better, given that we were focused on getting to the South Pole and not on trying to not kill each other." she conceded, making Aang grimace; the idea of them trying to kill each other, perhaps out of fear, was actually quite disturbing.

"You weren't going to betray him, were you?"

"In the end, no. At first, I didn't trust him, and I knew I could beat him in a one-on-one fight. Eventually, I realised he didn't really want to capture me, and really just wanted to get home, though... his priorities got switched up." she conceded, looking down toward the campsite, which was now in view.

"Well, I guess you're glad that happened now." he guessed, knowing that without Sokka's choice to remain with her when she went to Ba Sing Se, they wouldn't have fallen in love; Aang liked the idea of their romance, even if it wasn't as pretty in real life as he sometimes thought it might be.

It gave him hope, not just for his own future, but for that of the world; if two people from such different backgrounds could like each other, then perhaps the nations of the world could find peace with each other, even after all the fighting that had occurred.

"I am." she admitted, more quietly than he expected her to; he didn't press the point, just giving her an affirmative smile as they made their way back into the campsite, where he could see Katara sitting by the campfire, waiting for them.

"Oh." she almost gasped, "Azula helped you out." she observed, "Did you get everything?"

"Rice and vegetables. It wasn't a very big list." he noted, making her hold back a laugh.

"Okay, good point." she conceded, before she turned to face Azula, "Thanks for helping out. Did everything go well with your guards?"

"It went fine." the Princess responded with a cold, serious tone, before she glanced around, "Where's Sokka? He didn't go looking for me, did he?"

"He's back in your tent." she gestured over to it, the other girl giving a curt nod as she laid the bag of food down by the embers of what had been their campfire, next to Katara.

"Uh..." the Princess mumbled, glancing toward both of them, "Enjoy your waterbending training." she awkwardly farewelled them, Aang turning to smile at the Water Tribe girl, remembering that was what they were going to do.

"Oh yeah." he mumbled, "Are we going to go?"

She nodded at him, making a warm smile, "I've been looking forward to it." she admitted, rising up to her feet, "I'll go get the scroll."

She turned around and quickly climbed into the tent, fumbling around for a few moments before her upper body came out, with the scroll in her right hand, "Got it." she confirmed, turning to gesture to the nearby stream, "Do we want to go down a little further. I think there was more water down that way." she admitted, the young Air Nomad simply smiling in return.

"Whatever you think. You're the one more in tune with water." he assured her that she was the one with the right to make the decision; even if their waterbending skills were comparable, she was the one who had always had an innate connection to her element, and thus had a better idea of how to use it.

"Huh, I guess I am." he mumbled softly, before she began to pace toward the stream, Aang immediately moving to follow behind her; he glanced around as they moved out of the camp, realising that Ty Lee wasn't up and about, "Where'd Ty Lee go?"

"She said she had to do something." she clarified, before she furrowed a brow, "I realise that's really vague when I say it out loud, but that is what she said."

"Maybe it's a secret." he joked, the Water Tribe girl rolling her eyes.

"A secret what? Birthday party?" she asked, Aang shrugging his shoulders, deciding he'd avoid mentioning the Princess and her friend's intention to leave with the guards.

"I don't know, maybe. I don't know when anybody's birthdays are." he acknowledged, the Water Tribe girl narrowing her eyes.

"Well, Sokka's and Azula's have both already passed. He made a really big deal about hers when it came around, because he didn't know what Fire Nation people do for birthdays." she explained, the Air Nomad nodding along; he didn't know much himself when it came to that topic.

He didn't really celebrate his birthday back when he was living in the Air Temples; the monks had said something about humility, and a simple acknowledgement of a year's passing. Monk Gyatso would still make him a custard tart anyway, though he had to promise not to tell the other monks, as he might get in trouble for giving him gifts.

"Ah, okay." he mumbled, "What about your birthday?"

"Not for another month, I think. I usually can tell when my birthday is by the length of the day in my village, not by when it actually... is." she explained, making Aang furrow a brow in thought.

He had forgotten how unusual it was at the South Pole, where for months at a time, the place could be shrouded in darkness, or during their summers, where the sun wouldn't go down. He hadn't witnessed the midnight sun before, but Sokka and Katara both had mixed opinions of it; they both said it was beautiful, but both had mentioned that it was not good for anyone's mind, as it made their sleep patterns go crazy.

"Well then." he mumbled, "Just tell me when it is. I might get something for you." he acknowledged, making her giggle.

"You don't need to do that, Aang. Don't worry. It's not that big of a deal." he patted him on the shoulder, before turning her eyes toward the stream that lay ahead of them, "So, if we continue along downhill, I think the slope flattens out a little, and the stream gets wider." she explained, the young Avatar giving her an affirmative smile before following down after her, along the path that led along the river.

As they made their way along the stream, he glanced around at the woodland around them, taking note of the sound of animals chirping and scampering around; the idea of being in nature while bending made him happy, knowing that it was a more soothing, calm environment to be in rather than a bland place like a courtyard or an open field, where one might ordinarily train their bending. As Katara said there would be, the hill slope flattened out, and the stream became wider, giving them a nice flat area where they could bend from the stream and test out their forms.

"Ah, this is nice." he pursed his lips into a smile, appreciating the sight, "So, are we just going to start right away?"

"Yep." she nodded, striding over toward the edge of the water, placing the scroll down on a rock nearby, before she turned to face the stream itself.

She took a deep breath, trying to get herself in sync with her element; Aang decided to step up and join her, knowing that they were meant to be training together, and not him just looking at her do so. He reached his arms forward, and felt out for the flow of the stream; he could feel the water, moving all at once, downhill in a soft, calm motion. Any irregularities were drowned out by the mass of the water all moving at once; whether this was to tell him anything about the element, he couldn't be sure, but just took a few breaths in and out, making sure the water was moving in sync with his breathing. Aang turned to face Katara, thinking what form they ought to try first.

"How about we just go with a water whip first?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl smiling, reaching forward as she took another deep breath, moving into the stance they had learned to take.

He did the same, and turned his eyes over to the stream, reaching out with his left hand; he could feel the water moving, and with his grasp, he slowed it somewhat. He then scooped up some of the liquid, which flowed right into his grasp; it rose up out of the stream, and he could see her doing the same beside him, her own amorphous blob of water appearing out of the flow. He pulled the water back toward himself by moving his right hand close to his torso, the water moving in sync; he then drew it around himself, coiling around almost like a snake, before he reached out with his left hand, flicking the string of water at a nearby tree, which shook a little when it was whacked by the tip of the water whip. He heard some birds squawking nearby, and cringed, realising that he had disturbed the local environment.

"Sorry." he apologised to the creatures, feeling like he had to, even if they couldn't understand him.

"What are you apologising for?" Katara asked him as she let go of the water she had been using, letting it flow back into the stream.

"Oh, nothing." he assured her, "Just scared some birds, that's all."

She blinked at him, wide eyed for a few moments, before she snickered, "Wait, that's what you were apologising for?"

"Uh, yeah." he mumbled, scratching the back of his scalp nervously, hoping that he hadn't just made a fool of himself.

"That's... considerate of you." she noted, making a small smile, before she turned back around to gesture to the scroll, "Maybe we should try something a little more complex than a water whip."

She unfurled the scroll, and gestured to the form that looked similar to the water whip, though it involved dividing a mass of water in half and throwing it at the enemy, first with their foot via a kick and then by with their hands; it reminded him somewhat of the barrages that he'd see earthbenders and firebenders use, though obviously a lot more flowing, like he expected any waterbending form would be.

"Ah, yeah." he scratched his chin, "We can do that."

Both of them stepped back, giving each other the space they required, before they both reached out to the water, getting themselves ready to follow the form. Aang pulled out a large blob of water, and pulled it up toward himself, taking the initial form he saw, where he raised his right foot up, tensing for just a moment, as he waited for Katara to move in sync, before they both thrust their legs out, splitting the water, kicking one half of it out in a disc shaped blast. He moved his right leg back down, pulling the other part of the blob around and behind him with his arms, before he followed the set, dropping his left leg down so he crouched with his right leg facing out toward the stream. Finally, he released the now strung out blob of water, which formed a shape similar to the water whip he had used only a few moments earlier. He then raised his right leg up, letting the water flow out in motion, flinging it out toward a tree across the stream, which shook, like the last one he had hit. Katara did the same moves, and turned to smile at him, glad that they had got the move down well on their first try, even if it had been a little slower than what was intended.

"That was pretty good." she admitted, before her eyes narrowed, giving her a devious look, "But can we go faster?"

"How much faster?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl raising her chin up haughtily, momentarily reminding him of Azula; he didn't dare mention that, knowing that was a quick way to anger her.

"Oh, fast enough to scare the crap out of the others when we spar them again." she argued, Aang nodding along, thinking that was a good incentive to practice the form.

"That'll be funny." he agreed to her proposition, "But you know what would be funnier?" he asked her, grasping out toward the stream, which she didn't notice as she looked toward him.

"What?" she narrowed her eyes at him, her tone not sounding suspicious.

The Avatar immediately pulled the water out, and moving it around himself to try and hit her with a quickly formed water whip; she caught on fast enough, and pulled out her own mass of water, creating a water shield in front of her, her steady hands holding back the water whip as he tried to knock her over. His trick hadn't worked, and the fact that she didn't disperse her defences suggested she might actually want to continue. Aang gulped with fear as her shield lowered somewhat, revealing her confident smirk; it had Azula written all over it, and not in the good way.

"Oh, you're on."

* * *

Sokka took a deep breath as he stretched his arms out, trying to get himself comfortable in his sleeping roll; not that he usually wanted to sleep in the morning, he just found himself a little tired after his experience with Azula. She had been surprisingly enthusiastic after she got back from meeting with her guards, and he felt a little curious why. Maybe she was just in the mood; he couldn't be sure, but he was glad she had been. Turning to face her, he saw the Princess idly staring up toward the top of their tent, and he smiled at her, only having one thought in mind to express.

"I love you." he simply told her, kissing her on the cheek, before he lay himself back down.

"I love you too." she responded, with a rather quiet voice; he raised a brow, a little confused why she would feel embarrassed to say it when it was only them in the tent.

He yawned, stretching out a little more before he rolled over, wanting to get a little rest for the moment; he'd need to recuperate before he did anything else for the day, and that probably included getting himself some lunch. He reached out toward his bag, opening it up just to check that his pig-cow jerky was still there; when he saw that it was, he smiled, relieved that he had it for quick eating. He considered that he probably ought to get out of the sleeping roll before he tried to eat some, knowing that the Princess wouldn't stand crumbs in the bed.

He felt some rustling in the sleeping roll, and realised that his companion must have decided to get up out of bed. Sokka then glanced up to look at her, taking note that she had already covered herself up, putting her bindings and shirt back on over her chest; said shirt was still somewhat revealing, showing her midriff, though he was sure that was just his Water Tribe modesty and not because she was trying to lead him on with her attire. Azula was too serious to do something like that, even if she might have wanted to; she had her image to worry about, even if with him, despite the intimacy they shared. She looked down at him, and he smiled at her; her expression remained surprisingly neutral, and given the circumstances, that was surprising. Of any time of the day, he'd expect at that point she'd be in a good mood.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, the Princess turning her head away, as if she were ashamed to look at his bare chest; that obviously wasn't the case, even if she tried to act like it.

"No." she retorted, her voice tense, "Everything's fine, Sokka."

Her tone contradicted with the words she uttered, and Sokka pulled himself up from the sleeping roll, sure something had gone wrong.

"Did I do something bad?" he asked, afraid that at the worst, he'd been an unpleasing partner; he genuinely thought they had a good time together, but everything about the look on her face, the way she hunched her shoulders slightly, suggested the complete opposite.

"You didn't." she assured him, though her tone was not reassuring in the slightest; she turned back to face him, her eyes almost sad, "You're too good for me, Sokka."

"What-" he began to question, before he shook his head, knowing that he ought to take a more conciliatory angle; something was wrong, and even if it wasn't his fault, he had to do something about it, "What happened?"

She turned her head away, and he looked down to see her clench her fist, "It's not what happened. It's what is happening." she clarified, Sokka leaning up toward her, reaching his hand over to her shoulder, unsure what to say.

"What... what is?" he asked, his nervousness rising by the second; the tone with which she spoke suggested that she felt regretful about something, or at the very least, pained by it.

"I'm leaving." she told him, Sokka's eyes widening with fear; those were the two words he never wanted to hear her say, but there he was, thinking the best of their relationship after making love to her, and moments later, his hopes shattered.

"Wh-what?" he repeated himself, unable to form a real question; he didn't want to ask, even if he wanted to know- he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Not forever." she reassured him, turning to face him with as serious a face she could muster, "And this isn't because I don't love you or anything like that. I do." she reassured him, the Water Tribesman making a sigh of relief, realising that the worst hadn't eventuated; he was still worried by what she was saying- that she was leaving.

"But... you said, you said you're leaving." he spoke his thoughts aloud, "Where are you going?"

"To get my army back." she told him, the Water Tribesman's eyes widening; he didn't understand why she said she was leaving, because he had a very simple solution to what she was saying.

"Well, then I'm coming with you." he declared, feeling a sense of confidence return to his voice, before it was tempered by her hand touching his sternum, pushing him back slightly as she stared into his eyes.

"No, Sokka. You're not." she told him, before she sighed, her eyes turning away, as if she were ashamed; he thought that would be a reasonable emotional response- he didn't want her to leave, and she probably didn't want to leave him, even if she was set on doing so.

"B-but," he mumbled, reaching his hand toward her, "why? Why can't I go with you?"

"Because I need you here. With Aang and Katara. Be the big brother you're supposed to be." she told him, cringing slightly as she clenched her fist, tapping it onto his chest as she looked away, "A better one than mine."

"I know Zuko's a shithead, but what does he have to do with this?" he asked her, the Princess trying to hold back a laugh, obviously finding his comment funny; he knew she would- humour was his speciality, that and throwing boomerangs.

"Nothing really." she admitted, taking a deep breath before looking him in the eye, "I wish you could come with me, but I can't risk it."

"I'm not that reckless." he argued, the Princess's expression shifting from one of anguish to one of fear, and when Azula was afraid, she used her angry face, unlike any normal person.

"But Zhao is." she argued, narrowing her eyes at him, before she tapped her fingers onto his sternum, "If things went the wrong way, he wouldn't relent to have you killed. You're a Water Tribesman, so to him you are nothing but a savage- something to be disposed of." she told him with a stern voice; she couldn't be lying- there was no reason to.

"Azula." he mumbled her name softly, not knowing what he ought to say, "I want to help. I can help." he tried to explain, the Princess turning her head away.

"You can help by staying with Aang and Katara. I know you don't want to, but that's what is better for the both of us." she told him, as if she knew better; even if she did, he still knew he had to help her- that was his duty.

"No." he refused, "No it isn't. I should be by your side, just like I was in Yu Dao. I mightn't have been able to save you from Zuko then, but if need be, I'll do it now." he declared, the Princess's eyes widening, though not with shock, but with a growing anger; she pushed him on the chest, more forcefully this time, throwing him down onto the sleeping roll.

"Don't you dare do that to me." she demanded, "You will not lay down your life for me. I never asked you to do that." she told him with a growing voice, before she pointed at him, to stress the point, "Never."

"I can't let you just go." he argued, the Princess sighing as she turned around, moving to exit the tent.

"I won't be alone." she told him, as if that were to make it any better; Ty Lee going with her didn't make it any better, it just made her a hypocrite- she was her friend, and she'd be putting her in danger, but for some reason she couldn't do the same for him.

"Why can she go? She's your friend. You care for her. Why put her in danger but not me?" he questioned her, the Princess turning back to face him, her eyes dropping tears, something that was so rare that it made his jaw drop.

"Because I love you, Sokka. Are you really that thick in the head?" she told him before she turned around, "That's why I can't let you get hurt. That would make me a moron and a weakling."

"That wouldn't make you stupid, that would make you brave." he told her, the Princess stepping out of the tent, Sokka reaching forward, hoping she'd turn back to face him, but she did not, letting the canvas fall back into place, leaving him alone in the tent.

He pulled his pants up, knowing that he had to go after her, before he clambered over to the openings in the canvas, glancing out to see Azula standing by the campfire, which had already gone out, breakfast already a distant memory. He strode toward her, reaching his arm forward to try and hold her shoulder, the Princess instead turned to face him, raising a hand in front of him.

"You really should have put some clothes on Sokka." she chided him, before sighing, realising that she couldn't escape his questions, "I know you think you're right, and I think I'm right, and we can't agree on this." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes at him, "But what can we agree on?"

"That neither of us should do stupid things." Sokka concluded, the Princess chuckling, crossing her arms.

"That's true." she admitted, before raising a brow, "But is my plan stupid? Do you think I should go to Zhao and try and get my forces back?"

He looked down, knowing that her question was harder than it appeared to be; he could simply respond no, but he knew that wouldn't be a truthful answer. Azula was right to want to remain what was hers, and she wanted to do so in a way that would remove the threat of Zhao simultaneously, instead of trying her luck in recruiting a new army. It made sense, and it would cut away needless work that they might have otherwise needed to.

"You need to do it." he admitted, as much as he didn't want to, "You need to get your army, and you need to stop him."

"I do." she smiled at him, appreciative that they could agree on that, at least, "I know you don't want to be stuck with Aang and Katara, because I'm a far better travelling companion, but it is how it is." she crossed her arms; her way of joking about it made the situation marginally better, but not by much.

"You are." he agreed, before sighing, "I can't change your mind?"

"I want you to be safe, Sokka. This isn't about wanting to do everything by myself; I know when I need help- that's why I'm getting this army to begin with." she explained, before she looked down, seemingly saddened by the turn of events.

"It's... it's okay, Azula." he assured her, stepping closer, "You're the toughest, smartest girl I know- you'll be alright." he conceded, "I just want to be by your side. To make sure you're safe."

"I will be." she assured him, before she reached forward, hugging him, at first softly, before she tightened her grip, "Thank you, Sokka." she told him with a quiet, genuinely happy sounding voice, "And I'm sorry."

"For hugging me?" he asked her, amused that she'd get flustered about that of all things.

"No, for this." she admitted; he was confused by what she was referring to, until he felt a number of articulate jabs up his back.

His knees buckled beneath him, and his eyes widened as he realised what exactly had just occurred, "Ty Lee!" he called out her name, trying to turn his head to look toward the acrobat, who had a guilty look on her face, "I thought we bonded this morning."

"I'm sorry." she conceded, the Water Tribesman slumping down, Azula slowing his descent, letting him sit, and then lie down on the ground, unable to move any part of his body below his neck.

He looked up at his girlfriend, not knowing what to say; if he was paralysed, he couldn't exactly stop her any more, "A- Why?" he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"This is easier than arguing with you." she simply admitted to him, "I wish this wasn't how it had to be done, Sokka, but you're a stubborn man." she conceded, turning her eyes up to her friend, "Have you got your bags?"

"I'm all ready to go." she assured her, Sokka gulping with unease, realising that they were about to leave the camp already- she was already about to leave him behind.

"Please." he mumbled, before trying, despite the fact he knew he couldn't, to raise his hand up toward her; Azula knelt by his side, coming down toward him instead, her eyes showing him that she felt at the very least uneased by her own actions, "I don't want you to go without me."

"This is just how it is, Sokka. You'll be safe, and I'll be calm, knowing that." she assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder, pulling him up slightly from the ground, "If you have to, beat the shit out of some of those northern morons." she suggested, "If your sister doesn't have a master by the time I reach you, I'll be very disappointed. And I bet your Gran-Gran will be too."

"I can't disappoint Gran-Gran." he conceded, somewhat jokingly, despite the fact he certainly did want to honour his grandmother somehow, and what she had been through; that quickly moved from his mind, reminding himself of the situation he was in.

He looked up at her, not knowing how to persuade her otherwise, "Azula, please, just... let me go with you. I'm capable of defending myself." he declared defiantly, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"It seems not." she tapped his paralysed arm, chiding him for his preemptive judgement; Ty Lee had snuck up on him, when he thought he'd been having an intimate moment.

"Sneak attacks never count." he declared with a snarl, a momentary expression of his frustration.

"Oh, so then you won't count this." she narrowed her eyes, before leaning in and kissing him on the lips; he felt his anger subside, and momentarily felt a bit of sympathy for her perspective- she loved him, and she loved him enough that she was willing to do anything to protect him, just as he was to her. Even separating each other, as much anguish as it brought to him; he wondered what she was feeling at that moment, but realised he already knew. There had been a reason for her kiss, a reason for their love-making. It had all been to show that she did love him, despite what she was doing, to assure herself that she was a good girlfriend.

"Azula." he whispered her name as she moved away from him, rising back up to her feet, "You know, you're a bit of an arsehole."

"Thanks, Sokka." she rolled her eyes.

"But you're a great girlfriend... even if I don't agree with what you're doing." he conceded, the Princess nodding.

"I once told you that I wanted you to argue against me, and once again, you've proven your determination." she conceded, "That's what I like about you Sokka. That indomitable will." she gestured down toward him, her serious, but warm eyes giving him more hope than he thought they might, "Use it, and when we are together again, we will rule the world together."

"Oh, that's a good dream." he conceded with a momentary smile on his lips, the Princess scoffing.

"It's not a dream. It's my- no, it's our destiny." she declared, before turning her heels, striding over to their tent; he glanced toward her, watching as she spent a few moments collecting her bags, which only consisted of a change of clothes and a few small supplies.

She looked back his way, and then back over behind him, presumably toward Ty Lee, "How long does your chi-blocking last?"

"I hit him pretty hard, so he'll be like that for a few more minutes." she clarified, Sokka's eyes widening; he really didn't have a chance to stop her, even if he didn't want to.

He just wanted to be by her side, but now he understood, that wasn't a realistic outcome; she was as set in her ways as the day he met her, just set on a very different thing.

She looked back at him, and after a few moments of looking at him in his pitiful state, she sighed, "I will be back."

"You mean you'll be at the North Pole?" he asked her, the Princess chuckling.

"Precisely." she confirmed, before she gestured for Ty Lee to follow her, "Come on, the guards are waiting for us already back in the village."

"I know, Zula, you already told me." she assured her, striding past Sokka, momentarily looking down at him "I'll make sure she doesn't do anything too crazy." she gave him the most reasonable of assurances, Sokka sighing, jutting his head back to look up to the tree canopy above him.

"Good luck." he mumbled in defeat, knowing that he had no chance to stop them.

"Just don't wallow there." Azula gave him an off-hand warning, "That'd be pitiful."

"You can clearly see that I'm lying here paralysed. What's not pitiful about that?" he quipped in return.

"That you're there against your will." the acrobat added with a skip in her feet, pacing over toward Azula; he wasn't looking at them any more, but their footsteps were noticeable enough.

"Yeah, yeah." he grumbled, before raising his head up to look at them, "No need to make fun of the savage."

"I didn't intend to." Azula conceded, before gesturing toward him with a wave, "We have to go now. Don't scream too loud for Aang and Katara, or you might scare the villagers."

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind." he sarcastically remarked, not really caring if they came around at that point; Appa would scare them off if they tried anything, so he didn't feel in any way afraid of a bunch of random Earth Kingdom peasants.

His eyes locked with Azula's for a moment, and he wanted to say something; no words could come out of his mouth. He didn't want to scream at her in anger, not any more; that would be as pointless as trying to move. Her blank, stoic expression wavered for a moment, her eyes widening, as if she knew what he was thinking- she turned around after that and was on her way, Ty Lee making her way in tow.

He waited for a few moments for them to get out of sight, before he even tried to move; none of his limbs worked, and even if he had some sense in his arms and legs, it wasn't very helpful when he couldn't move them around. He sighed, realising that after all of those months training in chi-blocking, he'd never really expected to be struck down by it. Of course there was always the rare possibility that whoever ended up chasing after them, either for Azula's bounty or for the 'honour' of capturing the Avatar; he didn't expect however, for the very ability he'd worked so hard to master to be used against him, by Azula of all people. Sokka sighed, and groaned, knowing that he should have seen it coming; he knew from the start that Ty Lee was loyal to Azula, almost scarily so.

"Guys?" he asked out, hoping that by some turn of luck, that Katara and Aang had returned from their waterbending training.

When he realised that they weren't there, he did not give up; Sokka wasn't one to just sit back in defeat. He needed to get their attention, to get himself a chance, even if he only had a minute one, to stop Azula from leaving; he didn't know what he could say, but at the very least, he hoped he could get Aang and Katara to argue in his favour. He turned his head around, trying to find something to get their attention with; it wasn't like he had a way to communicate with them through any method other than screaming, and as his girlfriend suggested, that was probably a bad idea. Looking toward Appa, he took note of the massive beast; despite his strength, he probably couldn't be of much help in getting the others' attention, assuming that he could understand any commands Sokka could give out. His eyes then darted to the sound of pattering footsteps; Momo, he deduced, and he whistled out to the lemur, who appeared out of the nearby brush, approaching him with a curious look on his face.

"Momo!" he called out to his little friend, with as quiet a voice he could make; trying to not shout was his problem- he didn't want to scare him off, "Can you go to Aang for me?" he asked the flying-lemur, who chittered, before approaching Sokka, nudging at his numb arm; maybe he wanted him to get him some food, which seemed to be something that the two of them always had in mind.

"Oh, you're hungry? I'll get you food, but you've got to get Aang. Or Katara. Preferably both of them. Please, buddy." he tried to persuade the lemur, if he could even attempt to do such a thing.

He seemed to understand his words well enough, and jumped up into the air, gliding along down the river; whether he was looking for food or for Aang and Katara, he'd likely bump into them if they were still practising their waterbending. He knew that probably got far away enough to not disturb them, and that turned out to be a problem now that the enjoyable part of the morning had dissipated into thin air. As Momo glid away, he grit his teeth, hoping for the best, before he rested his head back down, sighing; he heard Appa grumbling nearby, and his eyes darted upward, looking behind him, toward the sky-bison, who sat in the distance.

"How are you, Appa?" he asked of his giant, furry friend, who like Momo, obviously couldn't respond verbally, but it was better to talk to somebody than just lie there in shame.

The sky-bison idly looked his way, and didn't make much of a response, turning around and taking a bite out of a nearby bush; Sokka sighed, knowing that he had nobody to talk to. He turned his gaze over toward his tent, and was reminded of the fact that he'd be sleeping alone, for the first time in months. It was a chilling idea, and he didn't know how to feel; angry or sad, afraid or annoyed. Azula had done something he hadn't expected of her, though in hindsight, he wasn't surprised; she was always so confident in herself, and even though that confidence had been weakened by the turn of events in Yu Dao, she was still Azula, the Princess who was set on becoming the Fire Lord. Though, her choice had had nothing to do with her becoming the Fire Lord; it had to do with him, and how she felt about him. Sokka smiled at the thought, at the very fact that she loved him; that was the only good thing of her actions- they were showing that she cared enough about him to do things against his will, for his own good.

She was a smart woman, and he knew that, and even if he did disagree with her, he could understand her logic; it was bad logic, but he knew that her decision was reasonable. He wouldn't have wanted Katara to come along with him to fight the Fire Nation, even if she was a great waterbender at the time, which she wasn't; he couldn't bear that thought, and neither could his father. He remembered when his father told him he couldn't come with him and the warriors left all those years ago. That was before the comet, before they returned home, disheartened by their defeat; they hadn't lost many men or ships, but the war, it was over with the fall of Ba Sing Se. Sokka had foolishly thought he ought to go with them, just as he had thought he should go with Azula; of course, it was a different situation, but he could see the parallels. His father loved him, just like any good father should, and he didn't want Sokka to be in danger for his own sake; it was the same with Azula- she couldn't tolerate the danger of him losing his life, in the case of the worst possible scenario with Zhao.

"But Dad didn't tie me up or anything like that." he mumbled to himself, knowing there was a difference in the reactions; Sokka might have ended up forcing himself along with Azula, and that was obviously why she had chosen for Ty Lee to chi-block him.

He sighed with frustration, knowing that his own stubborn personality had led to the turn of events; even if she hadn't told him about her intentions until that moment in the tent, she obviously predicted how he'd react; Azula was the one with the brains in their relationship, in the end.

"Why'd I have to be the idiot?"

* * *

"Momo, what's wrong?"

Katara turned around, realising that Aang had stopped practising the water shield form, and she was confused why; Momo just appeared out of the blue, but that didn't seem to be a reason to stop their practice. He knelt over by the flying lemur, who chittered, his high pitch vocalisations making Aang raise a brow in interest, before he turned to Katara.

"I think he wants to show us something." he deduced, the Water Tribe girl placing her hands on her hips, raising a brow skeptically to that claim.

"How can you be sure? Maybe he's just hungry."

"He'd probably go annoy somebody else if he wanted food. The food's at the camp, remember?" he rhetorically asked her.

She crossed her arms, not appreciating that she was being made out as ignorant or stupid, "I knew that." she grumbled, before Aang stepped a little closer, his eyes showing a sense of unease.

"Momo might be trying to tell us something important. You never know." he admitted, the Water Tribe girl sighing, disappointed that they had to stop their training then and there.

She walked over to the scroll, and waved it in the air a few times to make sure it wasn't wet; ruining it would ruin her day, in all honesty- even if she had already learned the forms it showed her, she didn't feel like she had mastered them to the degree she wanted to. Rolling it up, she turned around to face her friend, who was looking at Momo; the flying lemur had already begun to glide uphill, back in the direction of the camp.

"Let's just see what he wants." Aang suggested, "If it's nothing, we can go right back to practising."

"Yeah, and then Sokka'll ask for lunch and we'll be stuck doing that instead." she guessed, knowing that somebody, whether it was her brother or not, asking for food, usually stopped them from doing whatever else they needed to do during the day.

"Don't worry." Aang raised a hand, "Sokka got that jerky yesterday. There'll be no more interruptions. I promise." he gave her a reassuring smile before he began to pace up the hill, following after their flying-lemur.

Begrudgingly, Katara made her way after him, and slowly drudged up the hill, immediately realising that her practice had worn her out a lot; she thought that perhaps she needed to eat something for lunch, a thought that she immediately banished from her mind- she would not be a hypocrite, even if her tired arms and legs told her do be one. Slowly making her way back toward the camp, she glanced up the hill, just checking to see if any villagers had come by; Aang's bandana wasn't on at the moment, which meant it was rather dangerous for him to be walking around, especially considering their campsite was right near a path. Her attention was quickly drawn away from that thought by Aang shouting out, his voice filled with fear.

"Sokka! What are you doing there?!" he called out to her brother; striding a little closer to the campsite, she saw what Aang had- Sokka was lying on the ground, right near the campfire, as if he had been knocked out cold, except, the fact that his perked up head told her he was certainly conscious.

"It took you two long enough! I've been lying here for nearly five minutes." he growled with frustration, the young Avatar racing over to him.

"What happened to you?" he asked him, the Water Tribe teen sighing as he dropped his head back.

"Ty Lee happened." he spoke with a frustrated tone, his eyes darting over to his sister, "They're gone."

"You mean Azula and Ty Lee." she concluded, her brother moving his head in a way that might be called a nod, if one was paralysed from the neck down.

"So, she chi-blocked you?" he asked, the Water Tribesman groaning.

"What does it fucking look like?" he almost shouted, before taking a deep, audible breath, "I"m sorry for getting angry... but she did this to me so I couldn't stop them."

"Oh no." Aang gasped, turning back to face Katara with a fearful look on his face, "I think stuffed up."

"Did you know what they were going to do?" Sokka growled, trying his best to raise his right arm, with not much success; he did move it a little, before it flopped back down onto the dirt.

"I knew Azula wanted to leave, and that she was going to talk with you about it. I didn't know she'd have Ty Lee chi-block you.' He clarified, Katara looking at him with concern; she didn't understand why he didn't say anything.

"Why didn't you tell me? Didn't you think that was a little bit important?"

"Well, I thought she was going to sort it out with Sokka, then they'd say goodbye, and go off with Azula's guards." he admitted, before pouting, "I guess I was wrong."

"Yeah, no shit." Sokka grumbled, turning to face Katara, "Can you help me up, Katara?"

"Of course." she nodded, striding over to stand behind him, kneeling over to grasp him by the shoulders, which she pulled up, allowing him to sit upright.

"Ah, that's better." he mumbled, before glancing around, "I guess they're long gone now."

"You said five minutes." Aang noted, "They can't have got that far."

"I don't want to cause a scene in the middle of a village." he admitted, before he looked down at his numb, paralysed legs, "And I can't walk."

"What are you going to do then?" she asked him, his eyes turning up to the sky above them, barely visible through the canopy.

"Go to the North Pole." he mumbled, Aang's eyes widening.

"Wait, right now?" he asked, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"Yep." he confirmed, "That's what she told me to do... so fuck it. I'll do it. I'll get there, and you two are going to learn waterbending."

"And what if they refuse me?" Katara asked him, genuinely wanting to know what he intended

Her brother's eyes narrowed in determination, showing her that he wanted her to learn waterbending as much as she did herself, "I'll kick their arses. I bet they haven't seen a chi-blocker with a boomerang before."

"That'd be pretty funny." Aang conceded, his humoured tone and expression shifting to a more nervous one quite quickly, "I'm sorry, Sokka."

"You couldn't have known what thye were going to do. If I were you, I would have thought the same thing." he acknowledged, obviously not wanting him to feel guilty about something outside his control, "Azula likes arguing with me more than she does fighting."

"Are you sure about that, Sokka?" She prodded her brother, who rolled his eyes.

"Okay, maybe she likes a bit of both." he conceded, "But the point is, I didn't think she'd have me chi-blocked. I thought she'd shout me down until I gave up."

"What did she say to you... after you got chi-blocked?" Aang asked, the Water Tribe warrior sighing.

"She told me what I needed to do, why she was doing what she was doing... then we made out and I called her an arsehole."

"Sounds about right." Katara chuckled, before she turned to Aang, "Maybe we should pack the bags." her eyes darting back to Sokka, "If that's what you want."

"Yes, it is." he admitted, "I shouldn't waste your time by forcing either of you to go chase Azula down. She'd probably beat you both up as a warning and then tell you to go to the North Pole."

"Yeah, I don't want to fight her." the young Avatar mumbled, "Packing up sounds much better."

Katara offered her brother a hand, "Do you want to try and stand?"

"Sounds like a bad idea." he mumbled, before turning his eyes up to meet her own, "I'll try it."

He slowly raised his right arm, with a bit of a struggle, allowing her to grasp his hand; she then, slowly but surely, pulled him up by the arm, allowing Sokka to pull his legs into place, having regained a small amount of movement. Once he was up, she placed her left arm around his shoulder, helping him stay upright.

"Are you any better?"

"Well, I can definitely feel my toes now, so... yeah." he mumbled, his expression not looking in any way happy; he had no reason to be, given the circumstances.

Bit by bit, he began to try and move his arms and legs, slowly putting his right leg forward, planting his foot down, before doing the same with his left. He was trembling, and obviously didn't have much of his balance back yet, but he could stand. Her brother's eyes turned toward her, and he let out a small smile.

"At least I can stand." he mumbled, before turning to face his tent, "I've got to pack this all up."

"Don't worry about that." she assured him, "You should just get your arms and legs working again, and then you can think about packing."

"I'll start on our tent, Katara." Aang spoke up, before turning to face the Water Tribe teen, "Sorry, again."

"Stop apologising." he demanded of the Avatar, his voice surprisingly stern, before licking his lips, "Though if you could get me some jerky, that'd get me in a better mood."

Katara snickered at her brother's only request, knowing that it was so predictable of him to ask for food, "Of course." she agreed with his request, "Let's walk over to Appa. He'll be better to rest on than dirt." she suggested, making her brother's eyes widen.

"Huh, that's true. Take me to the fluff monster at once." he told her with a serious, commanding voice; she rolled her eyes, considering to let him drop down on his butt just for saying that, but knew that was a bad idea, given the context.

"Okay, let's just take it nice and slow." she warned him, allowing Sokka to take another step, reorienting himself slightly as he turned around to face Appa, "Is chi-blocking usually this... effective?"

"I hope mine is, but I haven't stuck around long enough to find out. It works against Azula when we spar, but I don't try to hit her hard." he explained, Katara nodding along.

"Well, let's just hope that next time, you're the one chi-blocking and not getting chi-blocked." she considered, watching Sokka's legs as he took another step, looking like his balance had improved somewhat.

"That's all I can ask for at this point." he spoke with a quiet, disheartened voice, before his expression brightened, "At least I'll get to rest on you, buddy." he spoke up to Appa, who turned his massive head in their direction as he continued his slow approach.

She heard chittering to her side, and took note of Momo, who was following beside them, looking intently at Sokka, who glanced back down toward the flying-lemur with a suspicious glare, "I don't have any food on me, Momo."

"I've got the jerky, Sokka." Aang spoke up, walking toward them with the small bag of jerky that Sokka had bought the day prior; the Water Tribesman weakly raised his right arm and took it into his hand, before he took a bite out of the bit of jerky that was exposed at the bag's opening.

"Hmmm... good." he mumbled as he chewed, "Jerky can fix almost any problem... I think." he admitted, making his sister roll her eyes.

"Yeah, maybe for you." she conceded, before continuing to help him along over to Appa.

When they reached the sky-bison's side, she helped her brother rest on the sky bison's leg, which was covered in fur and thus quite a good cushion, in her own experience; he smiled as he leaned back into the fur, turning his head to look toward Appa's face, "You're really comfortable, Appa."

"He sure is." she agreed with him, "Now, I'll let you sit here, and Aang and I will deal with all the packing. Once you can move properly, you can help out."

He gave her a curt nod, and with that, Katara turned her heels striding over toward her and Aang's tent; when she got there, she saw her friend pulling out his own sleeping roll, having already folded it up. He turned his eyes to her and gestured inside.

"I think it's just your sleeping roll and then we can pack up the tent." he noted, the Water Tribe girl stepping past him, parting the tent open, before she knelt down, taking note of her bedding, which was just as she had left it after finishing her sewing earlier that morning.

She crawled in, grasping the end of the sleeping roll furthest from the tent opening, and pulled it back, wrapping it up as she went, allowing her to take the bindings which sat next to it and tie it up. Once that was taken care off, she pulled the sleeping roll out of the tent, placing it beside Aang's, who she turned to, wanting to discuss what had just happened.

"So... uh, Sokka's not in that bad a mood." he concluded, Katara cringing, knowing that her brother was just covering up whatever anguish he felt over his girlfriend's departure.

"Oh, he is. The fact he's decided to agree with what she told him to do, without any questions, tells me he's not feeling good about this. He'd normally have a fit about something like this." she concluded, the young Avatar's expression shifting to one of unease.

"Should we be worried then?" he asked her, Katara glancing back in the direction of her brother, who was stroking Appa's fur as he idly leaned into it.

"We should be cautious. He could blow up at any moment." she admitted, the Avatar's eyes narrowing at her.

"Does he ever get really angry?"

"Sometimes." she acknowledged, "Usually it's about petty stuff."

"Like sitting in pee?" he joked, reminding her of that specific story; she tried to hold back her own laughter, seeing her brother turn their way, looking unsurprisingly suspicious of them.

"Yeah, like that." she confirmed before straightening her lips, and dropping the volume of her voice, "This isn't petty, though. This is serious."

He simply nodded at her words, before gesturing to the tent; they did need to pack up if they wanted to get flying anytime soon, "I guess we won't be doing that practice anymore."

"Yeah." she mumbled, disappointed that was the case, though she had no intention to complain; given the situation, she was willing to give up her feeble wants to ensure her brother didn't feel like absolute crap.

She strode over to the side of the tent, and knelt over, taking out the bone pins, one by one, before she pulled the canvas up, exposing the interior of the tent, as well as it's frame. Aang quickly did the other side, flicking up the canvas, allowing her to grab it all and take it off; she then folded the canvas up, placing it down by the sleeping rolls. Then taking the pegs she had in front of her, she placed them in the bag that had been sitting inside of the tent, her friend doing the same, before he tightened said bag closed and threw it to the side, out of their way. She then took the top pole of the frame, while Aang took down the two crossing supports, placing them all down together by the front of what had been the tent. Finally, she pulled up the mat that was laid over the dirt, shaking it a few times to clean it, before she rolled that up too. The tent was dealt with as quickly as it could have been and now, all they needed to do was pack it onto Appa's saddle; she could see that Sokka and Azula's tent remained up, but they'd get around to that later.

She picked up her sleeping roll, and heaved it over her shoulder; striding over toward Appa, she once more caught her brother's attention, and he pulled himself up, showing that he could stand once again.

"I can start on my tent." he acknowledged, Katara giving him an affirmative nod.

"Okay, but could you help us take our tent parts up onto the saddle first?" she asked him, her brother giving her an affirmative by striding right toward it, surprising Aang with the pace of his strides as he walked past.

"Oh, so you're good?" he asked him, the Water tribe warrior raising a hand; that didn't really give the best answer, in her opinion, but he gave them the fact- he was capable of helping, so he would.

Aang turned to face her, making a cringed face, realising that mightn't have been the best question to ask, before he approached Appa, tossing his sleeping roll up with the assistance of his airbending. She did the same without, and was understandably less successful, though she was able to get it onto the saddle at least, though not where she wanted it. She knew that could be dealt with later, and decided to turn back around and get some of the tent parts instead. Making her way back to the former site of her tent, she picked up the canvas, noting that Sokka had already taken the bags of bone pegs and the frame pieces. She slung the canvas roll over her shoulder and paced back over to Appa, tossing it up on top of the saddle. Her brother looked at her idly, scratching his chin.

"Huh, good throwing arm." he observed, Katara looking at him with confusion.

"Uh, thanks, I guess." she acknowledged, before pursing her lips, "Must be from all the snowballs I've thrown at your head."

"I thought you used waterbending to do that." he mumbled, the Water Tribe girl snickering.

She really wasn't a very good waterbender for a long time, and had only really gotten a hang of the most basic concepts by the time she was Aang's age. It was rather embarrassing, considering that Aang himself was already an airbending master at the age of twelve, while she barely had a hang of waterbending at all when she was sixteen. Though she'd drastically improved in the last two weeks, that wasn't indicative of how she'd end up once she got the training she needed.

"I didn't actually. I've just got a good throwing arm." she declared, before she gestured toward him, "Give me your boomerang, I'll show you."

"No, no. Mister Boomerang stays with me." he declared defiantly, "You stay with the magic water."

She twitched an eyebrow at that specific insult to her bending, but she dismissed it, knowing that her brother wasn't being serious, unlike in the past, where he had been genuinely dismissive of bending. She didn't blame him, in hindsight, as she came to realise how much of an effect their mother's death had had on him; he really just hated firebenders, and once he fell in love with one, it became a lot harder to hate on it.

"I will, and I'll master it." she declared, her brother clapping his hands in approval.

"You will." he agreed, before he turned to Aang, who was bringing over the last part of the tent, the mat, "That's it? So, uh, could you two help me with my tent?"

"Seeing Azula's not here, I really don't have an argument not to." she conceded, knowing that Azula refusing to do work, or rather, her brother doing it without any care that she wasn't was something that irked her greatly.

"You really are mothering our group." he conceded, "But I'm the oldest, and since Azula isn't here, that makes me the boss."

"What about Aang? He's the Avatar." she gestured to their friend, who raised his own hands up, shaking his head in refusal to that offer.

"I agree with Sokka. I'm only twelve. He should be the boss, if we need one." he conceded, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head, not liking that she'd been immediately outvoted.

She did know her brother probably ought to be the one leading them, even if she didn't want him to have undisputed authority; she could certainly dispute it with a snowball to the head, though.

"Let's just do the tent." the Avatar spoke up, pacing toward it; Sokka and Katara followed after, and the two of them immediately began by unhooking the pegs from the ground, before they flicked the canvas off.

When it was taken off, she moved to block her nose, noting that the tent was especially pungent of body odour, "Sokka, I think this thing needs to be cleaned." she admitted, her brother's eyes widening, before he turned away, looking embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry about that." he mumbled, sounding nervous; it only took her a few more moments to realise what he was so embarrassed about, and felt even more disgusted by the fact that she was now packing up his tent.

"Eww... Sokka..." she grumbled, looking away from the tent with distaste.

"What's wrong?" Aang asked her, the Water Tribe warrior speaking up first.

"It's better if you don't know." he diverted the topic immediately, before he knelt over, rolling up the sleeping roll, "I'll pack this up. Could you guys take the canvas and frame back over to the saddle?" he requested of them, Katara trying to make a straight face as she turned back to face him.

She rolled up the canvas, trying to ignore what she understood had happened there; she then took the rolled up canvas into hand, carrying it back over to Appa's saddle, which she tossed it onto, before glancing back over toward the ashes of their campfire, beside which sat their bag of cookery. She strode over to said bag, picked it up and took it to back toward the sky-bison, realising that it had to be the last thing they had to put up, beside Sokka's things, most of which, including his weapons and Fire Nation armour, still were on the saddle, never having taken them off to begin with. She realised it would be harder to throw the cookery bag up, and decided instead to climb up via Appa's tail, trudging up with some struggle. The fur was easy to grab onto, however, so she used it as a handle to help herself up. Once she was on board, she placed the bag down, and took note of all the things that lay strewn over the saddle; she sighed, knowing that she ought to organise them before doing anything else.

She was no clean freak, but if she wanted to lie down on the saddle when they were flying, she'd need some space. She took the tent frame pieces and pushed them up to the back of the saddle, before stacking the rolled up canvas and mat on top of them. Then she took her own bags, as well as the sleeping rolls, and placed them alongside, forming a kind of cushion at the back of the tent. She lay back on it momentarily, and realised it would be a good place to sit once they were up in the air, allowing her to glance up and look at the clouds in comfort. Glancing back down from the saddle, she saw Aang approaching with Sokka's tent pieces, and he threw them up, allowing her to catch them; she nodded, appreciating his swift use of airbending, before she put the frame pieces with the other ones. Aang launched himself up onto the saddle, landing down beside her.

"So, that's it." he concluded, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Yep. It is." she confirmed, turning her eyes toward Sokka, "I really hope we can improve his mood somehow. I don't want Sokka to end up all gruff for the whole time Azula's away."

"Maybe you can make him tell the story of his adventure with Azula. He'd probably enjoy that, wouldn't he?"

"I mean I don't want to hear it for the thousandth time, but you do make a good point." she conceded, before she waved over to Sokka, who was still approaching the saddle with the sleeping roll and mat slung over his shoulder; the parts of his tent that stank horribly, for a reason she didn't want to discuss.

He threw the two rolls up, and Aang grasped them both, putting them back in position; he then glanced back around their now desolate campsite, "I guess that's it." he mumbled, before he turned around, "Could you give me a hand, Aang?"

The young Avatar leaned over the side of the saddle, grasping his outreached hand, allowing him to climb up Appa's side and sit himself down on the saddle. He stretched his arms out before resting himself back on the saddle, making a relieved face.

"Well, my body works again." he noted, before glancing up to look into his sister's eyes, "What were you two talking about?"

"Oh." Aang's eyes brightened up, putting on a smile for Sokka, "I thought you could tell me the story."

"You want a longer version than the one Azula gave you?" he asked him, the Avatar nodding along.

"Well, yes. I want to hear how you saw it all." he clarified, the Water Tribe warrior's face turning to a genuine smile.

"Oh, okay." he nodded, leaning up from his back, "Are you going to get us moving first?"

"Yes." Aang simply responded, jumping up to his feet and into the air, landing down on the front end of the saddle, picking up Appa's reins, "Come on, buddy. We'll fly until sunset, and maybe we can find a place for you to get a wash. How about that?"

The sky-bison made a positive groan, his friend giggling as he patted him on the head, "Momo! We're going, get up here!" he called out to their flying-lemur, who made a chittering noise as he raced across their former campsite, before he glided up onto the saddle, landing beside Sokka.

"I still don't have-" he began, before he realised that he was holding his jerky in his right hand, "My jerky." he narrowed his eyes, pulling the bag closer to his chest, refusing to give him even a crumb, "Go eat some of the food Aang got."

Momo made a cooing noise, and Katara gestured for him to come closer, "Momo, I'll give you some food." she assured him, "Just not too much. You're not very big." she reasoned, reaching behind her into the bag of food that Aang had bought earlier that morning; she pulled out a peach, knowing that it was his favourite, and gave it to him, the flying-lemur barely holding back his excitement as he chowed down into it.

"Okay then, let's get flying. Appa, yip-yip!" Aang called on Appa, who roared, before they began to rise up into the air; he reoriented his sky-bison, making sure that they didn't ram into any trees as they made their way up and out of the clearing, flying above the tree-tops.

Katara glanced out, looking at the massive expanse of the woodland around them, which she couldn't really see when she walking around on the ground, also taking note of the village and its small size in comparison; Appa swept around, moving first to the east, toward the morning sun, before reorienting and heading straight north. Sokka leaned over the saddle with a saddened look on his face, obviously wanting to see if he could spot out Azula; she looked down as well, though they quickly climbed in altitude, so it became hard to see people when they were from a decent distance. She could see a few villagers walking about, though they obviously didn't notice Appa or just thought he was a cloud. Nobody stopped what they were doing, and that relieved her; she glanced back toward Sokka, who just sighed.

"It's okay, Sokka. I'm sure they'll be alright." she placed a hand on her brother's shoulder; he turned away and made an audible, exasperated breath.

"Where did you want me to start, Aang?" he asked the young Avatar, who glanced back his way with an idle look on his face; Aang had obviously had the right idea, as he had jumped at the opportunity to talk about something other than the fact Azula and Ty Lee had just left them.

"Uh, I guess when you left the Southern Water Tribe." he gave his idea, making Sokka chuckle.

"Shit." he mumbled, "That was nearly a year ago now. I think... yeah, nearly." he acknowledged, before turning back around lying himself down on the saddle, "Are you sure we're heading north?"

"The sun's to the right, so, that's north?" he gestured ahead of them, the Water Tribe teen scratching his chin.

"Uh, technically, yes." he acknowledged, "But we might not be heading truly north. That's where we want to go if we're heading to the North Pole."

"Okay, well, I guess we can check with the map later... I'm sure we won't lose too much time." he acknowledged, Sokka crossing his arms, raising a brow skeptically at him.

"Says the person who made us waste, what, a week going to Kyoshi Island, only to have the Fire Nation attack it."

"Hey, that's a little harsh, Sokka." Katara narrowed her eyes at her brother, knowing that even if he was feeling crap, he didn't need to take it out on Aang.

"No, no, he's right. I stuffed up then." the Air Nomad agreed, his eyes darting down, grasping his bandana and looking at it, "Being the Avatar gets all the wrong attention sometimes."

"Yeah, well, lucky for us, these disguises work." Katara acknowledged, "They'll come in handy." she smiled, her brother raising a finger to his chin.

"Yeah, we'll need disguises when we get to Ba Sing Se. I have a feeling the Dai Li don't like me very much after I humiliated Long Feng."

"That's a part of the story I want to hear." Aang beamed at him, to which he raised a finger.

"Now, now, Mister Airbender, don't go too fast. You're getting the proper story this time. The whole deal."

"Even the romance?"

"Uh, yeah, even the romance." he gave an affirmative nod, "Not that there was much of that to begin with... mostly just Azula screaming at me for being stupid and me screaming at her for being an inconsiderate bigot."

"Yeah, that's Azula." she crossed her arms, Sokka raising a hand toward her, in warning.

"Katara, I don't want any funny business, this is my story." he warned her, "I really want to give him the full experience."

"The whole day you spent telling me this was not worth it in hindsight... other than preparing for Jet. Jet's a dick."

"Yeah, I think we can all agree on that." Aang nodded, before scratching at his scruffy black locks, "So, you left like a year ago?"

"Yep, it was already toward the winter night at the South Pole then. We left because we knew the Southern Raiders would have more of a challenge spotting our ships in the dark while we made our way toward the Earth Kingdom." he explained, glancing over the side of the saddle once more, "But we got over there without a hitch. Then we had to look for some targets. Some Earth Kingdom rebels were willing to give us some Fire Navy targets."

"So, kinda like with Bumi and his rebels?" the Avatar asked, to which he gave an affirmative smirk.

"Pretty much. We aimed for ships moving to supply the Fire Nation's various bases along the south coast. We took out maybe three or four convoy groups in the span of a month; no casualties or anything, just disabling their ships."

"Ah, okay. That's nice to hear." he admitted, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"Well, they weren't Southern Raiders, so we were less inclined to kill them." he conceded; it wasn't because he didn't hate them- it was that he didn't hate them as much as the other guys.

"I wonder what they're doing to them right now." Katara raised a brow, "Giving them that well deserved beating. Freeing some slaves." she guessed, her brother smiling.

"I wish I was there to help out." he acknowledged, "But we've got something more important to do."

"Uh, yeah." Aang nodded, before leaning closer, "Back to the story."

"So... uh, we fought against the Fire Nation for a few months, made sure to give them a lot of trouble. We didn't lose a single fight because we knew how to choose them." he raised a finger before sighing, "But, our luck ran out."

"Jeong Jeong?" Aang asked, obviously having heard the 'culprit' that had started the entire chaotic mess of events that was Azula and Sokka's adventure.

"Never met the guy, but Dad did. He said the offer we got was going to be good; we would kidnap an important Fire Nation delegate, and then take them to him." he explained, Aang's expression immediately faltering.

"So, you had no idea it'd be Azula?"

"I had no idea who Azula was." he admitted honestly, "She gave me shit because I didn't, when I showed up in the hallway with some other warriors to go capture her."

He narrowed his eyes, "And then she knocked you out?"

"Uh..." he scratched the back of his scalp, "Yeah, but not for long. I got back up and helped the warriors out." he clarified, before smirking, "Then I pulled the best trick ever. Bato and some others had set some explosives off inside the ship, and it started to sink."

"Don't forget the bit where you got stuck on a sinking ship, on purpose." Katara spoke up, her brother shooting her a glare.

"I had a good reason. To stop Azula." he raised a finger, "She might have started setting all the warriors on fire if she'd had the chance."

"I can definitely see that." she agreed, before her brother cleared his throat loudly, indicating for her to be quiet.

"Azula had returned to the deck, and distracted her with a little fight. she beat me again, but she went off as soon as she realised we were going under. Tried to set our ships alive- I'm pretty sure the rain-storm stopped her from doing that."

"How'd you get out of that?" he raised a brow, the Water tribe warrior smirking.

"Took a closed crate and used it as a liferaft. It actually worked pretty well." he admitted, "Though, according to Dad, I almost crushed someone's head when I was throwing down crates."

"Of course you did." Katara rolled her eyes, actually having forgotten that specific part; Sokka had learned it in hindsight, after all, and she wasn't that attentive when he gave the story a dozen more times.

"Hey, hey, I didn't know about it. I was trying not to drown." he argued, before turning abc to face Aang, "Then I swam toward the shore until I passed out. I woke up there the next morning, and then I went inland, looking for some water to purify. Since I had the crate, I used it like a big pot."

"Huh, that's pretty smart." the Avatar conceded, making Sokka smirk appreciatively.

"Why, thank you, Aang. I thought it was pretty smart too." he acknowledged his comment before he scratched his chin, "I sat there while I was boiling the water, waiting for it to get hot enough, and then suddenly, Azula shows up, ragged and dishevelled, demanding that I give her my water."

"And you didn't?" he asked her, his skepticism well founded; Sokka refused to share his jerky with Momo, so it made sense that he wouldn't dare share his water when he was hungry and thirst-ridden after being shipwrecked.

"Of course not. That was my water." he raised his chin, "But I realised that sharing is caring." he declared, such a proverbial outcome making Aang beam with hope.

"So being nice really can work to make the bad guys like you?"

"Uh, kinda." he made a cringed expression, "But it worked for me, and she fell for my 'peasant charms'."

"She didn't actually say that, did she?" Katara raised a brow, her brother turning away with a flushed red face.

"No, she said it in a lot less clean way than that." he admitted, making her giggle; though she didn't want to embarrass him, she thought it was kind of sweet that they were able to act so intimately when all she really saw herself was the bickering between them.

"Oh, okay, don't tell me. I don't want to get the oogies." she admitted, making Aang raise a brow.

"Oogies?" he asked her, obviously confused by her use of such a novel word.

"Sokka's word, not mine. When you see people acting all lovey and it makes you feel uncomfortable." she explained, her brother nodding.

"Yep, that's what it is." he agreed, before furrowing a brow, "Now, where were we?"

"You shared the water with her." Aang spoke up, the Water Tribe warrior chuckling.

"Yes, I did. Then we went off and hunted a little hog; I learned that Azula is not the best at hunting, though she has pretty good aim." he explained, before grimacing, realising that mentioning the killing of animals would make their vegetarian friend uncomfortable, "Sorry about that. I know you don't like hunting." he admitted, the young Air Nomad immediately shaking his head.

"No, no, it's okay." he smiled at him, "Go on." he raised a hand toward him, "I want to find out about the stuff in Ba Sing Se." he explained his intentions, making Sokka chuckle.

"Oh yeah, we'll get to that." he confirmed, before raising a finger, "But first, I need to tell you how annoying it was those first few days."

"Azula didn't try to attack you again, did she?" he asked him, the Water Tribesman shaking his head.

"No." he told him with a quiet voice, "She didn't try and fight me again... not until Ba Sing Se, actually."

"Why did that happen?"

"Because I didn't want her to command the army to attack a bunch of angry commoners in the Lower Ring." he admitted, the Avatar grimacing.

"Azula's... changed." he acknowledged what they were all thinking; the Princess was a very different person to the one Sokka met, at least in terms of her outlook on the world.

The Water Tribe teen turned away from his sister, who was looking at him sympathetically; she hadn't changed enough to give up her desires to be the Fire Lord, or to destroy all her enemies. That was what had driven her to leave and go meet with her former subordinate. He sighed, before looking back in the direction of the village.

"Yeah, she has."

* * *

Azula had quickly reminded herself why she hated walking so much; after spending more than a month flying around on a sky-bison without much need for it, she came to realise that it was just as bad as she remembered, if not worse. That did not deter her, however, from her goal; she was to reach Zhao's base of operations, regain his trust and loyalty, and when the time was right, take him to the North Pole to give him what he always wanted. She at least had the company of Ty Lee, who kept asking her questions about her time with Sokka, back when they had spent their first few months together, crossing the Earth Kingdom, first to stop the Dai Li's conspiracy, and then to stop her brother. She obviously just wanted to learn all the ins and outs of their relationship, which made her feel uncomfortable; not because she didn't trust her, but because she didn't want to discuss such matters after what she had done.

Sokka might not trust her again, after what she had done at the camp; she didn't want to have him chi-blocked to begin with, but she realised that it was better than a heated argument, or worse, Sokka forcing himself to join them. She knew he'd be safer with Aang and Katara, but he wouldn't agree with her; he loved her too much, something she never thought she'd have to process with, but that was the fact of the matter. It made her chest flutter at the thought of what he thought of her, and she thought of him. That love had changed her, more than any kind of wisdom could; her brother needed to learn to understand himself, to become the traitor he did, but she needed something else entirely, something she had lacked. She still despised her mother with all her heart, for what she had done to her, and in seeing Sokka and Katara's relationship with Hakoda, or their one with Kanna, she had come to understand how horrible her own parents were. She knew that at least Ozai had tried, in his own misconstrued fashion, but he had- her mother had failed, and for that, she had a son and a daughter who despised each other.

She knew that he still had the opportunity to become better, better than what her mother had thought her to be. Azula realised that perhaps she could attain the same kind of peace her brother must have, after all those years of angst and self-pity; the old Azula was still there, and she did not know whether she should wield her as a weapon or vanquish her to history. She could be vicious, conniving and merciless, but she did not know if she would be happy doing so; once she had not cared for happiness, but once she had tasted it, truly tasted it, she did not want to lose it. She had deprived herself of some by forcing Sokka away, in exchange for some pittance of relief, to stave away her fears; the same fears that powered her firebending. That might have seemed illogical to the old Azula, but the new Azula did not care for such thoughts; she needed to fight, but she knew there had to be a better, stronger way to wield her flames.

"Zula... are you sad?" she heard Ty Lee address her, the Princess's eyes widening at the suggestion.

"Sorry, what?" she looked at her with utter confusion; she certainly didn't think she was sad- she felt guilt, but that was a very different emotion for her, even if it looked similar outwardly.

"Sad." she repeated herself, "Like, are you down in the dumps?" she asked Azula, who just shrugged her shoulders, not really having a good response to such a question.

"I'm not." she refuted her claim, which even if it were a question, she was still clearly assuming that the Princess was saddened by their situation.

"Really? Because I know when you're not happy."

"Why should I be happy? We've been walking all afternoon and my legs are so sore I feel like I've been beaten up by the Dai Li all over again." she groaned, not remembering that experience very fondly; even if she had won the fight against Long Feng and captured him, she had been hurt from the battle, and it took her a few days to fully recover, even if her movement wasn't inhibited.

"Okay, you have a point." the acrobat conceded, before she narrowed her eyes at her, "But I mean, that bright aura you had isn't so bright anymore."

"Well, I don't think it will be until we get to this base and sort out my former subordinates." she explained, Ty Lee sighing, before she glanced backward, eyeing the guards who were trailing behind them, all idly chatting amongst themselves.

Azula observed that they talked a lot more now, given that most of the formality that had been in place while she had been Crown Princess had been dispensed with. Of course, it would return as soon as they got to Zhao, but that would take them a few days of walking, which she was certain she would not enjoy.

"I'm sorry about what happened with Sokka." Ty Lee apologised for what had to be the tenth time that day; she kept on doing it because Azula was still in a crappy mood because of it.

It wasn't her fault, the Princess had brought it upon herself by pulling Sokka into a sense of security and shattering it all at once, all for her own selfish desires.

"That wasn't on you." she stressed, "I made a decision, and I have to stand by it." she told her, acknowledging the fact of the matter; even if she did stand by her decision that did not mean she didn't feel guilt over it.

What they had shared together in that tent was necessary, at least in her own eyes; she needed to assure him, through something more powerful than words, that she cared. She knew he wouldn't understand, or more so, agree with her plan to leave him behind, so she had to improvise; in hindsight, she regretted it, and wished that she could have just talked it out with him to begin with. He wanted to feel loved, and she had used that to her advantage, to satisfy her own desire for that same feeling.

"I mean, it was a tough decision. If you hadn't recruited me, you probably would have just taken Sokka along with you, right?"

She sighed, realising that her friend did have a point; only with the added assurance of having Ty Lee by her side could she comfortably split away from Sokka. Though she trusted her guards, she did not have the same kind of personal trust with them; their loyalty had been given rather than earned, though she might say that she did eventually earn said respect through her actions over the course of their last few months together.

"You're right, but that doesn't change the situation. I wanted to keep him safe, away from Zhao, and now he is." she concluded, before glancing ahead, looking up toward the hill they had to cross, "This journey is necessary, and it is better that he remains with his sister and Aang. They need him just as much as I do."

"Not in the same way, though." Ty Lee conceded, "You love him, Zula, I know you do. I think you did the right thing, and I think Sokka will understand too. He didn't seem that angry back when we left."

"I don't think he saw much use in it. There was no way to physically stop me from leaving, or to force himself to join us." she admitted; she'd shattered his hope, and that was what made her feel more guilty- she didn't just refuse him, she removed his chance to have a choice in the matter.

"So you feel bad for forcing him away?" Ty Lee guessed, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"It was something I had to do, but I didn't want to." she admitted honestly, "That is the case with a lot of the things you have to do in life. It just happened to be that another person was involved in this thing."

"Not just any person, the love of your life." she proclaimed, the Princess rolling her eyes at her exaggerated framing of the matter.

"I wouldn't go that far."

"But he is. You love him." she argued in return, making Azula take a deep breath; she didn't want to flat out admit it to her, but without doing so, she couldn't tell her friend the truth.

"Even if I do, there's other people, things that I love. He's not the centre of the universe, even if he'd like to think he is."

"So, you love me?"

"I-" she began, before cutting herself off, unsure how to phrase it a way that wasn't corny or awkward, "I do. You're my best friend. I trust you. I'd trust you with anything, and above anyone, even Sokka." she told her the blunt, honest truth, and it made her friend gasp.

"That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me!" she exclaimed, reaching in and hugging her, "I can't believe you said that!"

"Yeah, me too." she rolled her eyes, not feeling very happy that she did; she didn't want to seem all lovey-dovey and caring.

She might care, but she didn't want her friend to think of her like that; she was dutiful, honourable and righteous in what she did, and she took that approach to her relationships as well. She just hoped that Sokka saw that she was trying to do the right thing- the honourable thing, and not because of some absurd thing like her not loving him. She loved him, and she just hoped that he knew that; she was pretty sure he did, by the way he looked at her, but Azula, despite what she once claimed, was not really a people person. Being a good liar and listener didn't give her all the wisdom in the world; it just meant that people were slow to trust her and thought her to be arrogant. Perhaps she was arrogant, but she didn't think her ego was based in some false sense of superiority, like Zhao, who she knew to be one of the most cocky and vain people. He thought that fate was on his side, when Azula on the other hand, understood the brutal truth; the world didn't care if you lived or died, and she had to fight to survive, just like any other person. Luck may have come her way at some points, but just as often she had been shoved into the mud- sometimes literally.

"Fate didn't lead us here Ty Lee." she narrowed her eyes, "I did. I am in control of my own destiny, now more than ever."

Her friend's eyes widened, and she became noticeably more nervous, "This isn't just about Sokka, is it?"

"As much as he'd like to think he's the centre of the universe, he's not." she smirked, making her friend giggle, before she straightened her expression, seemingly by force; she knew as well as her what was coming- maybe not tomorrow, or the day after that, but eventually, Azula would have to face down her brother again, "I will be the Fire Lord. That is the only eventuality that will bring me the peace I desire."

"For yourself... or for the world?"

"Both, actually." she raised a brow, realising that there was a poetic parallel between her own circumstances and that of the world; it had been thrown into chaos by Zuko and her uncle, just as her own life had been, even if it wasn't their choice to sink her Royal Barge back in the Eastern Sea, "I want to have the life I deserve, the one I earned by serving my nation... the one I will earn by pacifying the Earth Kingdom and bringing balance to the four nations."

"I want that for you too." she made a small smile, before she looked away, "But, have you ever thought about it."

"About being-" she began, before her friend raised a hand to cut her off; that was rather forward of her, but she understood as soon as she faced her again- the fear in her eyes, it wasn't for herself, or for Azula- it was for somebody else.

"What about Mai? And Zuko too." she dared to utter his name, the Princess tensing up at the mention, but keeping a straight face, still wanting to hear what Ty Lee had to say, "They don't deserve to suffer just because your Dad was a... well, he was a dick."

"Is a dick." she clarified, "He's still alive in prison... and I don't think that lowly of him, even if he's in my way." she admitted, before turning her eyes away, not wanting to go any further; Zuko had nearly killed her, and she was not willing to forgive that, even if he forfeited the throne to her upon coming to his senses and realising she was the far more competent of the two.

"Zuko doesn't deserve to... die. Or whatever you intend for him... I know it can't be very nice."

"I intended to exile him, actually. Keep him away, just as father had. Of course, I'd let him live in the Fire Nation... I'm not that cruel." she explained her ideas on the matter, knowing that she couldn't have him just sitting around in the palace.

"What about Mai? Would you force her to go with him?"

"She's not a prisoner, and she won't be one when I'm the Fire Lord. She doesn't deserve to be punished for his actions." she admitted, "If she so desired, she could join him. They are getting married, after all."

"I can't believe it." her friend's jaw dropped, being reminded of that specific fact, "Maybe you'll have a niece or nephew soon enough." she guessed, making Azula grimace.

"The thought of being an aunt disturbs me." she admitted honestly, "I have no idea how to deal with children."

"Well, you wouldn't be dealing with them. It'd be their kid." Ty Lee acknowledged, before furrowing a brow, "Are you going to have kids?"

"It hasn't crossed my mind, honestly." she told her the blunt truth; she loved Sokka, but she hadn't begun to think of actually starting a family- she couldn't trust herself with children anyway, for reasons she didn't want to have to explain to either her friend or Sokka, "That's in far future for me, if ever."

Ty Lee pouted slightly, before she sighed, "But... Zula, are they going to be safe?"

"Mai and my brother?" she asked, the acrobat giving her a curt nod, "Probably not. There's some people looking to have my brother overthrown and killed. Now, I honestly believe if he can beat me in a duel he can stop any assassins that come his way."

Her friend's eyes shimmered, and she looked down, putting her hands together, "That's... kinda reassuring." she admitted, "But they're not really that safe."

"Plus he's got Uncle, who despite being an old fatty, is definitely the most skilled firebender alive; if Zuko learned all those damn techniques he used against me from him, nobody will ever stand a chance against Iroh." she added, before turning to face her, "I wouldn't worry about them. If somebody that's not my father can kill them, I'd be very concerned about that person taking over the Fire Nation."

"Oh." she mumbled, "That wouldn't be good."

"Precisely." she agreed with her, before turning her eyes ahead, "Is that all you had to ask me about?"

"Uh, yeah." she nodded, "I don't want to worry about Mai... but I can't help it. If Zuko's soldiers are willing to shoot flaming boulders right at you, I'm pretty sure whoever's loyal to your father is willing to do much worse to both of them."

"If you're so worried about her, why don't you go and kidnap her away from Zuko. That would quite easily solve the problem." she offhandedly suggested, thinking that would be an effective way to remove the target of their friend's head.

"Ahaha, very funny, Azula." she sarcastically quipped, which made her wince; that was the kind of response she'd expect from her boyfriend, and thinking of him made her feelings of disdain for Zuko be replaced with those of guilt for leaving Sokka how she had, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." she assured her, "I just don't want to do anything like that."

The Princess made an exasperated sigh, "I know." she simply told her, before turning her eyes up ahead, "I think I need to go speak with the Captain about our travel arrangements." she fabricated an excuse, knowing that she ought to give herself some time to think about what Ty Lee and her had discussed.

"Of course, Zula." she nodded, "I'll just stay here. I need some time to... uh- clear my head."

"I understand that feeling." she agreed, making a small smile, able to see that her friend understood her own unease, which pleased her.

She wasn't pleased, however, by all the thoughts she was having; they made her feel like she had no control, because that was the fact of the matter. She couldn't really choose to love or hate, she just did. Her guilt for Sokka and her hatred toward her brother were two sides of the same coin, in a way; they were both intense feelings, based on her own actions- her failures. She did not hate Zuko for killing their father, because he never did such a thing, but rather because he had dared to stop her, to make a fool of her and make her feel like the weak one. Sokka made her feel weak, but in a completely different way; in a way that made her feel good, and at home, even if she would never dare to say it out loud. She increased the pace of her strides, walking past a number of her guards, who all stepped out of her way, cautiously, as any loyal guard would; they did not want to earn her ire, and she did not want to be angry at them either- that was a waste of energy, energy that could be better spent doing things that actually led to a positive outcome. When she approached the Captain, or as everyone liked to call him now, Renshu, she made an effort to straighten her expression, and act like the Princess she wanted to be.

"Captain, I'd like to have a little chat." she spoke as casually as she could, not wanting to make him worry that she actually was going to chide him or something, "About our travel plans, that is."

He blinked a few times before smiling, giving her an affirmative that he was ready to discuss such matters, "Of course, your highness. What are your concerns?"

"I know that we will be walking for the next few days, but unlike yourself, I am unfamiliar with the terrain and the local threats. Could you give me a run down of exactly what is around this area?"

"Earth Kingdom rebels, though most of them stay in the hills, away from any Fire Nation occupied areas." he explained, before narrowing his eyes, "There's also bandits, who unlike their politically motivated brethren, don't have qualms with running into and sacking villages. I haven't encountered any in the past month, but there was a serious raid earlier in the year. We had to defend the village against this ragtag band, and they had some serious numbers."

"So, these bandits are still around?" she asked, the Captain grimacing before giving her an affirmative nod.

"They are. We may encounter them, but I'm sure if we keep our campfires to a minimum and stay on these less travelled paths, we won't have an issue." he conceded, before raising a brow, "Did you want to know about anything else?"

"Villages?" she gestured toward him, "Fuchang has not given me the best impression of Earth Kingdom villages." she added, the Captain grimacing.

"I apologise once more for not making sure you reached the lifeboat back on the Royal Barge, Princess." he bowed down, still feeling guilty over something he really didn't have much control over; the Water Tribe warriors were the ones who sunk their ship, and it was her ego that got her thrown into the water, in the end.

"There's no need, Captain, honestly. That's the past. You aren't responsible for every single thing that happens to me." she assured him, the Captain turning his eyes away.

"I thought that was my role. To protect you. That's what our oaths were- to protect the Royal Family of the Fire Nation, or more specifically, you, your highness." he turned back to face her, the Princess waving her hand.

"Stop fussing yourself over it. Now that's an order." she stressed, before clearing her throat, "Villages?" she repeated her question, the Captain looking as if he was about to face-palm; he'd completely ignored the question.

"My apologises." he conceded his mistake, "There is one village between here and Zhao's base of operations, and his forces don't occupy it, preferring to leave it to its own devices, ostensibly to prevent Earth Kingdom rebels from rousing the populace against him."

"That actually makes sense." her eyes widened, "I can't believe I just complimented him." she turned away, feeling ashamed to actually concede Zhao could come up with a decent strategy- not fucking over the local population worked its charm.

"Oh, it happens to the best of us." he agreed with her, holding back a laugh, "The village is small, but it should be able to resupply us. They're not that hostile to Fire Nation visitors, given their circumstances- they don't want to aggravate Zhao into sacking them."

"A delicate balance." she acknowledged, "That's what I feel we will have with the Earth Kingdom once this is all over."

"You mean the war?"

"Yes. It's going to end, once Aang masters the elements and brings everyone to the table... or demolishes them into the ground with the Avatar State." she admitted, finding it to be quite a possible endgame; the Avatar was the most powerful bender in the world, though this was only certain when they had access to the Avatar State- if Aang needed to fight, she was sure, that with her guidance, he would.

"Demolishing who, exactly?" the Captain asked her with an understandably nervous tone.

"Seeing that the Earth Kingdom doesn't exist at the moment, I'd say either my brother or father's supporters." she acknowledged, narrowing her eyes, remembering her conversation with Ty Lee, "I have a feeling my brother may not be in power for much longer."

"Nobody would seriously consider facing him or the Dragon of the West." Renshu declared, the confidence in his voice not misplaced.

It would be very foolish to face off either of them, even if her brother was only barely comparable to herself- she could fight off a whole unit of firebending soldiers, so she was pretty sure that her brother could do the same, and her uncle, far more.

"You're right." she agreed, "But it's not just about strength. If they intend to do what I believe they will, then the rebels will do whatever it takes to remove him from power. They could not stand for their empire falling all because of my brother's desires for a better world."

"You actually think that's what he wants?" he almost scoffed, "This is the boy who nearly killed you."

"I know he did." she acknowledged, "But even idiots have good intentions... I mean, he wanted to right the wrongs of our father, and our father's father. But he's foolish. He thinks that just because he can beat the Fire Lord he's the most powerful man in the world." she smugly declared, knowing it to be true; if she'd been in his situation, she might have thought the same of herself, "He stood before me in Yu Dao, and defeated the most prodigious firebender in a generation, but that was because of my own ignorance, not because of his strength. Sooner or later, his arrogance will come and bite him back, just as Zhao's will."

"Well, it's not really Zhao's arrogance coming for him. It's you." he corrected her, the Princess chuckling, agreeing with him fully; it was her that would be the weapon of fate against the Admiral, if she dared to call herself that.

He had endangered her life, and the life of the people of Yu Dao, all for his own desires for revenge; Azula wanted revenge against her brother, as badly, if not more so than the Admiral, but unlike him, she wouldn't sacrifice others to achieve it, at least not to such a stupidly violent and pointless degree. The Crown Princess of the Fire Nation wanted her throne, not to see the land strewn with dead citizens fighting each other all in the name of whomever they thought to be the one true Fire Lord.

"That's true, Captain." she declared with a smirk, cocking her chin up, "There is no greater price than one's dignity and pride, and I intend to take that from Zhao in its entirety, even more than my brother did when he scarred him."

"That's something to look forward to after all this time." the Captain made an appreciative smile, "And somebody had to put the bastard in his place eventually. I'm just glad it's you."

"Well, I'm setting the trap." she corrected him, "For all we know, Sokka might come around and give him a good beating just for sport."

"That sounds like something the savage would do." he conceded, "He really doesn't like arrogant, powerful men."

"That's why I'm glad he never met my father." she noted, turning her eyes away, "That potential meeting would have gone very... very badly."

"Well, speaking of them, I never found out what happened to Long Feng."

"Perhaps my brother took him into custody." she raised a finger to her chin, "Did Zhao take my ship?"

"Uh, I believe so, your highness." he nodded, the Peincess narrowing her eyes with frustration.

"I just hope he didn't let the bastard escape. I have a feeling that slithery earthbender will come for us soon enough."

"I don't mean to be forward, but I don't think Zhao's that stupid, your highness." he admitted, with a surprising amount of caution; he obviously didn't think complimenting the Admiral was a good idea, and she agreed- he didn't deserve their praise.

"He must be stupid if he's squandered all his power. The very fact he didn't even win at Yu Dao proves that he's as useful a burning ship."

"Good to send at the enemy, and don't expect him to come back?" he asked, trying to hold back a laugh, the Princess raising her chin up.

"That is what he is." she confirmed, before turning her eyes back toward Ty Lee, "Well then, I believe that we have an understanding. We'll be travelling till sundown, correct?"

"We could continue afterwards, but it would be dangerous to deprive the men of sleep. A tired firebender is no use in a battle, much less than a dazed one who just got forced out of bed." he admitted, the Princess nodding along.

"I agree." she smirked, remembering how she had actually dealt with the battling fleets quite well, despite having just woken up, "I'll return back to the centre, but if anything comes up, don't refrain to send out a fireball to scare the men. That'll keep them in line and make sure they're ready to fight."

"Of course, your highness." he bowed to her in respect, before she turned her heels, heading back toward her friend, knowing that she might want to clear things up with her.

Striding down toward Ty Lee, she noticed that she was idly chatting with one of the guards, though her expression brightened as she saw Azula approach; she had to be one of the only people who was always happy to see her- there was almost no exception to such a claim, even back when Azula had been a far less considerate friend. She constantly reminded her of what she was once like, which made Azula cringe at the thought of what she used to think, of both herself and the world. She had been ignorant at best, and viciously apathetic at the worst; of course, that was mostly due to her father's teachings and not because she actually came to said conclusions about the world herself. She hadn't ever had the opportunity to consider things, and once she had, her worldview unravelled itself like a poorly sewn parka. That brought her mind to the rather sweet memory of Kanna complimenting her sewing skills, much to the ire of Katara; that memory was enough to stave off her thoughts about her own flaws, knowing that at the very least, she was good at a few things.

"Hi, Zula. Did your talk with the Captain go well?" she asked, the Princess giving her friend an affirmative nod.

"It did." she confirmed, not a lie, much to her relief, "We will be fine, I believe. If bandits come at us in the middle of night, I will at the very least be mentally prepared." she conceded, making her friend grimace.

"Bandits?" she asked, turning her eyes around to the woods that surrounded the path they were taking, "Are we really going to run into them?"

"If we're cautious. Limit things like campfires to give off our location, we should be fine."

"Well, that's good to hear." she smiled at her, "Did you think about the whole... situation?"

"Yes." she admitted, before turning around, making her way now alongside her friend as they began to walk along behind the other guards, "I do hate my brother, but I understand his actions. I assure you, I will try not to harm either him or Mai, but believe me when I say, he will put up a fight.

"That's Zuko's whole thing, isn't it?"

"Struggling until he can't struggle any longer or win." she spoke what her friend must have thought, "My brother doesn't know when to reanalyse the situation."

"You did, though." Ty Lee observed, "You decided to do this, and made sure to do it without the danger of getting Sokka in trouble."

"Yes." she agreed with her, "We need to do this carefully. I can trust you to remain quiet when necessary." she acknowledged, Ty Lee imitating the motion of tying a bandana around her mouth, before she silently nodded, "As long as Zhao trusts us, we should be fine."

"And what if he's smarter than we think."

"There's one thing I can rely on. Him underestimating his opponents." she admitted, knowing herself to never fall to such a mistake again, after what Zuko had done to her, "He thinks I'm merely a Princess with a guard, but he lacks one thing I do have."

"A claim to the throne?" she asked her, forcing Azula to hold back a laugh.

"Well, yes, that." she nodded, before raising a finger, "The thing he really doesn't have is much wit or charisma. He can kiss others feet, but he treats his underlings like dirt. If I show them the respect they ought to be receiving, as well as showing them my own plans, which are probably more reasonable than his own, they will step to my side when push comes to shove."

"You really think they'll trust you that much? No offence, Azula, but you were kinda dead for a few months." she admitted, the Princess wincing momentarily, knowing that her friend had a point; then she remembered the graffiti she'd witnessed in the town when she'd been investigating with Aang- it showed her that she was more than just a Princess.

"That's even better. I'm just like Aang. A symbol for people to get behind, one that they thought was gone, but now returned."

"Wow, the Fire Nation's really lucky. You were only gone for eight months and not a hundred years."


	14. Chapter 14

Rain was probably a pain for anybody that wasn't a waterbender, but luckily for Katara, she had actually figured out a pretty simple way to deal with it. Raising her hand above her head, she created an invisible covering over them, off of which the water that fell down would flow, keeping her, Sokka and Aang dry on Appa's saddle. Of course, she had come to realise how straining it was, as the rain became heavier and the thunder began to roll in. Aang joined in to help her, but even with their combined efforts, they'd eventually get quite tired. She had agreed with Sokka when they woke up that morning that they shouldn't delay themselves, but now she realised that it would be hard to keep it up all day, especially if the rain kept falling at the rate it was. She looked him in the eye, and he sighed, knowing what she felt without her having to say anything; it was rather obvious with both her hands up above her, struggling to keep the water at bay.

"Okay, maybe we can take a break." he conceded, the Water Tribe girl narrowing at her eyes at her brother's wording.

"We? You're not doing any of the work, Sokka." she growled, his eyes widening as he realised his mistake.

"Okay, sorry, sorry." he tried to sound as apologetic as possible, "We just need to find someone to shelter."

"We've been flying over woodland and plains for hours now. There's nothing here." Aang admitted, before grimacing, "And I think I know why."

"I think we all know why." Katara agreed, gesturing to their left, which would be approximately north-west if her brother's guidance on cardinal directions had been accurate, "Zhao and his goons are in control of this whole area, and before the Fire Nation won, they probably cleared this whole area of people."

"That sounds like a very Fire Nation-y thing to do." her brother turned his eyes away, "Well, there might be some place that doesn't have people but has shelter. Like a cave."

"How are we going to find a cave all the way up here in the air?" Aang asked him, raising a very good point.

"Okay, I see what you mean." the Water Tribe warrior sighed, "Let's just keep a lookout. There can't just be... nothing. People are everywhere, even at the South Pole, and look at it. No sun for half the year and all you get to eat is fish and seals." he explained, Aang grimacing.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound very nice." he conceded, Katara raising a brow, slightly offended by such a presumption; of course, he hadn't been brought up like they had, used to the climate and the unusual day-night cycle, but for anybody else, it had to be rather unusual.

"Don't give him the glares, Katara." Sokka chided her, obviously knowing what was going through her head.

"I wasn't." she turned to face him, trying to assure him that she wasn't annoyed by Aang's comment, even if she felt a slight offence by it.

"Sure." he sarcastically quipped, not sounding persuaded by her assertion, the Water Tribe girl turning away, annoyed by her brother's reaction; it was almost like he was trying to agitate her.

She turned her attention to keeping the water off of them, knowing that was more important than her gripe with her brother; she couldn't see anything off in the ground below them, nowhere to take shelter. She sighed with frustration, unknowing of how long she'd have to keep up her bending; it was a good exercise of her fortitude, but she knew it was really unnecessary. They would be better off resting, given Appa was already tired after almost flying for a whole day straight, his only break being when they stopped by a stream to refill their water skins and attend to their bodily functions. The sky-bison was much lower in the sky than he'd been at daybreak, and she was sure that he'd get so tired that he'd just go and lay somewhere, despite the rain. She didn't want that to happen, so instead, she kept a keen eye out for any place they could stay.

She heard the sound of thunder above her, making Katara's eyes dart up, looking at the roof of water that she and Aang had created, trembling with fear; she knew it was possible they could be struck with lightning, and without their firebending master, she knew they had no way to deal with it. Not that Azula could actually redirect lightning, but she was sure if she put her mind to it, she could replicate the technique her brother had used against her all those months ago. The fact the thunder was so loud made her more worried, and she shook her brother by his arm, wanting him to put in a little more effort to find some place for them to stay.

"Sokka, actually look instead of sitting there like you're asleep." she prodded him, her brother turning his eyes to face her own, his expression serious.

"I think I can see something, Katara." he told her bluntly, without any annoyance in his voice, gesturing to their right, where she could see something sticking out of a wooded area; it was so far away, and out of her area of focus that she probably never would have spotted it.

From the shape along, she was sure it had to be some kind of house or even a village; whether it was inhabited was beside the point; they simply needed to find some place to hide out while the rainstorm came through. She raised her voice to get Aang's attention, "Look! There's something over there."

His eyes darted over to where Sokka had first gestured and his expression brightened, "I can see it." he grinned, before moving to grasp Appa's reins, "Can you hold the water for a bit while I get Appa over there?"

She gave him a nod, raising both of her arms up to hold back the rain, as the sky-bison's path shifted drastically, moving now toward the structure she could see quickly growing larger in its apparent size. Sokka leaned over toward the edge of the saddle, his eyes narrowed down at the building, which quickly became apparent as a kind of barn or shed, similar to the ones she'd already seen in the various villages they'd visited so far. Nearby was a smaller house, clearly Earth Kingdom in design, and from the state of disrepair, she assumed it had been abandoned for some time. The whole farm seemed to be abandoned, with its fences all but withered away into the long grasses that filled the clearing between the two structures. There were fields nearby, grass growing there too, instead of the crops she'd expect. When Appa reoriented around the clearing, she could clearly see the burn marks and damage on the buildings, telling her that the Fire Nation had been the direct cause of the abandonment. She didn't know why they would have attacked a seemingly random farm out in the middle of nowhere; there were no nearby villages, at least from what she could see, so she assumed that the house and farm had originally housed multiple families, probably serving some purpose which she couldn't discern. There was simply no reason for such an isolated farm to exist, even if it was now abandoned; it weirded her out, and she was cautious to get off of Appa as he landed in the clearing, nearby the barn, which looked large enough to snugly fit the sky-bison.

"This place doesn't look right." her brother spoke up, having the same thought as she did, "This is a weird place to have a farm. I mean, I'd understand an abandoned village, but this is just one farm." he observed, before he climbed off of Appa's saddle, out into the rain, jumping down onto the muddy ground below them, "Appa, could you do us a favour and get in the barn. That'd keep all our stuff not ruined, thank you." he gestured into the barn while looking at the sky-bison; whether he actually understood Sokka or not, he did move to get inside the barn.

The Water Tribe warrior strode toward the ajar doors, kicking them open, revealing an empty interior; it was surprisingly clean, despite the fact it had been abandoned for some time. The ground was a little wet inside, probably just from the rain seeping through, but other than that, it didn't seem very different to the barn she'd seen Azula's guards staying in. She got off of Appa's saddle as soon as they were inside and stretched her arms out, glad she could stop bending.

"Finally, some place to relax." she admitted with a relieved tone, glancing around the barn, trying to find some place she might be able to sit around, though she was disappointed by the amount of puddles, "Or maybe not. Maybe the saddle's better." she conceded, Aang snickering, obviously amused by her quick shift in judgement.

"Appa's saddle is always better." he assured her, jumping down to lie on it, "Now we can relax in here until the storms over."

"Are we going to have some food?" Sokka spoke up, making her raise a brow at him.

"Are you cooking?" she quipped in return, not having any intention to do so herself.

He looked at her with a disenchanted face, his lips pursing downward as he realised he wouldn't be getting any lunch cooked for him, "No."

"Then no. You still have some of that jerky left. Eat that if you're hungry." she dismissed his complaint, "I'm not cooking until later. I can't be bothered."

"What are you going to do then? Just sleep around and be lazy?" he asked her, the Water tribe girl raising her chin up, thinking that was actually a good idea.

"Well, I could do that." she conceded, "But I think I'll do some meditation and properly practice my waterbending. It's not every day you get all this water coming down out of the sky to use."

"Huh, good point." Aang's brows rose up, before he pulled himself back up from the saddle, "Wanna try out some forms?"

"In a bit, I'd prefer to meditate a little. Practice what Azula taught me." she excused herself from immediately getting into the practice, knowing that she was a little too exhausted from keeping the rain off of them earlier to get right back into it.

"Maybe you can show me. I used to do meditation a lot with Monk Gyatso, but I think I use some more of it. Maybe it'll make me wiser."

"I don't think that's how that works." Sokka retorted, "I think you actually need to experience life to get some wisdom. You're twelve."

"I've experienced a lot already." he argued in return, "I'm not just any twelve year old. I'm an Air Nomad. Air Nomads see the world, and even if I haven't been everywhere, I know a lot about it."

"What, where the best animals to ride are?" he smugly questioned him, the young Avatar nodding along.

"Yeah, of course I-" he began, before he realised Sokka's ploy, "do..." his voice dropped to a mumble, "Okay, I can see what you're saying, Sokka."

"Thank you." he raised his chin, obviously thinking himself victorious in their little argument; a bit cheap, given that Aang was twelve and definitely wasn't as good as arguing as either Katara or Azula.

"Anyway, we're going to meditate." Katara spoke up, regaining the Avatar's full attention; he gave her a small smile, showing that he intended to do so with her.

She climbed back up onto the saddle, before she got herself into a comfortable, seated position; she glanced out of the barn, taking note of the water that fell down.

"Pay attention to the rain, Aang." she advised, "It's not just relaxing. It can help you get in tune with your waterbending. I think this is the closest to what Toph was talking about when she said you have to get into your element. Well, she phrased it as throwing me into a lake, but I think that's what she was trying to say."

"Huh." he scratched his chin, "That actually makes sense. When I meditated with Monk Gyatso, it was always out in the courtyards, where it'd be windy. So I could get in tune with it." he agreed with her idea, before straightening his posture as he crossed his legs.

"So, can you feel it?" she asked him, the young Avatar closing his eyes and nodding.

"Yeah, I can feel it." he agreed with her, Sokka clearing his throat; Katara turned her eyes over to the side of the barn, where her brother was leaning up against the wall, seemingly bored.

"Could you stay quiet, Sokka? This requires a bit of concentration."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll shut up." he assured her, pulling out his bone dagger and playing around with it; she turned her attention back toward the rain, and like Aang, closed her eyes.

"So... just breath in and out, and try and feel the rain. How it flows." she guessed, knowing that just like any kind of water in nature, it was in motion.

It came down from the sky, splattering down on the ground and spreading around, forming puddles, streams and eventually rivers which emptied into lakes and the sea; everything seemed to flow, when she thought about it enough.

"It doesn't stop. It keeps moving. I can feel it moving around." Aang spoke with a quiet voice.

"That's right." she made a small smile, "Now, we've got to breathe with it."

He simply made an approving grunt rather than speaking, and the two of them began to take deep, drawn out breaths, in synchronisation with each other, listening out to the rain, focusing on its pattering and making sure that they were breathing as it fell. Shallow, constant, but calm- not harsh like a fire, or steady like earth, or constantly erratic and free like air. It flowed, one way or another, downward, toward the ground, toward the sea- wherever it went it was no different. Katara smiled, feeling a sense of oneness with her element; she raised her hand up, not opening her eyes, and simply sensing toward the rain. Feeling it pool up, she drew her hand in and out with her breath, and felt the water move closer to her. She let it move up and above her head, letting the amorphous blog of water take shape as a sphere; as round as she could make it, she noticed that the water began to spin, despite her efforts. That proved one thing- water wasn't just something that constantly moved in motion, it was almost inclined to do so, as if that were part of its nature. She was amused by this thought, thinking in a way, every time she bent water, it was really just going where it was meant to go, and that all she had done was guide it on it's path; it was an unusual think for her to consider, and she turned around to face Aang, who was look at her, eyes full of awe.

"Wow, did you do that on purpose, Katara?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl shrugging her shoulders.

"Not really." she conceded, before she raised her hands up toward the orb of water, parting it in two and forming two smaller orbs of water, which like their larger whole, continued to spin around, somewhat erratically, "I mean, I just took the water and this is what it became- no, what it is."

"It's always flowing." he deduced, taking a deep breath before he took the orb of water in her left hand, coiling it around him, where it formed a thin, rotating stream of water that came around him, encircling Aang as he continued to breathe, "Is this what we're trying to do?"

"I... I honestly don't know." she conceded, "I know less about bending than I know about fishing, or hunting, or cooking- pretty much everything else I can say I know about, I know more about it than this."

"Wow, so humble of you to acknowledge that." Sokka sarcastically quipped, and Katara swung her right hand, allowing the rotation of the water to move into real motion as it coiled around her before whipping her brother in the side, throwing him to the ground.

He grunted, and shook his head as he tried to regain his bearings, "Hey, that was a bit of an overreaction, Katara."

"There's no need to be sarcastic all the time." she argued, her brother turning to face her with a glare, seemingly more annoyed than his tone had suggested.

"You need to stop doubting yourself." he argued in return, surprising her, "You keep thinking you're not that good at waterbending, but you are. Maybe not good like the masters you keep imagining in your head, but you're good." he declared confidently, the young Avatar glancing toward him with a similarly surprised expression; it was rare for Sokka to dish out a genuine compliment like that.

"You're giving Aang advice, even if you don't really understand it yet." he raised a hand, "Now, I'm not saying you're right, but you seem to have gotten a hang of this whole waterbending thing. Don't act like you're incapable- you're not."

"Not anymore." she raised her chin up, knowing that she ought to have learned waterbending, or at least gained some more confidence in her outlook on it, a lot earlier, "Th-thanks, Sokka." she conceded, "I overreacted."

"Yeah, you did." he nodded, before he eyed Aang's ring of water, "So are you going to do something with that?"

"Hmph." he mumbled, "I don't know."

"Well, I think that's a cool trick." she conceded, knowing that what he'd done was a little bit more refined than just holding an orb above his head.

She reached out behind herself, back out toward the rain, and pulled out her own string of water, immediately taking a waterbending stance to help it move along, carefully, instead of erratically throwing it around. She kept her breath steady, and once she sat back down, she replicated Aang's move, now having her own string of water which rotated around her upper body.

"Did you want to practice some forms too?" he asked Katara, who made a preemptive yawn; though she wanted to try some later, she was still a little too tired to do so.

"Not right now. I think I just want to rest for a bit, recollect myself." she explained herself, before she turned her attention to Sokka, who was climbing back up onto the saddle.

"Well then, I might as well join in."

"You want to meditate?" she asked him skeptically, thinking that her brother would disregard something like meditation as a waste of time.

"Well, I want to relax. I'd prefer to do that that just mull over there, slowly going insane to the sound of rain hitting the roof." he gestured up toward the leaking roof, which luckily was clear above them, not dripping any water down onto Appa's saddle, though clearly other parts of the barn weren't as lucky.

"I think the sound of rain is relaxing." Aang spoke up, "It's like the fresh morning breeze. It just makes you want to stay in bed." he grinned, Sokka shaking his head with a disappointed look on his face.

"Uh, yeah, because the morning breeze is cold and makes you shiver, and rain just makes you wet. Who wants to be cold and wet?"

"A waterbender?" Aang asked Katara, who shook her head.

"I come from a place that is only cold and wet, and I can tell you, I prefer the inside of an igloo." she argued, her brother nodding along in agreement.

"I miss our igloo, and Gran Gran's cooking." he pouted, "I hope the Northerners actually know how to cook and aren't just a knock-off Earth Kingdom."

"I'm pretty sure they can't get rice and pig-cows at the North Pole." she noted, knowing that even if they were richer and less threatened by the war, the North Pole was just as isolated and desolate in terms of the climate.

"Fair point." Sokka conceded, before licking his lips, "I should have some of my jerky." he noted, nudging past Aang to go pick up his bag of jerky, "So, how exactly do you meditate, anyway?"

"You sit and breathe slowly, and then you think." Katara simply explained it to her brother, glancing up at the ring she had created around her, "And in the case of a bender, I guess you get in tune with your element."

"So I just have to think, huh?" Sokka mumbled, "Is she right, Aang?"

"I mean Monk Gyatso said that meditation was always best to keep away bad thoughts. To clear your mind." he explained to the Water Tribe warrior, whose eyes flickered, turning to his sister with a relieved look.

"I think I could use some of that." he acknowledged, before he crossed his legs, imitating the two of them, sitting across from them both by the edge of Appa's saddle.

Though he got into position, and even closed his eyes, Sokka seemed to be rather reckless; instead of focusing on the rain, all she could pay attention to was her brother shuffling around or scratching his buttcheeks.

"Could you not?" she requested, probably with a more agitated voice than she would have liked to, but it got the point across.

"Urgh, fine." he raised his hands up, before he crossed his arms over his chest, "Could you give me some tips?"

Aang opened his eyes and turned to him, "The first thing is breathing." he clarified, "You need to draw out your breaths. Like this." he raised a finger, breathing in deeply, though loudly enough that Sokka could clearly see and hear what he was doing, "And you hold for a few seconds." he clarified, doing just that, before he breathed out, "And back out." he spoke with a whisper as he did so, before clearing his throat, "Then you just repeat that. It'll make you all nice and sleepy if you do it for long enough."

"Did you usually fall asleep when you meditated back in the Southern Air Temple?"

"Uh... of course not." Aang clearly lied, before he breathed out once more, "Okay, maybe sometimes when nobody was watching. I like an afternoon nap... sometimes." he spoke with a whisper when he clearly didn't need to, before refocusing his eyes back toward Katara, "Your water's steady." he noted, the Water tribe girl not even looking up, simply closing her eyes again.

"I know. You should focus more or yours before you accidentally let go and hit Sokka." she warned, the young Air Nomad gulping as he realised that possibility, his stream becoming a little less lax and more concentrated, speeding up somewhat- perhaps that was a suggestion of his emotions.

She knew that Ty Lee loved to read auras; before she left, she'd like to give everybody random, out of the blue aura checks. Surprisingly enough, they were usually quite accurate judgements of their emotional states, at least from what she said when she told Katara what her aura was. She wondered whether people's bending, or least how their bending came out, was indicative of their emotional state. After her whole argument with Azula on Kyoshi Island, she was inclined to say yes, though she couldn't be completely sure of it; firebenders seemed to rely on strong emotions to power their bending, which in the case of Azula, seemed to be her fear of losing Sokka.

She raised a brow to that thought, considering in leaving him behind, the Princess might weaken her bending, knowing Sokka was gone. Or perhaps, in converse, in not knowing what his current state was, she might become more nervous and instead heighten her bending abilities. She wondered if the gold fire had ever come back, and she secretly hoped it would; she didn't know if Sokka knew about it, but she guessed that he did. Turning her eyes to her brother, she decided to ask him some questions; unlike with that time with Azula, she wasn't going to try and probe his mind. She actually wanted to help him relax, after what had happened the morning prior.

"Sokka, what's on your mind?" she asked him, hoping to get an honest response.

His expression shifted from one of calm indifference, which had come about from his slowed breathing, to one of suspicion, "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to make sure you relax. That's the whole idea, remember?"

He tensed up slightly, before nodding, "I got that." he confirmed, his eyes narrowing at her, "What do you want me to say? That I'm hungry and I'd like you to make lunch."

"This isn't about your material worries, Sokka." she rolled her eyes, before chuckling, "Or maybe it can be. I don't know. Is that the most pressing issue? You're eating jerky right now." she observed, her brother self-consciously pushing the bag of jerky away from himself.

"It is pretty pressing." he argued in return, before sighing, "But you do have a point." he conceded, making her smile, glad that he wasn't in denial; he was far better than Azula in that regard- he wasn't just going to get angry and defensive whenever she inquired on his well being, "I'm thinking about where we're going, what we might run into. I'm the boss now, and I don't want to stuff up."

"Responsibility is not fun." Aang simply commented, making Katara wince, remembering that was one of his own problems; it had both caused him to run away from the Southern Air Temple, as well as causing the fiasco on Kyoshi Island, "But, you've just got to take it."

"Yeah, I know." Sokka admitted, "I just don't have-" he began, before cutting himself off, looking up toward the ceiling, "Never mind."

"I know what you're thinking, but I'm not going to force you to say it." Katara admitted, "What do you need to do is to accept it. That's how you can... keep your mind away from it."

He sighed, before turning his eyes toward her, "This sounds like a bit of a deflection, Katara." he crossed his arms, "I know you're still all angsty and torn up over Mum. That doesn't mean you can just tell me to suck this up. She left yesterday."

Katara winced, knowing her brother was right; that was what she knew when it came to having that sense of longing, of having no control, but it wasn't the same. Their mother was gone, but Azula would come back- at least, she said she would.

"Sorry, Sokka." she conceded, "I know she'll be back. She doesn't leave with unfinished business, does she?" she asked him, making her brother momentarily smile, agreeing with that sentiment.

"She doesn't." he confirmed, before glancing away, "I know I shouldn't worry. It's Azula- she's the most powerful firebender alive." he acknowledged, before grimacing, "But I can't feel like she's going into something with a crazy plan that mightn't work. I mean, we thought conquering Yu Dao would be easy. Scare the Mayor, make a deal with him, and then silently take power in the city. Then Zuko showed up, Azula got cocky, and well... I think you both know what happened because of that."

"You can't predict or foresee everything." Katara argued, knowing that was impossible, "You just have to hope. That's all we can do when it comes to things like this."

"I just feel so... powerless." he admitted, looking down with wide eyes and a silently ajar mouth, "I..." he mumbled, before sighing, unable to put his thoughts to words.

Katara took a deep breath, taking the water that she had been bending around her and forming it back into a sphere, before she threw it back out into the rain, behind her; her brother looked up at her with surprise, and she placed a hand on his shoulder, softly grasping it.

"Don't worry, Sokka. Be strong, that's what she would want you to do."

"No, you're right." he sighed, looking up with a noticeably more hopeful look, "I'm gonna make sure we get to the North Pole safely."

"And what are we going to do?" Aang asked him, the Water Tribe warrior narrowing his eyes at him.

"Follow my orders. It can't be that hard." he argued, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow at her brother, remembering something from his story that might form a good argument against such a request.

"And what happened to the last people who followed your orders?" she asked him, her brother raising a finger, trying to think of an argument before his eyes widened, remembering what she had.

"Urgh... that was like nine months ago, Katara. Are you really going to hold it against me?"

"You all got knocked out in a hallway because you thought fighting 'the most powerful firebender alive' was a good idea." she clarified, making him cross his arms, annoyed by her claim.

"It wasn't like I knew that. I had no idea who she was. That's the Order of the White Lotus' fault, not mine."

"Okay, Mister Tough Guy, I believe you." she responded smugly, her sarcasm not rubbing off well; she decided to back-up a little bit, and gave a counter to her own claim, "But you did escape Yu Dao with an unconscious Azula, sneak into Pohuai Fortress, stop Azula's army from being attacked and got all the way back home on a little boat with only her for help." she listed off his accomplishments, "So, actually, I'm more than willing to follow your orders... just don't boss me around, got it?"

Sokka raised an eyebrow at her request, "But aren't those two things the same?" he asked her with a skeptical tone, confused of the ambiguities between being bossy and being the boss.

"Tone and situation, Sokka. It's all in the tone and situation."

* * *

Azula hated the rain, and she hated it enough to walk into an Earth Kingdom village to look for shelter; they had always intended to come through, but she had no intent of staying there for any longer than need be. They did not need to buy food, nor did they require water, as the rain provided them with enough by simply holding their water flasks to the sky. She knew however, that neither she nor her men would tolerate being stuck out in the rain, even if it was practical, if not desirable for them to continue moving along to try and reach Zhao's base of operations as soon as possible. Looking at the town, she could understand why the Admiral hadn't tried to destroy it; there really wasn't much there to begin with. A few dozen poorly built houses, made of wood and mud brick, along with some clay fired roof tiles, which had to be the most 'civilised' looking thing she could see in the entire village. Though, as she eyed around at the few commoners she could see idling, all of them under ledges or balconies to hide from the rain, nobody in the village seemed to be going hungry, or in any obvious way harmed by the war, though the village clearly wasn't rich. The Fire Nation occupation would make sure of that; if they weren't part of the Fire Nation in fact, they wouldn't have access to the trade that most of the Fire Nation's military expansions allowed, nor would they be able to trade with the other, isolated and 'liberated' portions of the country, though she was sure those places were even worse off, run by bandits or bandits who acted like they were loyal soldiers of the Earth Kingdom.

"This place seems... okay." Ty Lee observed, sounding only slightly nervous as she strode along beside her with a cloak folded over her head; it made her look rather stupid in the Princess's eyes, though she didn't mind her own appearance, as she she was staying dry.

Azula, on the other hand, was drenched wet from the rain pattering down on her hair, something that frustrated her somewhat; she had left her cloak back on Appa's saddle, along with a few other things of hers, such as her Water Tribe garbs, which she realised would be rather practical once she reached the North Pole. She instinctively touched her top-knot, taking note that it must have become somewhat dishevelled in the rain.

"Does my hair look bad?" she asked her friend, who looked back at her, giving her a reassuring smile; it was the opposite of actually reassuring her that her hair was good- it only made sense to give her such a smile when it was ruined, but she didn't want Azula to feel bad.

She simply groaned, shrugging her shoulders as she eyed around, "There has to be a tavern in this town. Somewhere we can stay dry."

"It will probably be near the centre, wherever they have their market, your highness." the Captain clarified, turning back to face her, "So, just straight ahead."

She nodded, knowing that his judgement was probably right; she glanced around, noticing that the people were looking at her. She didn't look like a Princess, however; she just looked like an ordinary Fire Nation teenager with her friend, walking with a number of serious looking Fire Nation men, who like her, were dressed in plain clothes. None of them were armed, though that was out of virtue of their choice of weapon; all of them except Ty Lee were firebenders, and she herself had chi-blocking, which meant she didn't need a weapon. She knew that the locals would still be nervous, probably not trusting anybody who was Fire Nation; she just hoped, however, that they'd be kind enough to let them shelter in their tavern, if it existed. For all she knew, the village could be that poor and untravelled that it lacked one.

Continuing along, she turned her eyes back to Ty Lee, wondering how she felt about travelling into such a village; her earlier comment suggested that she felt uneasy about it, so she decided to ask her, if only to make sure she didn't act all rash and nervous. They were probably safe, given that it was unlikely anybody would recognise her as the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation; the only reason they'd be attacked was for being Fire Nation, not because of her position as a contender to the throne.

"Are you worried, Ty?" she asked her friend, whose expression shifted to one of confusion as she looked back her way.

"Worried? Me?" she looked at her skeptically, scoffing at the suggestion; her abrupt reaction seemed to be masking her true feelings, which wasn't clear to Azula, "We're fine, Zula. This place isn't that bad."

"It's not as friendly looking as that last village." she commented quietly, her friend looking at her for a few moments before nodding, confirming that she held the same belief.

"Yeah... I mean, nobody really likes the Fire Nation." she admitted with a whisper, before smiling, "But that's what you hope to change."

"That's true." she smirked, knowing that, or at least, hoping that an inadvertent effect of her plans for the world would be a shift in the views the rest of the nations held toward her own, "One day, we should be able to walk into villages like this without being stared at."

"I thought you liked having all the attention on you." her friend noted with a smug look, elbowing her; Azula rolled her eyes, knowing that she was right.

"I do. This is just the wrong kind of attention."

"Hmph, good point." she acknowledged, "We've got to act cool and calm." she noted, her way of phrasing it making her sound like she thought doing otherwise would be dangerous.

"We'll be fine." she assured her friend, "Don't worry. What you should worry about is the Admiral." she suggested, knowing that Zhao was the greatest threat facing them, even if he himself didn't know it; she wondered what he might have thought when she was found to be alive and well, and she realised, he mightn't have as high an opinion of her after she joined the Avatar of all people.

"Yeah." she mumbled, before her expression brightened, pointing down the path ahead of them; they'd already walked into the village proper, and she was gesturing to a large building that could only be a tavern; unless it was some kind of noble's manor house, which she certainly doubted would be located right in the middle of town.

Azula pursed her lips upward, glad they'd found it, noting that the rain had been getting heavier as they'd gotten closer to the village; perfect timing to get inside, in her eyes. She strode forward past the Captain and the other guards leading them, gesturing for them to follow with a finger movement- she hoped that they remembered those from all the training they had done, and it seemed that they understood completely as they calmly followed after her, the Princess leading the group to the doors of the building. She pushed them open, and looked inside, seeing that the tavern wasn't very full, giving them a lot of space to sit and relax; the other patrons and the bartender looked at them with surprise, and she felt self-conscious of her wet hair once more. She tried to ignore that thought as she strode forward, placing her hands on the bar.

"Good day." she simply addressed him, "We'd like to take shelter here while it's raining out. Do we need to buy something to do that?" she asked, knowing that such a policy did exist with a number of establishments that she'd already visited on her journey north across the western coast of the Earth Kingdom.

"Uh..." he mumbled, looking at her awkwardly before he eyed the group moving inside behind her, "Yeah, I recommend you do buy something." he told her suggestively, though it was clearly stating a rule, even if it wasn't phrased like one.

"Okay, what kind of basic dishes do you sell, then?"

"Jook." the barkeep acknowledged, "That's pretty much it, unless you want to eat some vegetable stew." he noted, narrowing his eyes at her, "But you don't seem the type."

"Hmph." she crossed her arms, almost impressed by that quick judgement of her character; she might usually be offended, but today, she was intrigued, "Yes, jook it is."

"Brilliant." the bartender smiled, eyeing the group, "For everyone?" he asked, the Princess scoffing.

"I'll pay for myself. They can pay for themselves." she clarified, not having the spare money to go out and buy all of her men a crappy lunch for the sake of just not standing in the rain, "How much for one serving?"

"Uh, only four copper." he explained, making Azula raise a brow skeptically; though she wasn't as much a haggler as Sokka, she was certainly skeptical that was a fair price, though she hadn't seen the bowl size yet.

"How big are your bowls?" she asked, the bartender's eyes narrowing, probably surprised by the question; he obviously didn't get many outsiders, that being, new people, in his establishment.

"Uh..." he mumbled under his breath, before he knelt down, pulling out a bowl that was about the size of both her fists curled together, which, in her opinion, would be a decent serving of jook, "That's how big."

"Yeah, three copper." she refused, "I know I'm not from around here, but we're hungry and you obviously don't have that many customers." she argued, "Are you really going to make us pay more?"

"From the look of youse, you're ash-makers." he concluded, "Why should I give you a price-cut?"

"I see." she crossed her arms, "Well, I hope you remember who's protecting this village. I don't know any of those people personally, but I'm sure they wouldn't like to hear a fair and decent traveller like myself being gouged for my coin by your establishment."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a fact. I'm heading in that direction, and people like to talk, even in the Fire Nation, would you believe?" she joked, knowing for a fact that the whole propaganda machine gave of an aura of Fire Nation citizens being unquestioning of their government and its actions.

She knew that some people, especially in the nobility, were clearly more skeptical of the war effort than what people like Katara would make out her country to be.

"But I won't push it. Fine. Four copper it is." she conceded, knowing it would be better to not act like herself for once and just suck-up whatever overpriced crap she was given.

"Uh, thanks, I guess." the bartender leaned back, surprised by her shift in judgement; she placed the requested currency down, before turning to face her men, "Go buy yourselves for lunch. Everybody's paying for themselves today."

"Even me?" Ty Lee asked, the Princess letting out a quiet groan to voice her annoyance.

"Don't tell me you didn't bring money." she slumped her shoulders over, frustrated by the suggestion that her friend was confident enough to do such a thing.

"Well... I did, but I thought you'd have more."

"Being in charge of group finances doesn't make me magically have more money, Ty." she rolled her eyes, before turning to face the bartender once more, "Will somebody come and give me my food?"

"No, I'll call out. Is there a name, or do I just call you snarky Fire Nation lady?"

"Saila." she narrowed her eyes at him, "My name is Saila." trying to hold back the offence in her voice; even if his judgement wasn't wrong, she usually would only tolerate such bluntness from her friends.

"Okay, Saila." he crossed his arms, "You can let your friends order now." he suggested, the Princess turning her heels, annoyed enough already by the bartender; she was feeling in the mood to throw a fireball in his face, but she relented, knowing for certain it wouldn't end well for any party involved.

She sat herself down at an empty table, making sure to choose a table next to the wall, so she could lean herself back onto the wall while she waited; she glanced back over to the counter, and saw Ty Lee cheerily ordering her own things, before she turned around and sat right across from her on the table.

"So... we'll just stay here for lunch?" she asked the Princess, who eyed around at the other patrons.

"Until the rain stops bucketing outside." she clarified her own position, not wanting to go back out while she would end up getting drenched, again; she was still damp, water dripping down from her messy hair over her face. She decided to pull her bag off of her back, and from it, took out a small bone brush that Sokka had carved her a few months prior, as a gift. She actually couldn't remember why he gave it to her, but she appreciated it at the time; any way to maintain her immaculate appearance was well appreciated in the bitterly cold and windy South Pole. Ty Lee eyed it intently, gesturing toward, as if she were about to touch it; Azula instinctively pulled it back away from her friend and began to brush it through her hair.

"Nice brush." she commented, "Did you make it?"

"No, Sokka did." she clarified, "It's made of seal bone."

"It's pretty." she noted, "I'm sure you appreciated getting that." she added, making another random judgement on her relationship with Sokka; at the very least, it was accurate, but that did not mean she appreciated the comments about her relationship that came off her friend's tongue at random.

"It's useful." she simply acknowledged it, before continuing to brush it through her locks, straightening them out to get rid of the frizziness she knew would come from it getting wet, "What did you order?"

"The same as you, plus some tea." she explained, licking her lips, "It's been a while since I've had some good tea."

"Didn't you get tea back when we went out for lunch the other day?" she asked, the acrobat cringing.

"That tea was bad. They put too much... something in it." she simply explained her distaste, "Hopefully this tea is better."

"Are you blind? This village is dirt poor. Why would the tea be any better here?" she questioned her logic, Ty Lee giving her smile to reaffirm her confidence, raising two fingers up, one one each hand.

"It's not about the place, Azula, it's about who makes it. You can have all the right ingredients, but the tea will be bad if the person making it doesn't have any idea what they're doing." she explained, Azula leaning her head back at sighing with annoyance, finding her friend's commentary particularly similar to the kinds of things she'd heard her uncle say in the past.

"Ergh, you sound like my uncle when you say things like that."

"But it's true." she argued, "You need to know how to make tea. It doesn't just come from getting some leaves and hot water."

"Of all the things we could argue about, this is probably the one thing I really don't want to." she simply told her friend as she looked back at her, turning her head toward the bar as she remembered what she'd be eating, "I'd rather have a quiet discussion while we wait for our terrible lunch."

"It won't be that bad, Azula." she assured her, making the Princess narrow her eyes at her.

"You were just complaining about how the last place we visited had horrible tea and somehow you're confident we'll get a nice meal?" she questioned her once more, breaking apart her rationale for thinking so positively.

"Okay." she mumbled, "I see what you mean. But I'll enjoy it anyway. A nice hot meal instead of being out in the rain."

Their attention was drawn by three of Azula's guards moving to sit down on the table beside them, the guards keeping their professional distance from the Princess, who placed her hands up on the table and straightened her posture, wanting to seem the least bit serious while she was in their presence.

"What'd you guys get?" Ty Lee decided to make conversation, the guards glancing amongst each other.

"I'm pretty sure everybody's getting the jook." one of them simply noted.

"Plain and simple." another spoke up, pouting slightly, "I miss spicy food, honestly."

"I haven't had a good amount of spice in two months.' the first guard spoke up once more, before he smiled, "Hopefully when we get to the base, they'll give us their rations. At least those have spices in them."

"Navy rations are not that good." Azula spoke up, surprising her guards, who looked at her with interest.

Ty Lee spoke up, taking the opportunity to launch into a new conversation, "When did you eat navy rations? I thought you only had your fancy dishes on your ship." she guessed, the Princess nodding along.

"You're right, Ty Lee." she confirmed, "I had the rations after Katara stole them from a Southern Raider vessel. We had broken onboard, and she and the villagers must have gotten on and taken whatever they could before they set the boat adrift." she clarified, her guards looking at her with slightly concerned faces.

"When did you fight them?" one of her guards dared to directly address her, the Princess narrowing her eyes, thinking back to that night; Sokka had gone off hunting with his father and a large bulk of the men, to get some food to celebrate Bato's return- she was all alone, and she had to fight them off.

"More than two months ago now." she admitted, "I was asleep when they arrived, and they tried to kidnap the children. I believe they wanted to enslave them for whatever war-effort plans they had. I stopped them with the help of Katara and the Water Tribe warriors that were present."

"Did they know who you were?" one of her guards spoke up once more, obviously intrigued by the situation she had found herself in.

"Initially, no. They figured out once I started bending and shooting holes in their ship with lightning. That was the first time I generated lightning since Yu Dao."

"So, you're ready to do it again." she heard a voice speak up, glancing to her left to see the Captain standing by the end of the table.

"I can fight fully, Captain." she assured him, "Don't worry about that."

"I would never doubt your capabilities, yo-" he began to address her, before his eyes darted to the left, looking at the other patrons, who had taken some interest in them.

"I'd drop the formalities, Captain. Or should I say, Renshu." she addressed him by his first name, the Captain shuddering with unease.

"That's the first time you've said my name." he acknowledged, before he walked past Ty Lee and his men, sitting down along the table from them.

"Don't get used to it. We'll be back to proper formalities once we reach Zhao." she warned him, to which he let out a light snicker.

"I don't intend to." he ensured her of his steadfast loyalty and the seriousness with which he took his duties; of course, the other guards were quite serious, but he was a calibre above them- even if he could act causal and even show a sense of humour at times, he always ready to fight, and do his duty, without any questions.

She turned her eyes back to Ty Lee, remembering that they had been discussing her fight against the Southern Raiders, "That was just before I met him."

"Aang." she mumbled his name, "You already told me that one."

"I have." she nodded, "I have no intention to repeat that story, especially in public." she clarified, before turning her eyes up toward the bar, "Hopefully my meal will be ready soon so I can get it over and done with."

"Jook isn't that bad." her friend assured her, "I mean, it's not the best thing to eat, but it fills you up every time."

"I don't want to feel all bloated when I have to be alert, Ty." she retorted, "Remember we're still in dangerous territory around here. Even if the locals seem uncaring enough, some bandits are probably waiting to pounce at us."

"Don't worry, I can handle some bandits." her friend cracked her knuckles, "I won't lie, I'm looking forward to fight with you at some point."

"We did at Crescent Island, remember?" she raised her hand up, noting the last time they had fought together, where Azula had gotten injured; her shoulder was still a little sore, though she had recovered all movement in her shoulder and upper arm.

"Yeah, but that wasn't a real- uh- together fight. We need to go back to back against some bad guys." she argued, the Princess pursing her lips up in thought of the enemies that may await them; not just Zhao and his goons, who they had the intention of avoiding a fight with, but the Dai Li and even the Order of the White Lotus, who if Jeong Jeong's plot had any indication, didn't trust nor like her.

In the distance she heard the voice of the bartender call out her pseudonym, "Saila." he spoke up, just loud enough for her to hear; although, she decided to express her thoughts on Ty Lee's comment instead of getting up right away.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to that. Just don't wish on it too hard- we want to try and deal with the Admiral as cleanly as possible."

"I got that." she nodded, before she turned her eyes over to the bar, "I think your food's ready, Zula."

She rose up to her feet, striding past a few of her guards who were just walking back from the bar, having ordered their own meals; they simply nodded at her as she walked by, before she bee-lined right for the bar itself, spotting the bowl of jook, steaming hot and waiting for her. She noticed the bartender walk by, and he gestured to the bowl before attending to something else, proving that it was her meal; she picked it up noting that it was hot enough that it hurt to touch the bowl. Despite being a firebender, Azula was in no way heat-resistant, though she was able to use a quick technique by bending a small flame in her hand and drawing the heat of the bowl into it, before dispersing the small flame into the air. She did it with her hand facing down, to ensure that nobody saw the little bright blue flame she had created. Picking up the bowl, she smiled, noting the temperature of the ceramic to be far more tolerable, and she took it with her back to the table, eyeing the other patrons for a moment; they didn't seem that suspicious of her, but their gazes seemed to go her way whenever she walked by. She realised perhaps that it was her somewhat revealing attire; though a crop-top and pants were completely normal in the Fire Nation, given its hot climate, she realised that people in the Earth Kingdom would be a fair bit less tolerant of such clothing. Most the peasants she had seen on her journey so far covered themselves up quite modestly with their drab robes and tunics. Sitting herself back down across from Ty Lee, she placed the bowl in front of her, and looked over to her friend, who was looking at her intently.

"What?" she asked her, unsure what was so interesting about her appearance.

"Your hair looks nice." she explained, the Princess instinctively touching her hair, and realised that she had pulled it out in the process of brushing it; her shoulder length tresses fell down over her face, her bangs taking a more natural shape around her face.

She touched it, and noted the shape of her hair and bangs, realising that it was rather similar to the style that her mother wore; that made her feel uncomfortable immediately, and she quickly grasped her hair by the sides and back, and pulled it back up into a loose top-knot, which was how she preferred to have her hair when she wasn't trying to give off a regal appearance suiting of her rank. Azula looked back down at her food, and sniffed it, noting the bland smell, and she pulled the spoon out of the bowl, taking a bite from it.

"How is it?" her friend almost instantly asked her as she put the spoon into her mouth; it wasn't very nice, in her opinion, but the taste was tolerable and the texture fine enough that she really couldn't complain either.

"Okay." she simply noted, "Probably not worth the four copper pieces I paid."

"What a rip off." one of her guards groaned under his breath, his expression becoming more uneasy as he realised the Princess had been looking at him; Azula had a feeling that was how most of their interactions were going to go, given her rank and title, even if it really wasn't enforceable at the present moment.

"It is." she simply agreed, before turning back toward Ty Lee, "So, I hope you enjoy your tea, because I don't know if it'll make up for the jook."

"I'll be fine." her friend reassured her, though her expression after she spoke suggested that she wasn't looking forward to the meal, at least not as much as she had been.

Azula placed the spoon back in the bowl of jook, scooping out some more before she chewed it down; because of the texture, she could eat it quickly, though she tried not to, knowing that she wanted to sit inside for as long as the rainstorm lasted. She was sure it would be more impolite to sit inside all afternoon, waiting for the rain to pass, having eaten her meal quickly, than to eat it a little slower.

Once her mouth was empty, she decided to make conversation with Ty Lee once again, but her efforts were immediately frustrated as she rose up to go get her bowl of jook and cup of tea; as she strode off, the Princess instead turned to her guards, who were quietly chatting amongst themselves, and she decided to make an effort to listen in to said conversation.

"So, you're telling me you got a girlfriend, Shan?" one of her guards spoke up, the guard she assumed to be called by that name looking rather flustered at the suggestion.

"N-no... not a girlfriend. I went on, what, one date." Shan assured his comrades, who looked at him skeptically.

"But that was last week. So you might still get a girlfriend." Yi spoke up, before the Captain cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"We mightn't be going back to the village for some time now, if we ever do go back." he warned them, the guards looking at him with surprise.

"So... where are we going?" Yi turned to face her, the Princess smirking.

"Well, once this whole Zhao issue's dealt with, you'll be mustering with the rest of my forces. I have to teach Aang firebending, but until then, I will stay with him and the others. We need to attend to a few things unrelated to the Zuko problem." she explained her intentions, speaking as quietly as possible while still being intelligible to her guards; they were surprised by her open addressal of the matter, or at least, she assumed that from the ajar mouths and wide eyes on their faces.

"Such as?" the Captain asked her, prodding the Princess to continue her exposition.

"Well, I'm going to deal with the Ba Sing Se problem again, although I intend it to be permanent this time." she clarified, making her guards' expressions shift to ones of worry.

"So, destroying the Dai Li?" he asked her, to which Azula smirked, confident that she could do just that with a little help.

"Oh, I may be instigating it, but I don't intend to do anything of the sort." she raised her hands up, before she turned her eyes to the left, seeing Ty Lee returning to the table; she sniffed in her direction, noting that the tea was surprisingly aromatic, though she was sure that was just because she'd been smelling dirt, mud and rain all day.

"What are we talking about?"

"My plan to fix the Earth Kingdom." she told her bluntly, making her friend hold back a laugh.

"Oh, yeah, that's a thing." she acknowledged, sitting herself back down in her spot; the Princess turned back to face her guards, who were looking at her with even more confusion than before.

"What?" she asked them, the Captain clearing his throat once again, placing both hands on the table.

"Well, that's just a bit of a surprise, given what we were doing last time."

"Trust me, I'm trying to achieve the exact same thing, just from a different perspective." she assured him, knowing that her new plan for the Earth Kingdom was actually quite similar to her old orders, as she would be dealing with threats to the peace; the Dai Li were once again that threat, but the peace she was thinking of was a very different one to that which her father wanted her to uphold, "The Earth Kingdom is in need of a new government. Captain, I believe it's time I told the guard the story of Chin the Conqueror." she addressed Renshu, whose eyes widened with surprise.

"That story?" he scrunched his lips up, his voice sounding curious, "Why Chin the Conqueror?"

"Because I believe it's relevant to what I seek to do." she clarified, before turning to Ty Lee, "You ought to hear this too, if only to understand what an Avatar shouldn't do." she told her friend, who nodded along.

The acrobat took a spoonful of her jook and began to eat it; she didn't seem as disapproving as the Princess of the meal, though that didn't concern Azula- everybody could have their own terrible opinions on food while she had her correct one.

"Ahem." she cleared her throat, "A few hundred years ago, a man named Chin revolted against the rule of the Earth King of the time, who was seen as oppressive by the people of his country. He led an army to conquer, or in his eyes, liberate the people of the Earth Kingdom, and bar taking the city of Ba Sing Se, he succeeded."

"So, is that what you want to do?" Ty Lee asked her, "Just, uh, conquer the Earth Kingdom."

"Of course not. That'd be a waste of my time. I seek to become the ruler of my own nation, not this one." she clarified, trying not to mention the Fire Nation or Fire Lord while she was in an Earth Kingdom tavern, "The problem he faced was Avatar Kyoshi. She didn't like him trying to conquer her home peninsula, and then she defeated him in battle, killed him, and split said peninsula off with the power of the Avatar State, becoming what I believe is now Kyoshi Island."

"Huh, so that's why there's an island named after an Avatar." Ty Lee's eyes widened, before she facepalmed, "Oh, you guys went there a few weeks ago, didn't you?"

"Yep." she nodded, before turning her eyes back to her guards, seeing that she got herself sidetracked, "But back to the point. Supposedly, she believed that Chin was a tyrant just as bad as the Earth King, and thus she stopped him in his tracks."

"Isn't that kinda what the Avatar's meant to do?" the Captain narrowed his eyes at her, "And why the Royal Family went to find the Avatar. Because he might overthrow the Fire Lord?" he asked, the Princess nodding.

"I believe so." she nodded, only inferring that from the documents she'd read in Ba Sing Se, and not from anything her father had said; she guessed that was the intention, and because of the Avatar's bending prowess and such a knack for deposing tyrants, he was the number one enemy of the Fire Nation, "The thing is, that didn't stop the problem. The people of the Earth Kingdom, especially in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se where the Earth King's power and authority was absolute, still hated him. And so, like Chin, they rose up, and tried to storm the palace. Avatar Kyoshi made a deal with the Earth King, that she would create an organisation to protect the cultural heritage- which I think is really just a fancy way of saying the noblemen's estates. That became what we call the Dai Li." 

"Wait... seriously?" Yi turned to face her with an amused face, "So a past Avatar created that organisation that we had to go beat into the ground a few months ago?"

"Precisely." she nodded, "You see, the problem is, the Dai Li perpetuated the same problem that had already plagued the Earth Kingdom before any of these things occurred, a lack of central government. In Ba Sing Se, they ruled in the stead of the Earth King, or at least, I assume they did, but everywhere else, warlordism became rampant. The armies my great-grandfather was so easily able to destroy with his great armies weren't so great in comparison, because of this exact problem.

"So you're saying Avatar Kyoshi indirectly doomed the Earth Kingdom?" Renshu concluded from her explanation, which was the exact conclusion she desired.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Chin tried to unify the Earth Kingdom, the Avatar killed him. The peasants tried to reform the government, and the Avatar created a means to prevent that from ever occurring." she explained, before clapping her hands together, pursing her lips upward, "So, I propose that we do what should have been done a few hundred years ago."

Ty Lee gasped, taking a sip from her cup of tea before she placed it down on the table, "Wow... you almost make the Fire Nation sound like the good guys fixing the Earth Kingdom."

"I actually believe that was what my great-grandfather intended, though I believe his original plan to be rather shortsighted." she conceded; Fire Lord Sozin had a good idea, but he went about it in the wrong way.

Conquering the Earth Kingdom would be a waste of time if it would only lead to more deaths, and more poverty for the people of its country; the colonies might have improved the lives of some, but that was minuscule in comparison to all the refugees the Fire Nation had forced from their homes.

"I see, your highness." the Captain raised a finger to his chin, scratching it in thought, "So, we will... well, we'll do the people of the Earth Kingdom a great favour."

"More than that." she argued, "This is something nobody has ever done. All I need is the right person to set it off."

"Aang." Ty Lee's eyes widened, "You know, Azula, you're really good at making crazy plans like this."

"It's my favourite thing to do. Honestly, Sokka helped a lot with this one, so you ought to thank him when you see him again." she admitted, making the guards break down laughing.

"Wait, seriously, the Water Tribesman thought it was a good idea to try and do all of this?"

"Do you not remember-" she began to question them, before she realised that they had not been privy to the borderline death-threats she had given Sokka for daring to suggest the Earth Kingdom commoners were justified in their desire to revolt against the Fire Nation, "He suggested something similar, back when we were in Ba Sing Se. This is just a natural progression of his insane ideas that I believe are worth my interest."

"Yeah, that sounds like Sokka." Ty Lee acknowledged, turning to face the guards, "I haven't known him long, but he's a guy with big ideas."

"Big ideas like- wait, was it him who came up with blowing up the Royal Barge?" Renshu asked her, the Princess shaking her head.

"I believe it was his father, Hakoda. You remember, the man Sokka thought you were trying to kill?" she asked him, the Captain turning his eyes away, still embarrassed by his defeat on the Royal Barge all those months ago- given how unskilled a warrior Sokka had been at the time, she could understand why he would feel so ashamed about it.

"Oh, so what are the Water Tribesmen actually like?" Shan turned around to face her, "Your highness, you spent a few months with them. You must have good knowledge of their lifestyle and culture by now."

"I think I do." she nodded, "They are commendable in their own areas. The Southern Water Tribe is perhaps as progressive as our own nation, at least when compared to the backwards people of the Northern Water Tribe." she acknowledged, only having heard things from hearsay and then from Kanna, via Katara, which didn't give the kindest painting of said culture, "They are also a very resilient, honourable people. They aren't as selfish as many of the nobles and townsfolk of our nation, and strive to serve their villages to the best of their ability. Something I desire for our own nation."

"So, they're like us." Yi concluded, "I mean, everybody here serves you because they believe in you, in the Fire Nation. They hold that same belief in each other."

"I would say that's an accurate judgement." she nodded, actually surprised that one of her guardsmen could say something so considerate of their actual situation; she sometimes forgot that many in the Fire Nation weren't as single-minded and unquestioning as the education system made it seem.

"Maybe you should start eating, Zula." Ty Lee spoke up, "Your food will get cold."

"Hmph, you're right, Ty Lee." she nodded, taking her spoon into her meal, "I apologise for my long winded exposition. I simply believed you all ought to know what you are getting into. That is my duty as your leader."

The guards nodded along, tilting their heads down toward her in respect, making her smile before she took her spoon into her mouth; even if her lunch was crap, she knew that her men were good- not in the feeble way that Katara saw the term, but in a more heart-felt way. They served her out of respect, and acted with volition rather than out of blind loyalty. That was all she could ever ask for, and if she could build that same respect with her fellow countrymen, she would be content to rule her nation until the day she died.

* * *

Glancing out toward the gray clouds above them, Sokka could only sigh; he wanted to actually get to the North Pole, if that was what he had to do, as quickly as he could, but it seemed that the world was against him. He knew that the rain would have to let up eventually, and with it, they'd be on their way toward their destination. They still had many days of flying ahead of them, though Sokka was sure that with any less interruptions, they'd arrive within the week. He was surprised by the thought, given the climate of the area they were in wasn't that cold, yet within a week, they'd be at the North Pole, which he assumed would be just like his home, except with more rules and some stuck-up waterbenders. He turned his glance to his left, taking note of Aang and Katara, who were pretty much playing around with the rain water; they were training their bending, and he guessed that was better than nothing, but Sokka couldn't stand to be doing nothing.

He wished Azula was there just to demand he do something; he needed to be preoccupied, otherwise the boredom would set in, and Sokka got grumpy when he was bored. Not as much as when he was hungry, but he would not be in a good mood after spending a day idling around. Katara's meditation helped somewhat, but that just made him worry about Azula, and he had decided he'd rather do something than think about her constantly. He loved her, but being constantly worried about her, he knew that was unhealthy; he wasn't that thick headed to think that obsessing over a person and their safety wasn't a little over the top when it was the only thing on one's mind.

Sokka's eyes turned to the abandoned house he could see across the field from them, and wondered if it would be worth investigating; he guessed that whatever had been in there had probably already been taken either by the Fire Nation or by some bandits. He did think, though, that it was interesting; in the same way that the prison, and the Dai Li tunnels it connected to, in Ba Sing Se were interesting. He wondered what might be inside, and felt suspicious about the place they had decided to take refuge in; he knew the Fire Nation had attacked the place, but it didn't make much sense. They weren't building a colony in the area, nor did the settlement seem to be large enough to play part in the war effort.

This interest overcame him, and he decided to step out into the rain, and approach the house; this immediately garnered his sister's attention, and she immediately stepped toward him, "Where are you going?"

"To look around." he simply told her, glancing back toward her and Aang, who both looked at him with slight confusion; they were too engrossed in their bending to be bored, so they obviously didn't understand his frustrations- of course, they didn't have a crazy Fire Nation Princess on their mind for every waking moment of the day, either.

"Okay, don't get lost in the forest or something." Aang suggested, the Water Tribesman scoffing at his suggestion.

"I'm just going to the house. Don't worry." he reassured them, before he continued to stride on through the rain, preferring to get through it as quickly as he could, instead of getting drenched.

Eyeing the house, he took note of the decay that it had undergone; it obviously hadn't been abandoned for that long, maybe only a year or two, but that time showed. Plants were growing everywhere, and the exterior of the house showed some small damages that seemed unrelated to the Fire Nation's attack. When he reached the eaves of the house, he took a deep breath, glad that he was out of the rain; Sokka then glanced in a nearby window, noting that it was covered by dirt stains, making it very hard to look inside. He sighed, realising he'd have to go inside; he knew that was going to be a bad idea, unsure what kind of animals might be nesting inside. He remembered the abandoned house in the mining village he and Azula had taken shelter on their first night together, and knew that must be worse than whatever he was looking at. The Water Tribesman strode along the eaves, approaching the front door of the house, which was pushed slightly ajar; when he reached to touch it, he suddenly heard the sound of thunder above him.

"Trying to get all ominous on me, are you?" he called out to the clouds above him, "Well, I'm not afraid. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe isn't afraid of anything." he declared defiant of whatever tricks the weather was trying to play on him.

He pushed the door open, and suddenly, it pulled a little harder than he thought it would, from the wind gusting behind him; once it flew open, Sokka froze, unsure what to do, now looking inside of the house, which was dimly lit with decaying or broken furnishings strewn around the place. He couldn't really see anything of interest, so he decided to take a closer look. Crouching down by the entrance, he examined the floor, taking note that there were only a few singe marks from firebending on the floor; obviously the Fire Nation had been inside, though what they were doing, he couldn't be sure. They didn't burn the house down, that was for certain.

"What were they doing here?" he mumbled under his breath, standing up a little taller before he eyed down through the room to his left, which was poorly lit due to the dirt covered windows, though he could see clearly enough to not trip over the broken furniture.

Sokka noticed that there was a relatively undamaged table sitting in the centre of the room, only going up to the top of his boots in height, which had a few empty cups on it; Sokka leaned down, taking interest in the cups, which looked to be used for tea. He could smell the tea on them, though the cups were cold. He wondered when he would next have the opportunity to drink some tea, knowing that some good tea might help him calm down a little, in regards to his constant worries about his girlfriend.

Rising back up to his full height, the Water Tribesman continued to walk through the room, stepping over a broken wooden chair before he glanced into the next area of the house, which looked to be the kitchen; there was barely anything in there, only some broken furniture and a cooking area, which consisted of a stove, chimney and an area to set a fire. He approached said chimney, smelling the ash, which gave off the smell of burnt meat and wood mixed together; he liked that smell, though he knew it was distracting him from the really interesting part. The fireplace still had some wood beside it, though it was currently empty and only had ashes inside. He turned his head around, glancing through the kitchen once more, thinking that the place seemed like a good place to cook. He considered suggesting to Katara that they make their lunch there, as no matter how creepy it might have seemed, the fireplace was still functional.

The Water Tribe warrior then slowly strode into a hallway to his right, that he presumed would lead to the living areas of the house; Sokka first reached a doorway that was broken, and saw a bed that had been thrown up, its sheets still on. Where there might have been some personal belongings or mementos was empty, which didn't surprise him; whoever had lived inside must have fled and taken whatever they could. He glanced back into the hallway, taking note that there were a fair few more rooms; the house was big enough to fit either a large family, or perhaps, a few of them. Making his way down the hallway, he glanced into another room, which was a similar sight; a bed thrown upside down, and some clothes splayed over the floor; there was what he assumed had been a drawer for clothing, which had been broken apart, seemingly on purpose.

"Somebody must have been looking for something." he concluded, "But what? These people must have just been farmers."

He strode down further, and made his way toward the rear entrance of the house; he glanced first to his left, into another room, which caught his interest as he looked inside, taking note of an unusual sight; the wooden wall was broken apart, and behind it, there was dirt, spilling out, like the ground had come out and broken the wall. He guessed that might have been from earthbending, having seen what the wielders of said element could achieve; ripping the soil out from underneath to destroy a wall seemed possible, but somewhat stupid. If earthbenders were fighting the Fire Nation, why didn't they just use earth from outside. They obviously didn't, as despite the rest of the damage, the windows seemed to be in better condition, just like at the front of the house. Destroying only the furniture confused Sokka greatly, but with only his instincts to go on, he could only continue his idle search. It was better than sitting around while Aang and Katara practised their waterbending, that was for certain.

He looked back down through the hallway, and approached the rear door, noting that it was too ajar like the front entrance had been; if people had been escaping, he honestly wouldn't have expected them to have the courtesy to half-close the door. Perhaps others had already looked around the house before him, looking for supplies. That would explain why all the 'things' seemed to be missing. A kitchen with no pans, pots or dishes for cooking and eating; a bedroom with nothing but some old clothes. Sokka strode closer to the door, before he heard an unusual sound outside; he though for a moment that it might be some kind of animal he could eat for lunch, snooping around; he immediately drew out his bone dagger, thinking if he could take it by surprise, that'd be a quick meal. He then pushed the door open with a kick, making a loud cry.

"Hiya!" he exclaimed, before he realised that it was not the kind of animal he was expecting; instead of some small forest creature he could whack and cook up for dinner, it was instead an ostrich-horse, tied up to a post.

"What the..." he mumbled, confused why there was an ostrich horse at an abandoned house; his eyes widened as he made the realisation he was looking for- the house wasn't abandoned, people were living in it, which explained the tea cups, the seemingly fresh ashes and chopped wood.

He turned around at once, and realised that he ought to alert Aang and Katara; as much as they probably didn't want to fly off on Appa, going into somebody's house and occupying their barn was certainly not a good idea, and as easy way to earn the ire of whoever lived there.

"Who... where?" he mumbled under his breath as he strode back into the house, making his way down the hallway; he increased his pace as he realised the occupants might be out hunting or something, and that it was only a matter of time before they returned home.

Suddenly, he lost his balance and felt his left leg flick up, Sokka raising his hands to cover his face as he fell straight down onto the ground; he grunted as his head struck the floor, despite his best efforts to cover it. Sokka became a whole lot more worried as he turned his eyes back to his feet and saw another pair of feet; glancing up, he saw an Earth Kingdom girl in ragged robes, with a cloak around her shoulders, wielding a dagger, pointing it right toward him.

"Stay right there." she warned him, the Water Tribesman trying to pull himself back, knowing that he had to get out before they did something horrible to him.

"I'd rather not. I have a sky-bison flight to catch." he declared, the girl stepping closer with her dagger in hand as he tried to get away.

"What's a-" she narrowed her eyes at him, before she snarled, seeing that he was actually trying to run, "Stop!" she demanded of him, Sokka not looking back as he ran down the hallway once more, before once again, he was struck, this time by an arm flicking out from a doorway; he fell straight down onto his back, and groaned with pain as he realised his back was sore.

"I wouldn't try that." he heard himself addressed by what had to be the voice of a man, one around his father's age; he glanced up to see a bearded Earth Kingdom man in similar robes to the girl, kneeling down over him with a machete in his hand, "I don't want to hurt you friend, but when Fire Nation looking folks come stepping into my camp, I can't help but react with force."

"Camp?" he raised a brow, glancing around the hallway, momentarily looking toward the girl, who was stepping closer, "This isn't your house?"

"Of course not." the man scoffed at his suggestion, "No, I don't have a house. It was burnt down by the Fire Nation two months ago, along with the rest of my village."

"I- wait- what?" he turned his eyes up to him, "Then why are you attacking me?" he raised a brow at him, the man leaning over, aiming the machete toward him.

"I can't take any chances." he admitted bluntly, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he asked him, the Water Tribe warrior glancing back down the hallway, knowing that he was travelling with one of the most wanted people in the world.

"My name is Sokka. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe." he explained, making the man lean back, his eyes narrowed with confusion.

"The Southern..." he began, before he turned to the girl behind him, "They still exist?"

"I think so, Dad." the girl nodded, gesturing toward him, "I don't think this guy is lying."

The man knelt down beside Sokka, who could have chi-blocked him, but decided to wait, knowing that it would be a little rash to just jump and attack him; the man and his daughter were clearly refugees, fleeing the Fire Nation.

"Also... my friend outside, who you may or may not have already seen, is the Avatar." he explained, making the man look at him with a perplexed face, an awkward silence falling between them, before he broke down laughing.

"Buwahaha! You've gotta be kidding me! The Avatar?! Who'd believe that?" he mocked the Water Tribe teen, who raised his hands up to stress.

"I'm not joking." he assured him, "Trust me, I got really confused when he showed up at my village too."

"You mean to tell me the twelve year old boy out there is the Avatar?" he asked, the Water Tribesman narrowing his eyes as he realised what his words implied.

"So you were spying on us." he concluded, the Earth Kingdom man rising back up to his feet, sheathing his weapon.

"I want to keep my family safe." he simply told him, "Well, I want proof." he admitted bluntly.

"Dad, stop it. Does his guy look like he's lying?" she asked him, gesturing toward Sokka, who made a cringed smile at being referenced to.

"I can't tell." he simply told her, before gesturing toward the front of the house, "Start walking, Water Tribe."

"What, so am I your hostage?" he asked him, knowing he could easily beat the man before him; his form was flimsy when he was holding the machete toward him, and his nonchalant attitude was not suggestive of him being a soldier, or at least, having been one in the past.

"I want you to show me this Avatar." he declared, before turning around to face his daughter, "Stay here, Xia." he warned his daughter, whose expression tensed up, before she nodded.

"Don't do anything stupid, Dad." she warned him, the father tapping Sokka on the shoulder. 

"Go along now."

He rolled his eyes, and strode down the hallway; the man was acting a little full of himself, which was giving the Water Tribe warrior a decent reason to chi block him, but he decided against it, knowing that it probably wouldn't end well. He didn't want to scare a bunch of refugees when there was a chance he could help them. He was pretty sure if anybody was living in an abandoned house, as dishevelled as the man behind him, they had to be in dire straits; Sokka had not always been the most altruistic person, but he knew that helping others out did benefit him in the past, and he was in no mood to change his mind on its benefits.

"Where are you from, anyway?" he asked him, the man narrowing his eyes at him.

"It doesn't matter." he snarled, "My village is gone."

"Did you-" he began to ask, before the man pushed him forward again, obviously not wanting to answer any personal questions.

"Just show me the Avatar." he demanded, the Water Tribesman sighing as he continued along, walking toward the front door.

The man must have been through some bad times, or perhaps he was just a dick. It was hard for him to tell, but he was sure that getting one's village burnt down would likely do that to a man. He approached the door, and pulled it back slightly to allow him to step outside, where he could see Aang and Katara by the entrance of the barn, continuing their waterbending practice.

"There he is." he gestured to the young Air Nomad, who currently wasn't wearing his disguise, rather just dressed in his simple orange and yellow monk robes.

"That's an Air Nomad?" he narrowed his eyes, "But aren't they meant to be bald?"

"He grew out his hair to hide from the Fire Nation." Sokka raised a finger, "Now, I'm going to approach them, so don't act like an idiot or both of them are going to knock you out with water whips."

"Water whips?" he looked at him with slight concern, "Is that a waterbending form?"

"Yeah." he nodded, before gesturing for the skittish Earth Kingdom man to follow him; he stepped out into the rain, looking up at the sky above them, before he followed after the Water Tribesman, who continued to approach the other two, who stopped their practice as they saw him being followed by a stranger.

"Uh, Sokka, who's that?" Aang asked him with an understandably concerned voice, the Water Tribesman gesturing behind him as he approached.

"He didn't give me his name. He's a refugee. He and his family are hiding in that house." he gave them all he knew about him, the man continuing to follow behind Sokka with a slightly embarrassed look on his face; he probably had wanted to introduce himself, when the time came, instead of getting that rather sloppy introduction.

"Uh, hi there." the young Air Nomad waved with a smile, "I'm Aang." he simply greeted him, the Earth Kingdom man narrowing his eyes at him, slowing his approach as Sokka reached the barn, "What's your name?"

"Kuo." he finally spoke up, before turning to Sokka, "He said you're the Avatar. Is that really true?" he asked, the young Air Nomad nodding, before he grinned.

"I can prove it to you." he declared, before he reached into his pocket, pulling out his marbles; the Water Tribe warrior cringed externally at the sight of the twelve year old's giddy grin as he showed off the marble trick, which seemed to surprise Kuo.

"That's- that is airbending." he acknowledged, his expression shifting to one of surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Going to the North Pole. To learn waterbending." he explained, the man's eyes narrowing with confusion.

"But aren't you two waterbending right now?"

"Yes." Katara clarified, "But we need a master. We only have a scroll to work with."

"Oh..." Kuo mumbled, raising a finger to his chin, realising what was going on, "I'm sorry for- uh- knocking you to the ground." he apologised to Sokka, who raised a hand, not worried about what happened in the slightest.

"Don't mention it. I get why you were so afraid of somebody walking in there." he admitted, before narrowing his eyes, wondering what had led them to the abandoned house, "How long have you been hiding there?"

"Only three days now." he admitted, before looking back, "I'm with my daughter, wife, brother and two nephews." he explained himself, which confused Sokka, seeing that he didn't see the other aforementioned people.

"Where are the others?" he asked, the Earth Kingdom man scratching the back of his head.

"Hiding in the house." he explained, "My nephews were under one of the beds. You didn't seem to notice them, though." he acknowledged, "Why were you looking in the house?"

"I'm bored." he told him the blunt truth, "And I thought there might be something of use in there for us."

Kuo nodded, not amused by his words, though his expression shifted to one of interest as he turned to face Appa, who was aroused from his rest by the appearance of somebody new, "What's that thing?"

"My sky bison." Aang spoke up, "Appa's his name. He's friendly, so don't worry if you want to- uh- pat him." he gestured toward him.

"Uh, no thanks." he awkwardly refused the offer, "I think I ought to go back to my family and get moving. We obviously aren't safe here." he admitted, the young Air Nomad's brows rising with thought.

"Wait." he raised a hand toward him, "We can help you. You seem like you're in a bit of trouble."

"You mean-" Kuo's eyes widened, "You want to fly us on your sky-bison?"

"Yeah." he nodded, "I don't have to take you far, but we can get further away from the Fire Nation. I know you don't want to be anywhere near them."

"I do not." he nodded, before making a small smile, "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I can accept it. We're just travelling through. You don't need to help us."

"We don't need to." Katara acknowledged, "But we can. Where do you need to go?"

"I heard that Gaochao was a safe place for refugees. It's a town up near the mountains. Supposedly a bit of the Earth Kingdom Army that's left controls it." he explained, which made Sokka raise a brow in thought; he hadn't ever heard of the place, but he was sure if it was relatively close by, it'd be on their map.

"Gaochao, huh?" he asked, before glancing up to Appa's saddle, "Just give me a second." he excused himself as he darted over toward the sky-bison, immediately climbing up his side to get on top of the saddle; Sokka then quickly clambered over to the rear of the saddle, where he pulled out their new map, which he was glad Azula didn't take, seeing that it was still of use in avoiding the Fire Nation Army.

Unfurling the map, he ran his finger across it, looking around toward any indication of mountains on the map, and then for towns; it was rather obvious when he spotted it- 'Gaochao - Earth Kingdom occupied', was what the map said. He smirked, figuring out where it was relative to them, knowing that they were to the north-east of Hungu; they could only be a day's flight from Gaochao at the very most, and it was on the way to the North Pole.

He glanced back over toward the others, "We can do that." he grinned at them, "You wanna go to Gaochao, let's go."

"Wait, seriously?" Kuo's eyes widened with surprise, "Like right now?"

"As soon as you pack up your things and this rain stops, we can start flying." he explained as he climbed down from Appa's saddle, before he approached them, "We have to go in that direction anyway."

"Th-thanks." he looked at the Water Tribesman with awe, "I didn't think you'd be so-" he trailed off, before shaking his head, "Thanks." he simply smiled at him, giving Sokka a curt bow.

"Oh, there's no need to bow." he assured him, "I'm not royalty, buddy."

Aang elbowed him in the side, smirking at him, "Yet." he whispered, making the Water Tribesman cock a smirk.

"Good point, Aang." he patted his friend on the shoulder, before turning back to face Kuo, "So, are you guys alright? I mean, you looked pretty scared just then. Did the Fire Nation try and attack you guys recently?"

The refugee man turned his eyes away, which showed the kind of fear Sokka understood personally; ever since his mother was killed by the Southern Raiders, he felt nervous constantly about the Fire Nation attacking- it was only when Azula returned to the South Pole with him that he felt that nervousness fade, as he felt confident that she could protect them from the Fire Nation.

"They split up our group." he admitted, "After our village was attacked, the Fire Nation hunted us down. I think they wanted to enslave us or- I don't even know. I haven't seen my son in weeks, and my sister-in-law is missing too." he explained, the expressions on all their faces shifting ones of shock; Sokka didn't know what to say, but one thing stuck with him.

"Your son." his eyes widened, "How old is he?"

"A bit older than the Avatar here." he gestured to him, "He wanted to fight them, to make the Fire Nation go away. But I told him to run." he sighed, placing his hands together, "I really hope he's alright."

"I-" he began to mumble, "Where was your village?" he asked him, the man turning to face him with confusion.

"Why does it matter? They're not going to be there." he sighed with frustration, trying to hold back the anger he felt; Sokka knew he would struggle to do that- anybody would.

"No, I mean, was it around here? Was it near the Fire Nation Colonies? Where was it?"

He sighed, taking a deep breath, "To the west of here. It was a beautiful country, but the Fire Nation had been fighting over it- thinking it was theirs to take. You must know they're trying to kill each other at the moment."

"I know." he admitted, before he turned away, feeling a shred of guilt; even if he had no control over the events that had led to the Fire Nation's civil war, he had played a part that had ultimately led to the present situation, just as Azula, her brother and the White Lotus too.

"Sokka, you don't think Zh-" Katara began to ask him, before he raised a hand, cutting her off.

"Yeah, it was definitely his people. Her people." he admitted, knowing that the men who had probably burned Kuo's village to the ground were the ones who had sworn loyalty to his girlfriend all those months ago.

"Who?" Kuo asked him, Sokka immediately shaking his head.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that your family gets to safety." he explained, before taking a deep breath, "And don't worry about your son."

"Wh-why?" he asked him, a look of fear growing on his face, "Are you trying-"

"No. I don't think he's dead." he stressed, looking Kuo dead in the eye, "The Avatar isn't just mastering the elements. We're going to make sure wherever he is, that he and everyone else the Fire Nation has captive will be free."

"Th-that's very brave of you."

"Brave?" he raised a brow at the suggestion, "I'm not brave. I just know what's right. And the many suffering because of the stupid decisions of the few is not right".

* * *

The pattering of rain on the roof above them continued on, and Aang was unsure if it was going to let up before the day's end; he still had hope, however, that it would, and that they could leave the eerie farmhouse. They had all come inside the old house to meet the Kuo's family; there was his wife Lian, his daughter Xia, his brother Tai, and his two nephews, who were actually about the same age as Aang himself, one older, named Shi and the other a little younger, named Ho. The family were all a little skittish, except the two boys, who actually seemed to be in a good mood, probably because they'd been stuck without anybody to talk to for a few weeks. Katara had made them all lunch, and Lian had been more than willing to assist her in making something on the stove inside.

The young Avatar sat around the table in the front room with his legs crossed, sitting beside Sokka, who was exceptionally quiet, though he was sure that wouldn't last too long; he probably just didn't know what to talk about. Perhaps he didn't want to make the refugees feel uncomfortable by talking about something like their adventure so far, which visited upon the thing they probably didn't want to have to think about- the war.

"So, Aang, can you bend more than just water and air?" Ho asked him, breaking the silence; Aang turned to face him, giving him a smile.

"Well, not yet, but I must be able to bend earth and fire as well. Every Avatar can bend all four, once they've learned them." he explained, the boy's eyes widening with awe.

"Wow, I can't bend even one. It must be really cool to bend four." he noted, making Aang chuckle, feeling a little embarrassed that he was so amazed by it; Aang had gotten used to thinking of his position as the Avatar being a burden, or if not that, then simply a danger to those around him.

"I guess." he made a small smile, "But," he raised a finger, knowing he could bring Sokka into the conversation with one simple trick, "even if you can't bend, there's things you can learn to do. Isn't that right, Sokka?"

The Water Tribe warrior's eyes widened, surprised by his words, before he smirked, "Well yeah. Being a warrior doesn't need any bending."

"What can you fight with, then?" Shi asked him, "Have you got a jian? Or some dao?" he asked, the Water Tribesman shaking his head; he didn't know how to fight with swords, at least not yet- that was on his checklist of weapons to learn how to use.

"Well, I usually rely on my most prized weapon." he declared, drawing out his boomerang, "Mister Boomerang." he looked at it with a wide grin; he treasured that weapon like Aang treasured Appa.

He was surprised that a person could love a physical thing that much, but Aang knew it would be hard to understand it; the other nation's were far more into material possessions than his people. All Aang had were the few things on his saddle, his staff, and the clothes on his back. That was until he joined up with Sokka, Katara and Azula, who brought with them the wonder of tents and more clothes. He had grown to like his Fire Nation disguise, though he didn't wear it when they were out alone, knowing that it was a little too stuffy, and inhibited his airbending forms somewhat. Enough that he decided to only wear it whenever they had to go to towns and villages where it would be safer to disguise themselves as being Fire Nation commoners instead of the ragtag bunch they were.

"What's a boomerang? Is it like a knife?" Ho asked him, the Water Tribesman shaking his head.

"No, no, you throw it. I guess you could throw knives too. This one time this girl pinned me to the ground with just knives and these weird sticks she shot out of her robes." he acknowledged, making Aang raise a brow; he was guessing he was referring to Mai, Ty Lee and Azula's friend, who he hadn't heard that much of- mostly of her association to Zuko as his girlfriend, and potentially, the future Fire Lady.

"Huh, really?" he heard Xia speak up, looking at them with interest; she'd been idly sitting on one of the less-damaged chairs in the room, and sat down on the floor, across the table from Sokka with an intrigued look on her face, "A girl throwing knives. I didn't know girls were allowed to fight."

"Well, I don't know if she was allowed to carry that many knives on her, but she did it anyway." Sokka chuckled, before he raised his weapon up once more, "As I was saying, you throw the boomerang, and because of how it's shaped, it flies in a circle if you throw it. So it comes right back to your hand."

"Nifty." the Earth Kingdom girl commented, before furrowing a brow, "But if it hits something, does it come back?"

"Uh..." his mouth openly slightly ajar; Aang had seen for himself that that wasn't the case- it didn't make Sokka any less an effective fighter, seeing that he could use his chi-blocking or club up if he didn't have his favourite weapon at hand.

"You have other ways to fight, Sokka." the Avatar elbowed him, "Tell them about the chi-blocking."

"You say that like I should start chi-blocking them." the Water Tribesman shot him a suspicious glare, Aang raising his hands in defence.

"I never said that." he assured him, "Don't chi-block anybody, please." he requested, Sokka scoffing at his words.

"Yeah, I didn't plan to." he assured him, before turning his eyes toward Xia, who seemed a little confused by their diversion.

"What is chi-blocking?"

"Where you jab certain points on somebody's body, which are on things called your chi paths. If your chi paths are blocked, you can't bend with any part of your body away from the path, and it can paralyse limbs if you hit the right points." he explained, the eyes of all three widening with interest.

"Wait, so you can make somebody's arms go all" Shi slumped his arms over, making it look like he couldn't move them, "like this?"

"Uh yeah, pretty much." Sokka nodded, Xia furrowing a brow at him.

"That's interesting." she mumbled, "Where did you learn how to do it?"

"Well, somebody explained the basics to me, and I just figured it out myself." he admitted, making her look at him with confusion.

"You can't be serious." she refused to believe him, turning to face Aang, "He's not being serious, is he?"

"Well, I think he did. But he got beat up a lot to get better at it." he explained, before turning to face the Water Tribe teen, who looked embarrassed by Aang's words, "That's right, isn't it?"

"Urgh." he groaned as he covered his face in shame, "Y-yeah, that's right, Aang."

"Sokka, are you okay?" Katara called out to her brother, Aang raising his head up to note that she was standing up by the corner of the room, peering in from the kitchen.

"Yeah, Katara, I'm fine." he raised a hand, "Aang's just making me look like I can't fight." he explained himself bluntly, the young Air Nomad placing a hand on his own chest, not believing that was the case.

"You can fight, Sokka. I saw you on that Southern Raider ship like everyone else did. You kicked their butts, and they could all bend." he assured him, the Water Tribesman pursing his lips up slightly in appreciation.

His sister approached, clearing her throat, "We're just about ready to serve lunch."

"Lunch?" Sokka raised a brow, "I love lunch." he grinned, making her chuckle.

"Yeah, I know, Sokka." she nodded, before gesturing for them to get up, "Come on. We used Lian's recipe, so I think this fried rice will be good."

"Oh, Aunty does make good fried rice." Ho's head jolted up, grasping his brother by the arm, "Come on, Shi."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." his brother nodded, rising up to his feet, Aang and Xia doing the same before they all turned around to file into the kitchen, behind Sokka and Katara.

Making his way in after them, he made a sniff of the fried rice, and licked his lips, finding the aroma to be quite enticing. Lian was standing by the pot, handing over bits bowls of rice, while Katara moved to grab a single bowl, walking back toward Aang with it in hand; she gestured it toward him, making him realise that it was for him.

"Oh, that's mine?" he raised a brow, before smiling, "Thanks."

"I made you a separate bowl so you didn't get any meat." she explained, making him blush, actually surprised that she went out of the way to do that when they were really intending to help the refugee family.

"Th-thanks." he repeated himself, before gesturing back toward the living room, "Did you want to sit and eat lunch with me?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl making a small smile.

"Of course, Aang." she assured him, before she turned around, "I just have to get my own bowl first."

He nodded, and turned his heels, returning to his spot where he had been sitting, placing his bowl down on the table, before he pulled the chopsticks that were already in the bowl out, and began to eat with them, taking bits of the fried rice into his mouth, clump by clump. He licked his lips after taking a few bites, finding the meal to actually be quite delicious; if all Earth Kingdom food was like it, he would be sure to have it more often. A few moments later, Shi and Ho returned, and were followed by Sokka, who was already chowing down on his meal as he walked over to his old spot.

"This is pretty good." the Water Tribesman commented, before he turned to face Xia, who was following behind him, "Your Mum's a good cook." he acknowledged, the Earth Kingdom girl stopping for a moment before she smiled.

"Yeah, she is." she agreed with a curt nod, before she sat down across from Sokka, "Your sister doesn't seem to be half bad either." she added, Aang grinning.

"Katara's a really good cook." he acknowledged, "Your Gran Gran taught her how to cook, right?" he turned to face Sokka, who nodded.

"Yep." he confirmed, before licking his lips, "Just thinking about Gran Gran's stewed sea prunes makes me more hungry. I'm so glad we're going to the North Pole just so I can get a taste of that stuff again."

"So, you're going to learn waterbending." Shi spoke up, narrowing his eyes at Aang, "What are you going to do after that?"

"Learn earthbending." he clarified, cocking a smirk, "I've already found my master. Her name is Toph, and she's the coolest earthbender I've ever seen." he explained, Ho raising a brow with interest.

"What's cool about her?"

"She's a master earthbender, but she can't even see. At least not with her eyes; she can see through her earthbending instead." he explained, the expressions on all three of the refugee's faces shifting to ones of amazement.

"You're kidding." Xia mumbled, before she picked up a bit of rice with her chopsticks, "How did she learn to do that?"

Aang furrowed a brow, "Honestly, I have no idea." he admitted, turning to Sokka, "Something to do with being one with her element or something like that."

"I think she must have had some kind of master. A powerful bender isn't a good one without a master." he noted, making the young Avatar's eyes widen, surprised by his wisened comment on bending; he mulled on it for a moment before he realised where he must have drawn such a conclusion from.

"Did you learn that from-" he began, before Katara walked into the room, with one finger at her lips.

Aang's jaw dropped as he realised what he had almost said; Sokka sighed, taking his chopsticks into his mouth once more, his mood soured by him saying the one thing he should have avoided. Katara moved around and sat beside the young Avatar, who glanced toward her with a slightly cringed face; she gave him a sympathetic smile, before she turned to eating her meal.

"So, what kind of bending moves can you do then?" Ho asked him, "Can you make a tornado with airbending?" he asked him, making the young Air Nomad chuckle; he'd never tried that, and knowing his own strength, he guessed you'd need a lot of airbenders to achieve such a move.

"I can't do a tornado." he conceded, before cocking a smirk, "But you know what I can do?"

"Oh, here we go." Sokka rolled his eyes, Aang ignoring his reaction as he pulled the marbles out of his pocket.

"Check this out!" he grinned at them, spinning the marbles around in his hands; all of them, even Xia, were amazed by the sight.

"How can you move it so accurately?" the Earth Kingdom girl asked her, "That must be hard."

"It is." he acknowledged, knowing that the move required a lot of precision to achieve, even if it wasn't very practical.

"Well, there's cooler things you've done with your airbending." Katara added, "Remember when we were training the other day and you used it to throw Sokka into the air like he was a leaf in the wind?" she grinned at him, the Water Tribe warrior scrunching his lips, not approving of that memory being brought up.

"I landed on my own two feet, thank you very much." he retorted, "So your move failed." he turned to Aang, who grinned.

"Well, you didn't hit me, did you?" he questioned him in return, the Water Tribe teen's face twitching as he held back his frustration.

"Hmmm." he mumbled with a slight growl, before he placed another bit of fried rice in his mouth, "You're lucky this lunch is delicious."

"I sure am lucky. Who doesn't want to eat a delicious lunch?" he asked the others, Ho raising a hand.

"It is delicious." he grinned brightly, "I want to eat more."

"I don't think there is any more." Katara conceded, "We split it up evenly."

"Aw..." he pouted, Sokka chuckling.

"I know that feeling, buddy." he conceded, "What I would do for a banquet."

"I think you'd do anything for food, Sokka." Aang argued, the Water Tribe warriror crossing his arms.

"I think I would." he agreed with him, "I need food to survive, Aang." he argued, making his sister raise a brow.

"Yeah, so does everybody else." she added, making him narrow his eyes.

"Well, I just care about food more, okay. There's nothing wrong with that." he argued, "You guys think food's important, right?"

"I wish we had lunch like this everyday." Shi acknowledged with a slight pout; they mustn't have been getting enough food, and Aang could clearly see their bony hands and noticeably hollow cheeks.

"Maybe when you get to this town, Gaochao, you might be able to get more nice food." Katara suggested, "I'm sure there'll be work there for your dad and your uncle." she guessed, Xia's eyes darting away in thought.

"Refugees aren't treated well." she admitted, "I remember back in our village, when people came fleeing the Fire Nation, most people would just turn them away. Even we did. We just didn't have the food or the space to spare for them."

"Maybe Gaochao isn't like your village. Maybe there's enough work and food for you guys." Sokka acknowledged, "But if it isn't, I wouldn't worry too much."

"What, is us starving not a problem?" she narrowed her eyes into a glare, obviously offended by his suggestion.

"No, you won't be going hungry much longer." he argued, "Because the Fire Nation will be gone from this part of the Earth Kingdom, permanently."

"Is Aang going to do something about them?" Shi asked, the Water Tribesman turning to face him.

"Kinda." he commented, "Aang is only one kid. He's a great bender, but he won't be able to make the world change by himself."

"We're going to make a lot of friends." the Avatar spoke up, "We won't give up. I won't give up."

"Wow, you're pretty confident for a twelve-year-old." Xia commented, making him laugh off her words, a little flustered by the compliment.

"Well, I'm a hundred and fourteen, actually." he clarified, making the kids all look at him with perplexed faces.

"A hundred and fourteen?" Shi mumbled, "How does that work? You just look like a twelve year old."

"My body's twelve years old, but I was born a hundred and fourteen years ago, before the Hundred Year War even began." he explained, before turning his eyes to both Sokka and Katara, the former making a cringed expression.

"Yeah, it's pretty confusing." he acknowledged, taking a bite out of his fried rice once more, "Avatar stuff is weird."

"Avatar stuff is weird." the young Air Nomad agreed, before taking a clump of fried rice up with his chopsticks, before eating it whole, "Ever since I found out I was the Avatar, all I can think about is the weird stuff I don't even know about that might happen. I could just accidentally hop into the Spirit World or something and have no idea how to get out."

"Can that happen?" Xia narrowed her eyes at him, the Avatar nervously glancing around.

"I really don't know, that's the problem." he admitted, before taking his chopsticks, grabbing a bit more of the fried rice, and eating some; he knew that would be a distraction from his worries- his fear of the unknown and what he couldn't control was what truly scared him.

Aang had once thought the freedom to fly wherever he liked was something that could make him safe from those kinds of fears, but when he became the Avatar, there was no escaping the weird things that came with it, and the responsibilities to- destiny, the monks had called it, but he had refused their call, and the Air Nomads paid the price for his greed. He looked down with shame, knowing that his fears had driven him away, and left the world without any hope for a century. Even if things like Sokka and Azula working together were happening, that didn't mean the world was necessarily much better. They were just two people; maybe they could change the world, but they couldn't do it without people believing in them- believing in him. He turned his eyes up, and gave a small smile to the refugee children; they deserved the hope that had been stolen from them, and he was sure, that with enough time, and the right people, the world could be made a lot better than the one they were born into- a world of war, suffering and chaos.

"Aang, did something happen?" Katara asked him, tapping his shoulder, the Air Nomad shaking his head.

"No, no, I'm fine." he smiled at her, "I was just thinking about things."

"Being the Avatar?" she asked him, to which he smiled.

"Yeah." he confirmed, "I know what I have to do." he added, sure in himself.

Sokka patted him on the shoulder, "Well, that's good to hear, Aang." he smiled at him, before gesturing to his bowl of fried rice, "Are you going to finish that?"

"Sokka!" Katara raised her voice at her brother, "That's his lunch."

"I just wanna know." he raised his hands, "It's better that it doesn't go to waste."

"I'll eat it." he assured them, "Then we're going to go, right?" he asked the Water Tribe girl, who smiled, giving him a nod of reassurance.

"The rain might lighten up soon, then we can go." she assured him, Aang smiling at her before he turned back to face his bowl, deciding he ought to eat all the food quickly so Sokka stopped giving him his dagger eyes; he knew he wanted his meal, because Sokka always wanted more food- he was Sokka, after all.

"What's it like to fly on your- uh- flying thing?" Ho asked Aang, who was chewing down some fried rice; he swallowed it, already knowing what to say.

"Uh, fun." he smiled, before he narrowed his eyes, thinking of a better answer, "I find it fun, but you've got to hold on tight. It can be a little rough if you're not an airbender." he admitted, before turning his eyes to the dirty window behind him, "But if there's not too much wind, we'll be fine."

"How high can you go?" the boy asked again, making him grin.

"As high as Appa wants. We try to stay under the clouds, because the temperatures there stay a little better. It gets weird when you get high up." he explained, before taking another bit of fried rice into his mouth; he momentarily glanced toward Sokka, who licked his lips as he saw him eat it.

"Sokka, stop being weird." Katara chided her brother, making the other three giggle, Aang holding back a laugh as he tried to eat his meal.

"Yeah, please?" he asked the Water Tribesman, who pouted, turning his eyes down.

"I just want some more food." he admitted, his sister raising a finger as the Avatar moved to take another bite from his bowl, which he was getting closer to finishing.

"Don't you have some jerky in your bag, back on Appa?" she asked him, his expression brightening.

"Oh, you're right." he admitted, before turning his eyes away, "I'll just, uh, wait for Aang to finish then."

He took another bite of the fried rice, gulping it down before he turned to face the Water Tribe girl beside him, "Do you need help cleaning up after this?" he asked her, making her smile.

"Yes, I do, actually. Thanks, Aang." she patted him on the shoulder, before she rose up to her feet, "I'll be in the kitchen, but you can help take our food bags back to the saddle, if you want." she explained, the young Air Nomad nodding along.

"Yep, I can do that." he agreed to her proposition, before turning his eyes back down to the bowl as she left the room, "This is really good rice."

"Yeah, I know." the Water Tribe warrior beside him lamented, before he turned his eyes to Xia, "Do you think your mum's gonna make some more before we drop you guys in Gaochao?"

"Maybe." Xia mumbled, "We do need to eat something tomorrow."

"Wait, so no dinner?" Sokka raised a brow with confusion, "That's horrible. You guys need to have dinner."

"I don't think we have enough food for that." Shi acknowledged, "The last place we tried to get food from, they tried to take all our money."

"Did you let them?" the Water Tribesman asked him, the boy shaking his head.

"Nope. Dad knocked that guy out. Just punched a few teeth out." he explained, making both Aang and Sokka look at each other with surprise.

"Huh, so your dad can fight?" the Water Tribe warrior raised a brow, Shi shrugging his shoulders.

"Not really. He just got angry, that's all." he explained, before the Air Nomad scooped up the last of his fried rice, and chewed it down; placing his bowl on the table in front of them, he smiled brightly.

"That was a good lunch." he grinned, "So, are you guys going to pack your things?" he asked the refugee children, who looked at him with slight confusion.

"Pack our stuff?" Ho raised a brow, "We're already packed."

"That's even better. We can head out as soon as that rain lets up." Sokka clapped his hands, rising to his feet, "Aang, I'll help you with those food bags."

"Thanks, Sokka." he smiled at him, picking up his bowl before he turned to follow after the Water Tribesman, making his way toward the kitchen.

He made his way over toward Katara, who was using her waterbending to rudimentary clean the dishes she already had; she turned around to see them approaching, and she smiled at them.

"Ah so you both decided to help, great." she commended them, before gesturing to the bags that sat nearby, "Just take them back to Appa. We used Lian's cookery, so we don't have to worry about taking that just yet." she explained, before gesturing for Aang to hand her the bowl in his hands; he gave it over before he turned to grasp one of the bags, raising it up into his arms, realising that it actually was pretty heavy.

"Ooh... this is a little..." he groaned before letting out a small smile, knowing there was a little solace with such a heavy bag, "At least we have a lot of food."

"You bought it, remember?" Sokka elbowed him, his eyes widening as he remembered his shopping trip the day prior.

"Oh yeah." he mumbled, surprised that he had forgotten that so quickly; the whole deal with Azula leaving really made the other things that happened that day seem irrelevant, "Well, let's go." he told the other boy, who followed right after him, making their way to their right, down the hallway to lead them back to the front door.

When he reached the door, he pushed it open, and glanced outside, noting though while it was still raining, the clouds were clearing up, suggesting that it was about to stop raining, or at least, stop raining for a short while. He glanced over toward Appa, and took a deep breath before he began to run over toward the barn, deciding that he ought to get through the rain as quickly as possible; though he could have tried to bend the water, the weight of the bag was so straining that he couldn't even think about bending at the same time, at least at the concentrated degree such a move would require. His feet splashed up mud, though he didn't worry about that; with his new waterbending training, he was sure he could figure out how to clean his robes. He quickly approached his sky-bison, who turned around to greet him with a groan.

"Hi, buddy. We'll probably be leaving soon." he told the sky-bison, before he glanced around the barn, "Where's Momo?"

"Probably off doing Momo things." Sokka explained, "We had all the food bags inside, so maybe he went off to try and find some nuts or fruit."

"Probably." the Avatar nodded, before glancing back out into the field, "I just hope he's alright."

"I wouldn't worry. Momo's a smart little guy." Sokka assured him, before he moved over toward the saddle, "Now, how do I throw this up without ruining anything?" he spoke his thoughts aloud, making Aang chuckle, placing his own bag down before he approached the Water Tribesman.

"Sokka, I'll just bend it up, don't worry." he explained, moving into an airbending form, channelling the air behind him into a funnel, which coiled underneath the bag, making it float up in the air, out of his friends hands.

"Wow." he gasped, "Airbending is pretty cool, you know?" he turned to face the Avatar with a look of awe.

"It sure is." he grinned back at him, before dropping the bag up on the saddle; he reached for the bag that he had dropped beside him, and began to bend it too, spinning his hands around to make a small airscooter underneath it, which allowed him to propel the bag up onto the saddle; it wasn't that soft a landing, though it was softer than what it would have been if he'd thrown it.

Sokka glanced at the bag dropping down and slapped his hands together, signifying that they'd done the work they were asked to do, "Good job." he smirked, before licking his lips, "Now, let's go get that jerky." he declared, Aang humoured by his friend's attempt to climb up onto the saddle; he realised that without airbending it was a little bit of a struggle to pull oneself up with just the help of Appa's thick fur.

Once he got himself up, he fumbled around, looking for his bag for a few moments, before he pulled out a bit of jerky, like it was the greatest treasure he'd ever found, "Aha!" he grinned, before taking a bite, "Mmmhm... that never gets old." he turned to face Aang, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know what's so good about jerky. It's just dried meat." he spoke his mind, the Water Tribesman placing a hand on his chest, seemingly offended by his words.

"What? Just dried meat? It's salted meat, actually, and it's delicious." he declared confidently, making Aang chuckle, unable to take him seriously when he was acting all cocky over something like his favourite food, "It's not funny. Jerky is delicious. I know you won't try it because of the whole vegetarianism thing, but trust me, you're missing out." he stressed, the Avatar stepping back.

"I guess I'll just have to take your word for it." he conceded, before turning his heels, "Are we going to head back inside, or are you going to just sit here and eat jerky?" he asked the Water Tribesman, who raised a brow, before she shook his head.

"No, no, I'll come with, don't worry." he assured him, "I just want to savour it a little." he explained, before taking another bite.

Aang snickered, turning his gaze around back toward the house, thinking for a few moments about what they'd learned that day; he guessed that being generous and considerate really did help. It was a great tool, and if they used it well enough, perhaps others would start to listen to them. He knew the refugees deserved better, and he remembered something Sokka had said a little earlier, before they had gone to have lunch together.

"Sokka, did you mean it when you said we were going to free Kuo's son?" he asked, the Water Tribesman raising a brow, immediately drawn out of the near trance he'd been in while enjoying his jerky.

"Did I..." he mumbled, before he slapped his hands together, "Of course I did, Aang. I wouldn't lie about something like that. We are going to save the world, remember? Free the Earth Kingdom, end the war, stop the Fire Nation's oppression." he listed off their goals, making the Avatar nod along.

"Yeah, we are gonna save the world!" he raised a fist into the air, roused by Sokka's idealism; the Water Tribe warrior grinned at him for a few moments, before clearing his throat.

"But first, we're going to need to buy some more jerky."

* * *

The intimidatingly tall tower that sat in the distance was giving off the wrong kind of aura to Ty Lee; she knew that the Fire Nation military wasn't very nice before she had joined her friend, but now she could see why everyone was so afraid of them. When they had stark tall towers, their tiles painted red, with sharp edges pointing out everywhere an architect could think to place them, they just gave off a kind of haughty darkness that she would admit she was familiar with. It had old Azula written all over it, but to her luck, old Azula was a thing of the past, though she noticed that new Azula seemed to want to act like her old self when it suited her. They were still walking through the outskirts of the Fire Nation settlement, which would be inaccurate to describe as a town, as really, it seemed to be a massive, permanent camp for the Princess's former army, which was now loyal to her subordinate, Admiral Zhao. Perhaps he was just a subordinate in name, though as soon as Azula identified herself to the guards they had met by the edge of the settlement, they immediately gave her deference; people still respected her, perhaps off of what they imagined her to be rather than from knowing her as a person, as she did.

The Princess held her head up high as she walked down the well trodden path, soldiers looking at her with awe as they walked by; she had explicitly changed her hairstyle back to her old one and draped a cloak around herself to give herself a more regal appearance, rather than continuing to feign being a commoner. The soldiers knew who she was, they all must have, after all, she was meant to be their Fire Lord; Ty Lee's eyes narrowed at the thought that everyone might start calling her Fire Lord Azula, which seemed a little funny, seeing that all she had done was walk into a Fire Nation settlement, but it was starkly different to the ones they had visited before. It was a settlement loyal to her, at least in theory, and with each following gaze of awe and kneel of respect, she was beginning to believe that loyalty was practical as well.

She heard them whisper variations of the same comment, "She's here."

Azula was there, and she was acting like it; no longer was she the cautious girl, trying her best to blend in with the crowd, but Princess Azula- the teenage girl who saw herself the rightful ruler of the Fire Nation. She turned to face her friend, giving her a thumbs up, knowing that she must have been enjoying the respect.

"Yes, Ty Lee." she smirked at her, "This is what it feels like to be me."

"You must really miss this."

"Oh, just a little." she declared with a cock of her chin, before she glanced ahead, "I wonder if they'll let me right inside the fortress."

"You're their Fire Lord." Renshu spoke up, "If they didn't, that'd be treason- I think."

"I think you're right, Captain." she raised a finger, before she continued to stride along, "That's good to hear. I doubt anybody here is stupid enough to commit treason."

As they made their way along, deeper into the settlement, Ty Lee took note of the various degrees of fortification there were as they approached the centre. There was a ditch and wall ahead of them, though there was a clear entrance, guarded by a few dozen men, who looked out in interest toward Azula, obviously not having recognised her just yet, given that they hadn't gotten out of their way. As they approached, their expressions shifted, and they dropped to their knees, realising who she was.

"Oh, good. I don't need to shoot some lightning into the sky for them to get to the memo." she smirked, her friend watching as the defending troops got right out of their way as they made their way through the gates.

As they made their way through, Ty Lee made sight of a large number of soldiers in an open field, doing training exercises, all of them either firebending or using some kind of weapon as they did so; they didn't turn their attention to Azula immediately as she made her way past, though some turned around to watch them as they continued on their way toward the tower, where they knew Zhao and the other commanding officers would be.

"What are you gonna say to them?" she asked her friend, realising she hadn't asked what her big entrance would be; sure she'd acted all cocky in front of the first few soldiers they met, but that wasn't what Ty Lee had been thinking off- she had to impress all of her highest ranking followers to ensure that they'd stay on her side when she did what was necessary.

"Something about the duty they hold to their nation. Officers eat that stuff up like it's fire flakes." she smirked at her, "I'm their rightful Fire Lord, who will liberate their country and bring peace to our world. I will give them the future they deserve; no man here ought to spend the rest of his life kicking Earth Kingdom peasants to keep himself fed."

"That's... inspiring." she smiled at her friend, thinking that she had a good argument; Ty Lee couldn't imagine who would disagree to a brighter future- that was how the Fire Nation had always framed its war, so if she framed peace that way, with a lot more reasoning, anybody would agree with her, "That's something that could inspire the people."

"That's the idea, Ty Lee." she assured her, before turning her attention toward the gates of the fortress, which they were quickly approaching.

"Your highness," the Captain turned to face his superior, "should we go with you inside?"

"Of course, Captain. Even without your armour, you are my guards. You will do your duty, especially when we're here." she gestured around them, before he nodded, he and the other guards taking more serious stances and expressions.

They were her personal guards, after all, and had been trained to be the kind of intimidating people that could scare anyone;they didn't have their scary helmets, but that didn't mean they weren't tough firebenders. As they approached the gates of the fortress, a few guards strode forward, wearing more armour than the other ones she had seen, suggesting that they were personal guards of some higher ranking officers.

"Y-your highness." one of them addressed her, with a somewhat nervous voice; understandable, given it was probably his first time meeting her.

He and his comrades bowed down low in respect, though once Azula gestured toward him, he raised his eyes to meet her own and spoke up, "It is an honour to receive you here. The Admiral and all the other leaders have been waiting patiently for your return."

"Do you know what happened in Yu Dao?" she asked him simply, the soldier's eyes widening.

"You are still the rightful Fire Lord, no matter the outcome of that duel." he explained, before bowing down again, his voice trembling, "Sorry, I apologise, your highness, if I offended you in any way."

"You didn't." she crossed her arms, "Is Zhao here?"

"Yes, the Admiral is currently attending to his fleet plans in his office." he explained, gesturing to the gates, which immediately opened up for them, "My men and I can escort you there, if you require our assistance."

"I have my personal guard here." she gestured to her men, "These men were hand picked by Fire Lord Ozai to protect my life." she narrowed her eyes at him, "I don't need any extra muscle."

"Of course." the man bowed down to her in respect, "But, uh- you may need some directions." he admitted, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Just tell me where his office is. I don't have all day." she growled, now annoyed by his nervousness; Ty Lee felt some sympathy for the man as he stepped back, trying his best to keep a straight face.

"His office is in the western wing of the fourth floor of the tower. You can't miss it." he assured her, the Princess sighing.

"Four fucking flights of stairs." she mumbled under her breath, before turning to face the officer, "Thank you for your guidance. Please, return to your duties." she simply gestured toward the post where he and his men had been standing, the soldier immediately getting out of the way, allowing Azula to enter.

As they strode through the gates, Ty Lee eyed around, watching as the gazes of those inside the walls turned to them; they didn't move away, and some of the people stopped what they were doing to simply watch her. They had no warning of her return, and yet, she was there; just like the acrobat herself had experienced back at the circus. That thought made her think back to her sisters, wondering how they were faring without her; maybe they missed her, or maybe they enjoyed having more attention for themselves- she couldn't be sure, but she knew that they were probably okay. Ty Lee had willingly got herself into a dangerous situation; even if everything she had seen so far suggested the soldiers present were loyal to Azula, even after her absence, that might have mostly been out of fear, rather than because they actually respected her. But she was sure of one thing- the Princess would earn their respect, and she would earn it righteously. She did not need to invade a country or topple a government to earn their respect, even if that might achieve the same result; she had the power of her fiery tongue and indomitable glare. Being the daughter of Fire Lord Ozai added to that, as well as her reputation, but neither of those would compare to what she would bring to the table. She was different, in all the right ways, to her former self.

When they reached the doors of the tower, the guards there did not relent to open the doors, obviously understanding who she was; they bowed in respect as the group walked inside, Ty Lee smiling at the warmth she felt inside. The interior of the tower was far warmer than the areas outside, which made sense; they were the Fire Nation Army, so they'd like their base to feel more comfortable for people from the Fire Nation who were more used to the hot temperatures of the homeland. As they made their way down the hallway, the Princess strode past individuals, who, given their attire, had to be officers of the army or navy, which took double takes when they realised they were walking past Princess Azula. She couldn't hold back her confident smirk, which was made more justifiable by the reactions she had received. People were truly shocked to see her arrive at their base, after she'd been gone for many months. Perhaps some people had really believed her to be dead, though she doubted that was the case by then. Everybody must have heard about what happened near Omashu, or their intervention in the naval battle between Ozai and Zuko's supporters.

"The fourth floor." Azula sighed as they approached the stairs, which formed a wide, open stairwell which reached up the height of the tower, "If only they could make some way to avoid stairs."

"Flying?" Ty Lee raised a brow in thought, making her friend look back at her with confusion.

"Why would you need to fly?" she asked her with confusion, "I simply need to climb a few floors. Some kind of hydraulics ought to do it. I'm no engineer, so I'm not going to make assumptions, but it seems possible. If War Minister Qin put the resources into making a drill to go through the walls of Ba Sing Se, then I'm sure some resources could be spared to rid us off the frustration that is stairs." she argued, before she turned her face away, obviously a little embarrassed by her tirade.

She had gotten frustrated, seemingly out of nowhere; that was a tell-tale indication to her friend that she was nervous or afraid, and given what she had intended with Zhao, she could understand why she'd feel that way. As they made their way up the staircase, Ty Lee glanced behind them, seeing a few officers walking by, who looked their way with interest; when they noticed she was looking their way, they immediately turned their eyes away. They didn't fear her, but whatever reaction might come from the Princess if the acrobat dared to say they were staring at the Princess. She turned her attention back ahead of herself, walking up the winding staircase; Azula was walking faster than the rest of them, and she had a pretty good idea why. They were there to get something done. When she reached the top of the staircase, the Princess was forced to come to a halt, though she didn't seem to mind, as she was standing before some person that Ty Lee didn't recognise, though the Princess obviously did.

"Ah, War Minister Qin, it's good to see you again." she smirked at him, "I see you chose the side of victory."

Ty Lee held back a laugh, realising she'd just mentioned him; from the way she had just spoken, it sounded like she was very approving of his position on her side of the civil war.

"Uh, yes, your majesty." he bowed to her, "I was not informed of your arrival."

"You are now." she simply told the Minister, before her guards and her friend filed up around them, which intimidated him.

"Uh, well, I am glad that you have finally returned. I look forward to the day you achieve absolute victory over your brother." he simply acknowledged, the Princess smirking.

"As do I." she agreed, before she narrowed her eyes on him, her serious composure not failing, "I actually had a request of you."

"How may I serve my Fire Lord?" he bowed, opening his arms wide to show his willingness.

"I need the schematics of that flying contraption I heard your master inventor was working on." she simply asked him, the Minister's eyes flickering with thought.

"Oh." his expression brightened, "I am glad you have taken an interest in it. I thought it would be a great tool on our march of progress, your majesty."

"I simply need to know how high it can fly." she clarified her question, the Minister furrowing a brow.

"As long as you have fuel and heat in the balloon, it will continue to rise. We have a few prototypes built right here at the base. They were based on a design seized from the Northern Air Temple when the army expelled the refugees there a few months ago; the Admiral declared that they may harbour traitors, so they had to be expunged." he explained, Azula sighing, which suggested that she had wanted that inventors help; Ty Lee guessed that it had something to with her plans for Ba Sing Se, or even to take down Zuko.

"Oh, that's disappointing." she admitted, before turning to face up the stairs, "I will likely see you again, War Minister. Take care." she simply raised a hand to dismiss him, which suggested that she was to leave, which she did, continuing up the staircase toward Zhao.

As the acrobat walked by him, she noted the confused look on his face; it seemed that he had noticed that Azula had changed as well. She followed after her friend, walking up alongside her once she had squeezed through the gap between the guards, who were walking in file up the stairs.

"Zula, did you want that guy's inventions?"

"Well, I just needed the aircraft." she explained, smirking as she seemed to consider her plans, "That is all I need for my trick. Zhao will love my plan so much that there's no way he'll refuse."

"So, no invasion of the North Pole." she concluded, "That's- uh- good news."

"Indeed. No need to waste manpower on a campaign that would ultimately be unsuccessful." she acknowledged, before she sighed, "But you are right. I wanted to see whatever things the inventor had made. If some were of use, perhaps I could use Sokka's great mind to figure out some practical applications for them. Not just for fighting, but for rebuilding his tribe."

Ty Lee's eyes flickered, realising that Azula's intentions weren't always about herself; the sense of altruism, or perhaps just a desire to pay back the Southern Water Tribe was surprising, and genuinely awe-inspiring. She spoke so casually of doing such great things, like she had once spoken of things like conquering Ba Sing Se; she held the exact same mind-set, even if she had very different intentions for her future. Perhaps not all too different, as she still wanted to be Fire Lord, as she always had; that was the end game for her, from the beginning. As soon as Ty Lee met her, she had thought that she was the girl who might become Fire Lord. At that time she'd known nothing of the line of succession, and by the time she did, Azula was second in line to the throne instead of fourth.

For a few years, she had been the Crown Princess, and if she had not fallen to her own lightning in Yu Dao, then perhaps she'd already be ruling the Fire Nation, with Sokka by her side, his surprising amount of wit and wisdom helping her become a better Fire Lord than she ever could have been alone. She narrowed her eyes, knowing that future might still be upon them, though she wished truly that it didn't come at the price of Zuko's life; he didn't deserve to die, at the very worst. He and Mai didn't deserve to have their lives ruined by the Princess's ambitions, no matter how noble they were. Ty Lee knew she shouldn't worry too much, but ever since she had learned about Azula's ambitions and Mai's position as the future Fire Lady, she couldn't help but feel a little conflicted.

As they made their way further up the stairwell, the acrobat continued along beside her friend, trying to think of something to say; she didn't know what to, so she decided to ask her the most generic question possible, "How do you feel?"

"Ready to play the game I was born to." she smirked, turning her eyes to her friend, "Ty Lee, the throne is nearly within my grasps. All I need is to get the power I unrightfully lost." she explained, "First the fleet and the army here, then the colonies, and finally, I'll take the throne. I'm not going to fool around, not this time." she declared honestly, Ty Lee's jaw dropping in awe of her friend's determination.

She had learnt exactly not what to do, and she was set on not repeating her mistakes- she had grown, and at the same time, she was falling back toward her old self; perhaps that was simply because she had lost her authority, and Azula with authority was a very different person to Azula without.

"And what about that Ba Sing Se thing?"

"Oh, I'll give the Dai Li a whipping for good measure, and then the Earth Kingdom will see the liberation they have always deserved." she smirked, "I will write the wrongs of this world, and perhaps, the world might see me in a different light. I can be feared, but I can also inspire awe and respect. If I could do it for a single Water Tribe savage, the whole world can't be that hard."

"I don't think you can make the whole world your boyfriend." she concluded, making her friend chuckle, before her eyes widened with shock; glancing back toward her guards, who immediately tensed up at being looked at, and probably more so because of what they had just heard- what she had just said.

"We didn't hear anything, your highness." Yi assured her, before the Princess sighed; her expression made Ty Lee tremble, as she realised she really ought to have not said what she did.

"For fuck's sake, Ty Lee. You really didn't need to say that." she growled, her friend pouting; it wasn't fair that Azula couldn't just have her relationship with Sokka, and people could respect that.

"But you're pretty much the Fire Lord. Who's going to stop you from having a boyfriend?" she asked her, making her friend look at her with annoyance, though her expression quickly shifted to one of smugness.

"Oh, you are right." she agreed with her, "You are certainly right." before she crossed her arms, "However, I need to retain an image. I am a principled woman. I will not have people look at me and think I just want to help the other nations because of him." she argued; she raised a good point- people would be quick to judge her because of her relationship with Sokka, even if that wasn't the only reason she'd changed her perspective on so many different things.

"Well, it isn't just because of him. the Southern Water Tribe kept you safe." she acknowledged, the Princess nodding, before she sighed.

"Not everyone is as understanding as you are. People come to conclusions- that's just how people work." she lamented, the acrobat crossing her arms.

"Well people are idiots sometimes." she declared, to which her friend could only nod; she thought that of a lot of people, and Ty Lee would acknowledge that a lot of the time, her point of view was justified.

"And we can't do much about it." she admitted, before she continued to pace up, her strides becoming more hastful as they neared the fourth floor; she turned her eyes back to Ty Lee, smirking, "But sometimes, that idiocy can come to our advantage."

"There's always a good side to everything, Zula." she confidently reanalysed her claim, knowing that she could phrase something in a marginally nicer way, even if it covered up what they were about to do.

They were going to be doing dangerous and conceited things; of course, it was all for the greater good, but that didn't make them any less questionable. As they reached the fourth floor, the Princess turned to her left, looking toward what Ty Lee assumed was the western wing of the building; her cardinal directions had gotten all muddled when they took the long winding staircase, so she just trusted Azula knew where she was going.

"This way." she simply told them, leading the group along toward a set of metal doors, in front of which stood two guards; they didn't immediately recognise her, but when they did, their forms shifted from cautious to absolutely terrified in the span of a second.

They straightened their backs and bowed toward her, "Your highness."

"I'm here to see the Admiral. Is he home?" she asked, the guards nodding, before they stepped out of the way.

"You can go right on through. I'm sure he will understand your interruption." one of the guards assured her, gesturing for her to enter; he obviously feared reprisal from Azula far more than he did from Zhao, which was telling of her reputation.

The group strode in, Ty Lee going in right after the Princess, watching as the man she'd heard so many damning things about finally made sight of Azula; his expression was of utter shock, completely amazed to see her. He didn't necessarily seem happy, simply perplexed by her random arrival; there had been no warning, unless one were to count Azula's appearance on Crescent Island as a warning.

"Pr-Princess Azula." he gasped her name, rising to his feet as he looked at her, speechless.

Instead of addressing him, the Princess strode closer, and gestured for him to sit down once more, which he did, "Admiral, how have the months treated you?" she asked him, his right eye, the one that seemed to work, given his left was forced shut by a burn scar, darting down to the table in front of him, scanning across the documents he had been reading.

"I- well, things didn't go as planned." he admitted; Ty Lee refrained to laugh at the biggest understatement of the century, given that Azula had nearly died, according to Sokka's recount, and his attack on Yu Dao had threatened their lives after the threat of the duel had subsided.

"Oh, you could say that." Azula acknowledged, pretending as if she wasn't infuriated by his actions that day, "But, things have changed, Admiral Zhao."

"I know." he admitted, his eye darting up to meet her own, "Your father is alive."

"And does that change your loyalty, Admiral?"

"No." he shook his head, "I have awaited your return, so we could achieve victory with you at the helm. Fire Lord Ozai's time has passed." he simply declared, a shocking comment, but an expected one, given the Princess's position being compromised by the very fact her father wasn't dead, as her brother had proclaimed to the world all those months ago.

"I have returned." she declared, "And I seek victory, above all else, Admiral. What have you done while I was in hiding?" she asked him, the Admiral placing his hands together on the desk.

"Building up our strength. The Earth Kingdom commoners aren't as hardworking as good Fire Nation citizens, but their taxes and labours have paid off. We have an army, trained and armed to face off against your pretender brother."

"How ready?" she asked him, "I don't believe you have control over that much territory, Admiral."

"We could not push too far west, lest your brother sent in some armies to crush us. We had to bide our time, dealing with earthbender rebellions. They've grown more eager with each passing month. The eastern Earth Kingdom is in chaos, and nobody has heard anything from the Fire Nation military government you put in established in Ba Sing Se for three months." he explained their situation, "I have tried to make sure the commanders- your commanders, have not wasted their men. We couldn't, not when the threat of annihilation was around the corner."

"You have the most ships out of any of the Admirals, loyal to my brother or not." she acknowledged, "The Northern Fleet still exists, correct?"

"We lost many ships in the Mo Ce Sea after Yu Dao. The enemy was willing to batter us, despite our numerical advantage. We moved back to the West Lake to hold it down, as to prevent your brother from trying to retake Ba Sing Se, though no ships have ever come through, according to my reports. Despite our control over the waters, your armies were cut off by a defensive line through the colonies, and well, they came here instead. Some of them went south, defected to join your father's supporters, but most of them remain here."

"I am disappointed about the defections, but not surprised. My father's survival has changed our plans somewhat." she admitted, the Admiral's eyes widening, glancing at the guards and Ty Lee, who stood behind her.

"How exactly, may I ask?" he requested, the Princess cocking a smirk.

"My brother is due to be assassinated, overthrown or a mixture of the two. Whether those attempts succeed is beside the point. The chaos of my father's forces trying to seize power will give us good opportunities to make ground on Zuko's loyalists, and if we thoroughly defeat them enough, perhaps those that had decided to support my imprisoned father will change their minds on who is the rightful Fire Lord."

"Do you have a time scale on these plots?" he asked her, the Princess shaking her head.

"I am not privy to them, and don't intend to be." she conceded, "I do, however, intend to incite discontent amongst our countrymen. If I can prove myself a more competent Fire Lord, and offer my future subjects a better future than what my brother has given, then they will be far more placatable when we arrive to liberate them."

"I look forward to the day that happens." Zhao smiled at her, the Princess's expression of confidence not faltering; she was fooling him to make him think he'd have any part in that, though he had every reason to believe it- he had upheld her forces and waited patiently, and thought he would reap the benefits of said patience.

"Oh, it will be a good day." Azula declared proudly, before placing her hands down on his desk, "Now, how would you like to defeat the Northern Water Tribe?"

His expression brightened for a moment, before he leaned back, the shock on his face understandable, "Wait, you want to help me defeat them?"

"I don't want to help you, I want to make a means for you to achieve your aspirations, Admiral. You want to conquer the Northern Water Tribe, don't you?"

"Well, yes." he nodded, before his eyes narrowed, "I have a plan, but it will involve going some place dangerous, in the heart of the Northern Water Tribe."

"Well, I have to speak with War Minister Qin about something, but I believe I can assist you on two fronts."

"Being?" he raised his hand, the Princess placing her hands on her hips.

"I have a plan for you to be able to reach the Northern Water Tribe undetected." she declared, before she raised her chin up, "And I've spent the last few months at the South Pole. I know how to live and fight in the extreme cold; I can train an elite force to deal with the environment, as well as the threat waterbenders might face to us."

"If my plan works, you won't need to worry about waterbenders for much longer, your highness." Zhao declared with a grin that Ty Lee could only describe as one of pure malice; he wanted to destroy the Northern Water Tribe, and waterbending itself- the former was undeniably cruel, and the latter was disturbing and near unimaginable, "Well, speaking of the South Pole-" he spoke up, before the Princess cut him off, raising a hand.

"I had to dispense of the Water Tribesman." she admitted, though it was a half-lie, "He didn't agree with my plans to regain my throne, so we went our separate ways." she added, a complete lie, in comparison to her first one.

"Oh." the Admiral's eyes widened, before he smirked, "That's a shame to hear."

Ty Lee found herself roused with anger from that simple pursing of his lips, and restrained herself from doing anything rash. He was taking pleasure in knowing Azula no longer had Sokka by her side, probably because he saw the Water Tribe warrior as a degrading influence, while the acrobat thought the complete opposite. Sokka completed Azula in a way nobody else ever had, and to suggest otherwise infuriated her; the Princess was finally happy, and she had sacrificed that happiness for her aims, all for Zhao to mock those sacrifices with his shit-eating smirk.

"Don't fret about him." Azula assured him, another lie, "I don't need his guidance to achieve my dream any longer."

The Admiral raised a brow, "Oh, did you want mine?"

Azula scoffed openly at his words, rolling her eyes, "I don't need anybody's advice, Admiral." she declared, before she placed her hands down on his desk, leaning closer to his face, "And I'd prefer to take some from you once you actually win a battle." she warned him rather openly.

Zhao was not angry, but afraid of her after those words, leaning back in fear as he realised she was addressing the one thing she had avoided; his horrific failure in Yu Dao, which may have been even worse than how Sokka had detailed it, the Water Tribesman probably paying more attention to Azula than the carnage the Admiral inflicted.

"I apologise, your highness." he dropped his head down in shame; whether that shame was real, Ty Lee could not discern, but his fear had to be real- everybody was afraid of Azula, though some for different reasons than others.

"There's no need to apologise, that is in the past." Azula reassured him with a fake smile; her lies were setting him up, to make him believe that all was well, despite what he had done, "I believe you are more than capable of making up for any past grievances. I know you have a fiery determination, Admiral. I want to see it put to good use." she declared confidently, which made his uneasy, ashamed face straighten.

For that last bit the acrobat couldn't be sure of the truthfulness; it sounded like nice words to prop him up, but it might have been the little shred of respect Azula dared to give out to him.

"Thank you, Princess." he nodded at her, sounding genuinely thankful that she hadn't gone onto a tirade at him for his failings; the old Azula would have mercilessly thrashed him with her firebending for his incompetence, but the new Azula had a cruel mercy awaiting him- she would not be the one to smite him, in the end.

"I do not need your thanks." she retorted, before rising back up to her full height, moving away from the desk, "I need some quarters for myself, my guard and my friend here, Ty Lee. Have you met her before?" she gestured to her, making the acrobat's eyes flicker; she didn't know what to say, so simply put on a fake smile and waved.

"Hi." she addressed the Admiral, who looked at her with slight confusion.

He probably didn't understand what a cheery girl like her was doing in a place like the base they were in; if he did know, he would be far more afraid than he had been when Azula gave him the slightest bit of anger.

"Uh, I believe I may have seen her at the palace before." he acknowledged, "But that must have been years ago." he conceded, the acrobat shrugging her shoulders; she knew who he was from Azula's frustrated tirades about him as of late, but she had never actually met the man.

"Are we going to go rest now? My legs are killing me, Zula." she asked her friend, knowing that acting casual and uncaring of the situation would stop Zhao from getting any more suspicious.

"Of course." she nodded, before she turned back to face Zhao, "Is there some place my friend and I can get a massage. I haven't been to the Royal Spa in nearly a year, and I'm dying for a back rub." she asked, the Admiral making a cringed face.

"Uh, no, I'm sorry. I could ask the servants if any of them are skilled in such areas, if that would assist you." he admitted rather bluntly; he seemed like he was willing to help, perhaps to just ensure that he was in Azula's favour and not out of it.

"That would be helpful, Admiral." she conceded, before she narrowed her eyes at him again, "Now, our quarters. I assume there must be someplace spare in this fortress of yours."

"Well, your majesty, it is your fortress now." he conceded, the Princess cocking a smirk, obviously happy that was the case, "If you ask one of the servants around, they'll be glad to offer their Fire Lord and her companions somewhere to stay."

"Well then," Azula turned to face her guards, "which of you would like to sleep somewhere that isn't a barn tonight?" she simply asked them, somewhat jokingly, though they took her words seriously; they straightened their postures and bowed toward her.

"We would be honoured, your highness." they all said at once, showing Ty Lee that even after all their months away from her, they still knew how to give Azula the proper respect she deserved.

The Princess placed her hands behind her, and began to stride out of the room, and was quickly followed by the guards, who moved in file behind her. Ty Lee piqued her head up, realising that she had to follow; she momentarily glanced back toward Zhao, taking note of his intrigued look, and wondered what he was thinking. His face shifted as he realised she was paying attention to him, and she immediately turned around, hoping that he wouldn't become suspicious. She couldn't ruin Azula's plans with a few idle looks; that'd just be a stupid way for her march to victory to go awry.

"Come on, Ty Lee." her friend prodded her to come along, which she did; striding past the guards, she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder as they turned back toward the staircase.

"I think that went well. He almost looked like he was going to crap his pants at one point." she noted, the Princess snickering.

"Well, I was just testing the waters there. He's still scared to death by me; I assume everyone is."

"Is that a good thing though?" she asked, the Princess cocking her chin up; her devious grin told Ty Lee that her confidence had not faltered- it had been heightened.

"Anything is an advantage if you're smart enough to see it's worth."


	15. Chapter 15

Looking down at the large walled settlement of Gaochao, Katara made a small smile; she thought that at the very least, the refugee family they'd been travelling with would be safe there, away from the threat of the Fire Nation. Appa was still slowing down as they made their final approach, the refugee children eagerly looking off the side of the saddle at the town.

"That's a big town." Xia commented, "Bigger than anything I've ever seen before."

"Oh, you haven't seen much. Ba Sing Se is much bigger." Sokka commented, earning a few interested looks from the refugees.

"You've been to Ba Sing Se?" Tai asked him, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"Yes, but not lately. I assume the situation's a little prickly there, at the moment." he explained, the refugees grimacing.

"Haven't you heard?" Kuo turned to face him, "There was a big battle there." he explained, making the eyes of the whole group widen.

"Sorry, a big battle?" Aang asked, the adult refugees nodding.

"Yeah, the Fire Nation military was thrown out by the Dai Li." Tai added, "That was like three months ago. I assume it's not a very nice place to be at the moment."

"Do you know what happened to the Fire Nation forces?" Sokka asked, sounding a little nervous; seeing that he'd played a part in the suppression of the Dai Li, and vocally decided he wanted to get rid of them again, he must have been worried about what could have been their allies in that fight.

"I think they still control the Outer Wall, but that's just a rumour. Maybe the Dai Li just doesn't want anybody trying to come inside the city." he guessed, turning to face his brother, "Did you hear anything, Kuo?"

"Nope." he shook his head, "I know as much as you do."

"Well, that's news." the Water Tribe warrior mumbled, before turning his attention to the city they were quickly approaching, "I guess this is it, then."

"Thank you for flying us all the way here." Kuo smiled at them, giving a bow while seated, "You've done us a great service."

"Don't mention it." Aang turned to face him with a grin, "It's the least we could do. Will you all be alright here?"

"If we can find some jobs, it'll be fine." Tai assured them, before nervously looking toward the walls, "Hopefully the people in charge here are better than the Fire Nation."

"They have to be." Katara mumbled, "These people can't be like them." she spoke under her breath, hoping by saying it, it would just be true.

She wasn't that sure, however, feeling that it could be just as reasonable that the Earth Kingdom were just as cruel to their own people as the Fire Nation was to them; the story of the Dai Li themselves didn't paint the best picture of their country, and neither did the story of a crowd of Earth Kingdom villagers trying to stone Sokka and Azula to death, all because they found out she was a firebender.

"Just let us off before we get to the gates." Kuo spoke up, "The guards mightn't be very happy to see a sky-bison just land in front of them." he advised, Aang making a slight grimace, obviously understanding his point.

"Yeah, some people are afraid of Appa." he conceded, before pulling the reins up, indicating for Appa to drop down to the ground; he groaned loudly, before he slowed his flight, descending down onto the dry, gravelly ground below.

The hillside in front of the town was mostly barren, and Katara guessed it might have had something to do with the war; she assumed that before their whole civil war, the Fire Nation might have been intent on taking the town. Of course, at that very moment, it seemed highly unlikely to occur. She glanced over to the refugee children, feeling a slight unease with letting them go; she didn't know what circumstances they'd be facing in the town, but she knew that it would have been better than roughing it out in the wilderness. Even if one could survive in the woods, it wasn't a life many people would tolerate. Being from the South Pole, she was actually quite tolerant of the idea of camping out and living in the woods, given there was food everywhere, though she wasn't eager to just give up her home, no matter how desolate it was- it was her home, after all. As they climbed off of the saddle, Katara reached over to their bags, helping them take them off of Appa by handing them down to the adults, who placed them down on the ground beside them, each of the refugees taking their personal belongings and slinging them over their shoulders. She turned to Aang and Sokka, wondering what they ought to do next.

"Are we going to head into the town?" she asked them, the two looking at each other for a moment before they shrugged their shoulders.

"Do we need to?" the young Avatar asked, "I don't think we're running short on food."

"We might need some more before we reach the Northern Water Tribe though." Sokka admitted, before turning to face his sister with an uneasy smile, "So, uh, maybe a short trip to the market."

"We won't buy anything too expensive. I don't know if we're going to get any donations from the Northern Water Tribe." she conceded, making her brother snicker.

"Might not want to once we're done with them." he grinned at them, Katara allowing herself to smugly smirk, knowing that she would take pride in kicking down the stupid traditions of the Northern Water Tribe, both for her own dignity and that of her grandmother; she deserved to have the Northern Water Tribes stuffy leaders kicked for her, seeing that she'd raised her to be tough and headstrong person she was.

"What exactly are you going to say to them, Sokka?" Aang turned to face him with a nervous face.

"Things." he commented in a purposefully vague manner, "I'm still working on my proud 'screw your stupid traditions speech'." he clarified, making Katara point a finger at her brother.

"I'm looking forward to it, Sokka."

"Oh, I know you are." he grinned at her, before turning down to face the refugees, "We're heading into town. You mind if we tag along with you guys for a bit?"

"No problem." Kuo smiled at them, Sokka slapping his own thigh with an approving face.

"Brilliant. Let's go." he leapt off of the saddle, turning his eyes back to Aang and Katara, "Come on." he prodded them, the other two following on behind him and the refugee family as they began to walk toward the gates of Gaochao.

The Water Tribe girl strode after her brother, though her focus was immediately drawn to the walls of the city, or more specifically, its gates, where a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers were standing guard, and immediately took a bending stance as the group approached. She was confused exactly why they were getting all defensive when it was just a group of refugees, but she did remember they had arrived on the back of a sky-bison, which must have been the weirdest thing they'd seen in a while.

"State your business." one of the soldiers addressed them, raising his fist to create some walls around them as they approached the gates; whether that was intended to intimidate them or stop them from escaping, she couldn't tell, though she was certain it wouldn't stop Aang, who had a glider and his airbending to use to get around essentially any obstacle.

"We're refugees." Kuo spoke up, "My family and I have travelled for a while, and heard your town was safe for us." he explained, the soldier nodding.

"That is true." he confirmed before his eyes turned to the odd part of the group, which happened to be Sokka, Katara and Aang, "But what are two Water Tribesman and a... who are you?" he looked at the Avatar with confusion, unaware that was who he was.

"I'm the Avatar, but you can just call me Aang." he introduced himself, the soldier stepping back, his eyes filled with shock, turning to face his comrades.

"Did you guys just hear that as well?" he asked them, the soldiers nodding along, confused and surprised by Aang's presence, "How- why are you here?"

"Uh, well, we gave this family a ride here, and we were going into your town to buy some supplies. I hope that isn't an issue." he stepped forward, the soldier looking at him with his mouth open, lost in thought as he stared at the young Air Nomad, "Hello?"

"Uh, yeah." the soldier shook his head, "That's fine. You can come inside." he confirmed before turning his gaze toward the gates, gesturing his hand up, which led to said gates opening up a few moments later, "I'm sure that the Governor might want to speak with you."

"Oh, for fighting the Fire Nation?" he asked the soldier, who gave him a curt nod.

"Uh, yeah, pretty much."

"I can't actually do much for you at the moment. We're heading to the North Pole, but in a month... or however long it takes to learn waterbending, we'll be back around here. I could help out then, if you need some assistance. That's my job, helping people." he grinned, pointing to his chest with a rather cocky grin; Sokka was unamused by his confidence, though he didn't complain.

"Uh, okay, then." he nodded, understanding of their circumstances, 'Well, it was nice to meet you, Avatar Aang." he saluted the young Air Nomad, whose face straightened, unsure how to respond; he leaned over toward the Water Tribe warrior.

"Uh, do I salute back?"

"No." he assured him, striding past, "Let's just go inside." he spoke not just to Aang, but to the refugees as well, who seemed eager to get inside.

Katara followed after her brother, eyeing the large gates as they approached them, noting how they were actually controlled with earthbending, made of a thin sheet of stone which seemed to be pulled inside the walls when closed; she found it a little interesting, though what was more attention grabbing to her was what was past the gates. The town of Gaochao was bustling full of people, and had to be the first proper Earth Kingdom town she'd seen, since New Omashu, though a city, was rather unusual in how it was laid out underground. The people immediately looked their way, taking note that they were odd looking, not being Earth Kingdom, while the refugees beside them didn't get a single look, being as plain as they came. She acknowledged that perhaps Earth Kingdom disguises would come in handy, though they didn't make much sense until they headed to Ba Sing Se, where they'd need to deal with a hostile group who would immediately attack them if they knew they had Sokka and Azula with them.

She strode on inside, walking alongside Xia and Aang, as the adults and Sokka led them along down the narrow streets of the town; the buildings they walked alongside were all at least two-storeys tall, and there were unlit paper lanterns hanging between the buildings which she assumed would be quite pretty during the evening. As they continued along, she took note of the various shops that lined the street, where she could see people working, making products right before her eyes; weaving baskets, assembling furniture, cutting up food or even carving glassware. She found it all rather interesting to look at, though her attention turned forward as they made their way towards what had to be a market, given the wider, open street they had reached.

"We must be near the market now." Aang concluded, before glancing toward the refugee girl, "Are you guys going to get some stuff here?"

"We don't have much money." she admitted with a slight grimace, "But Dad and Uncle might look for some work. There's probably got to be something for them to do around here."

"I'd sure hope so." Katara admitted, glancing around, "This place seems very busy." she acknowledged, making Aang chuckle.

"Welcome to cities." he raised his hands up, "Everybody runs around like they've got something important to do... and I'm unsure if they always do." he explained, the Water Tribe girl holding back a laugh; she didn't want to mock the people they were walking by.

"We have to go off and look for some work." Kuo admitted, turning around to face his wife and daughter, "I think you all should remain with the Avatar and his friends for the meantime. We'll meet you back here, at the market." he explained, Lian nodding at him, making a small smile.

"Don't take too long, Kuo." she warned him, the refugee man giving her a reassuring nod.

"We won't." he told her, before turning to face his brother, "Tai, let's just have a quick scope around the place, and if we can't find anything, we'll come back and look for some food. I'm sure the children are getting hungry."

"We're not that hungry, Dad." Xia stressed, before Ho stepped forward with a pout.

"I might be a little hungry." he told them, his father leaning down and patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm going to go find some work, and then we'll be able to get a nice big meal for the whole family. Don't worry, Ho." he assured him, his youngest son nodding, the elder looking at his father with a slightly worried face.

"Just don't punch anybody again, Dad." he warned him, Tai laughing off Shi's comment.

"I won't, buddy." he assured him, before he grasped Kuo by the shoulder, "See you."

The group waved to the pair as they strode down a street to their left, pacing off as quickly as they could; Katara was unsure if they would find what they were looking for, but she hoped that they would.

"Uh, so are we going to get some more supplies, or what?" Sokka asked them, the pair turning to face him and both nodding.

"Yeah." Aang smiled, "You guys can all come along. We might be able to get you some lunch, too." he clarified, the refugee children's expressions brightening.

"Well, we-" Sokka began to speak up, before he sighed, "No, you're right, Aang." he conceded, before he began to continue along, approaching the market.

He probably didn't want to spend any more of their coin, which was quickly getting spread thin; they still had enough spare to get the refugees lunch, but if the Northern Water Tribe weren't as charitable as Bumi, they'd quickly begin running into money problems. She followed on after her brother, walking alongside Aang, noting that he was still getting looks from people, who must have realised who he was; he was wearing his monk robes, and hadn't put on his bandana, given that they were in a friendly settlement, well out of the way of the Fire Nation's occupation. Sokka turned around to face them, his expression brightening, seeing that he was thinking about food, the one thing that seemed to always get him in a better mood.

"What did you guys want for lunch?"she asked the refugees, who looked amongst themselves, just considering what to say; Lian was the first to respond, with a calm voice and a small smile.

"I think if you just got us some jook that would be fine. Or noodles. I don't know what would be cheaper." she admitted, Sokka scratching his chin.

"Okay, well, let's go find a stall that sells jook or noodles." he declared, marching along ahead, as if it were some kind of serious mission; though getting food was a serious matter for anyone who didn't have much, like the refugees, it wasn't so serious to ask for the gusto her brother was putting into his strides.

Leading the group along, Sokka meandered through the market, quickly checking the stalls that covered the street they were walking down; Katara turned to face Aang, a little amused by his attitude, and decided to ask him.

"Do you know what's up with Sokka?" she asked, the Avatar shaking his head, making a perplexed face.

"I have no idea." he whispered, "Maybe it has something to do with you know who."

"But wouldn't he be sad instead?" she asked him; he glanced over toward Sokka for a few moments, before turning back to face her.

"Maybe." he mumbled, "I don't know how he deals with his problems."

"By fighting, or doing warrior things. This isn't really a warrior thing." she concluded, knowing that Sokka's usual reaction to his problems was to act like a tough and serious warrior and do the things according to that ideal of himself- tough and serious warriors didn't go out of their way to buy people lunch, at least in her eyes.

"But it is a mission." Aang acknowledged, "And it's helping people. He likes doing that." he conceded, smiling at that thought; her brother, despite how annoying he could be at times, did actually have a good sense of morals, and always wanted to do what was right.

Even if she thought she was pretty moral herself, she realised that in hindsight, her brother was a lot more of a considerate person than she was, though Katara would say she'd improved a lot lately after seeing the world and the varied shades of gray that came with every decision and person she came across; even then, she could have never imagined herself getting along with Azula as he had back in that forest, if it had been her in his shoes.

"Ah, I think I found something." Sokka gestured toward a stall; she took note of a number of steaming pots, inside which she assumed some jook or noodles was being cooked.

The stall had a decent sized line behind it, but when Lian made sight of it, she smiled, "Ah, yes, this is what I was looking for." she acknowledged, before turning to face her daughter and nephews, "We'll get some lunch here, okay?"

The three of them nodded, and Katara turned to face her brother, "Were we going to get our supplies while they wait in line?"

"Oh..." he mumbled, surprised by her words, "Good thinking, Katara." he smiled at her, before walking past to approach Lian, "How much do you think it'll be for you all to get some bowls?"

She gestured over to the sign above the stall, which read out 'two copper for a bowl'; after seeing that Sokka nodded, pulling out a silver piece from his pocket, "Just take this and get a bowl for you and the kids. If you need anything else, just ask us." he explained, the woman looking at her brother rather flustered by his generosity.

"Th-thank you, Sokka." she bowed toward him, making him laugh.

"Ah, don't worry about it. If I was in your situation, I'd want somebody's help too." he admitted, before turning his eyes back toward the other two, "So, what do we need to buy?"

"Probably just some dried food." Aang admitted, "That will last when we're flying to the North Pole, right?" he turned to Katara, who nodded.

"Yep, that's how it works." she confirmed, "We'll go get that, and then we'll come back and see how you're all going. Maybe we can get some lunch too." she acknowledged, her brother chuckling.

"We don't want to spend too much. We already have some food on the saddle, remember?" he warned her, "Though, I am pretty hungry for something other than a few day old vegetables." he conceded.

"Maybe you shouldn't have eaten all the jerky." Aang argued, making him cross his arms, slightly offended by his comment.

"I was hungry, Aang." he retorted, Katara giggling at his reaction.

"He's just prodding you, Sokka." she assured him, before turning to wave to the refugees, "Okay, we'll see you guys in a bit."

"Bye!" Ho raised his hand up, avidly waving to them, the others a little less enthusiastic.

She turned around, following after Aang and her brother, who continued along down through the market; she glanced around, looking at the various stalls, trying to spot a stall that sold what they were looking for. She guessed something like a whole lot of dried meat, fruit or rice crackers would serve them well; she couldn't exactly cook on top of Appa's saddle, let alone start a fire. Azula was the only reason that had been possible, and without her firebending it was a serious challenge to do much without a proper campfire.

"Where is it?" she mumbled to herself, unsure where the right stall was; most, if not all the stalls she saw either sold trinkets or street food, the latter sounding enticing, but not exactly helpful when they needed food for a long flight to the North Pole.

"I think there might be something up here." Aang gestured ahead of them, Katara noting that the market, along with the street, forked with a crossroad intersection; as they reached it, the three of them glanced down each of the potential paths, before looking at each other.

"Well, which way do we go?" she asked them, Sokka pointing his finger down each of the ways they could go.

"Well, there's three of us and three ways. I say we all look down each for a stall that sells what we're looking for." he argued, the other two nodding along.

"Got it." the young Air Nomad piped up, before darting down to their right; her brother gestured right ahead of them, and Katara nodded, taking the left turn.

She made her way down the street, eyeing each of the stalls, taking note of the various things they sold; there were stalls selling greens, tea, pottery, old clothes and even what looked like scavenged armour. What anybody would need to buy it for confused her, but she guessed there must have been some people who'd find it useful; Jet and the Freedom Fighters came to mind when she thought of such attire, and she cringed, remembering how they'd left the camp. The Freedom Fighter had been shouting at them, calling them traitors and cowards, much to her frustration; she knew that Jet wasn't a bad person, but he was certainly a dickhead- he really was so set in his ways, and she had no idea if somebody like him could change. She really hoped he could, at least for the sake of the world; there had to be people like people everywhere, on both sides of the war, who would stop at nothing to see the other side pay. She shook her head, knowing that she was distracting herself from the matter at hand with her random thoughts.

She eyed along, before she smiled, seeing a stall that looked like it was seeing rice crackers and jerky, the kind of food you'd need on a long journey; she was about to approach it, when she suddenly heard a whistle to her left, which was confusing. She glanced over, and saw somebody standing by an alleyway, and they immediately turned away; she was confused by why they had signalled out, whether it was to her or somebody else. She tensed up, unsure whether she ought to do something; she was drawn, purely out of interest, to glance into the alleyway, which was shrouded by darkness due to the angle of the sun in the sky, which obscured the lower portion of the alley. She narrowed her eyes, taking one step forward, before suddenly, she felt somebody whack her in the lower back, making her fall down, right on her face; her arms were close enough to her face to stop it from hitting right into the gravel, but she was shocked by the sudden fall.

She was about to turn herself around, when she felt something poking her back; it felt sharp, and she immediately assumed it was a knife. Katara had found herself being robbed, right of the side of the street; the blade was probably an incentive to stop her from shouting out, though she still turned her eyes to look at the person who was robbing her. It was a man, probably a little older than Sokka, with ragged robes and dark long hair, with a serious look on his face.

"Hand over your coins, right now, and you don't get hurt." he demanded of her, the Water Tribe girl cringing, unsure what to say or do.

"Why are you trying to rob me?" she just asked him, hoping it'd buy her time to figure out a way to get away from the mugger.

"What kind of question is that? Are you trying to make fun of me? I need the money." he declared, "And you're an outsider. Doubt anybody's gonna listen to somebody from the... Water Tribes?" he asked her, sounding a little unsure of himself.

"Yeah, that's where I'm from." she confirmed, turning her gaze behind her, taking note that there was a pothole in the street, which was filled with water; she smirked, realising that it was her opportunity to test her bending offensively, "Ever heard of the saying, don't mess with a Water Tribesman?" she asked him, the mugger raising a brow.

"That's not a saying." he scoffed, leaning a little further back, and removing the knife from her back, giving her some breathing room, both literally and figuratively.

"Oh, it will be when I'm done with you." she smirked, reaching her arm back and flicking her wrist forward, creating a crude water whip, which flicked the mugger right in the face, making him flinch back, giving her the opportunity to turn around and trip him over.

When he fell toward her, he dropped the knife, which she grabbed, throwing it away at once; the mugger landed beside her, grunting in pain, "Ow... my nose."

"Serves you right. I was just going about my business." she sighed with frustration, dusting herself off as she rose up to her feet.

He grumbled as he tried to get up, and she placed a foot on his back, and leaned over, pushing him back toward the ground, "I don't want to hurt you. I know you're obviously a refugee and I assume your life's been pretty crap." she conceded, "So, I'm just going to forget this happened, and I hope that you do find some work, or something. Just don't follow after me, or I'm going to do something worse than a water-whip. Okay?" she asked him, the man groaning; she lifted her foot off of his back, and that gave him the opportunity to take a breath.

"Okay." he mumbled, "I won't follow you."

"Thank you." she smiled, before straightening her expression, wanting to actually give him some advice, "Please don't mug anybody else. Just go... I don't know, mug a nobleman or something. Something that won't hurt other people."

"Huh." the man mumbled, "That's a better idea, actually." he conceded, "Not that there's many of those around here."

"I'm not telling you to do it. But if you don't have any work, I guess it might be the best choice." she conceded, disturbed by what she was saying, but understanding that it was a fact of life; the refugees were poor, just like the family she had just travelled with, and she was sure they didn't have much other options.

She strode off out of the alleyway, hoping that the mugger would just go off and let her be; turning her eyes around, it seemed he did, as he walked off into the alleyway, disappearing into the shadows, hopefully not to mug somebody else by a street corner. She realised that he had been alone, and that whoever she'd seen enter the alleyway wasn't the man who tried to mug her. Katara was confused, but decided she ought to best focus on the matter at hand, that being buying some long-lasting supplies for her, Aang and Sokka. She turned down the street, and saw the other two already back at the crossroads; she gestured over to them, and the young Avatar noticed her first, tapping her brother on the shoulder. Once they both saw her, they approached, and she walked over to the stall she had seen before she got nearly mugged; it looked like it was selling the right kind of things- rice crackers and jerky.

She stood in line, and waited for the other two to approach her, her brother immediately gesturing to her head, "Uh, Katara, your face is kinda dirty."

She tapped her cheeks, realising they had been covered with dust, and sighed with frustration, "Yeah, I nearly got robbed just then." she explained, Aang's eyes widening with surprise.

"Wait, what? By who?" he glanced around the street.

"Some random guy. I warned him to go away after I water whipped him in the face."

"That'd do it." her brother snickered, before eyeing the stall, "This is what we were looking for." he acknowledged, "I'd like to get some more jerky, please."

"Yes, Sokka, we can get it. Nobody's going to stop you, as long as you get a fair amount. We need enough food to feed everyone, remember, not just your stomach."

"And don't forget Momo." the Avatar raised a finger, making Sokka roll his eyes.

"He needs to stop eating our food. He's perfectly capable of eating nuts and berries when we camp." he suggested, the young Air Nomad making a small pout.

"But Sokka, he likes people's food." he explained as a matter of act, making him sigh.

"Yeah, I know he does." he mumbled, "Maybe we should get something specific for him."

"Like what?" Katara raised a brow at his idea, unsure exactly what he was suggesting.

"Like fruit?" Aang guessed, "He likes fruit."

"We can get some of that. I'm just unsure whether it's going to last that long." the Water Tribe warrior conceded, "Either it'll rot, or he'll eat it all. I assume he'll eat it all."

"Well, we can at least get some rice crackers for ourselves, right?" she asked the group, both boys nodding, the Water Tribe girl turning her gaze to the line, which had gotten a little shorter.

"And after the rice crackers, then what?"

"Say goodbye to the refugees and start flying." Sokka declared, narrowing his glare, showing that he was taking their schedule seriously, "We're only a week from the North Pole if we try to minimise our stops. Obviously, Appa needs to sleep, but other than attending to what he needs, we'll be in the air."

"And then there's waterbending." Aang spoke up, "I'm looking forward to learning more."

"I'm looking forward to shaming the Northern Water Tribe for their backwards culture." Katara raised her chin up, her brother smirking, approving of her intentions.

"How much do you think I can make fun of them until they kick me out?" he asked, making Katara raise a brow; Azula had been his enemy, yet she had tolerated his mockery because of his help.

"I think it relates to how helpful we are. So maybe mock them after you reveal her majesty's master plan." she guessed, Sokka clapping his hands together.

"I thought it'd be funnier to surprise them."

"Funny and smart do not correlate here, Sokka." she warned him, making her brother pout with disappointment.

"I'm not stupid. I just want to teach them a lesson they'll never forget."

* * *

Azula hadn't realised she'd needed a massage so bad, until she received it; her back was so knotted up and tense after her injury on Crescent Island, but with the help of the servants who came around to give the Princess and her friend some spa treatments, she was feeling so much better. She didn't want to compliment the servants, knowing that they were simply serving their role; it was not something that required her commendation, though she would appreciate it in silence.

"Zula, isn't this great?" Ty Lee piped up, the Princess raising her chin up from the bed she had been lying upon.

"It is." she admitted, "We have to do this more often." she added, her friend beaming at her brightly.

"We sure do." she grinned, "I wonder what they'll do next?" she scrunched her lips up.

The servant girl who was doing her massage raised her chin up, "Lady Ty Lee, we will be attending to your hair." she explained, making her friend giggle with excitement.

"Oh great, I haven't had my hair done in ages. I wash it myself, but I'm sure you will do it justice."

"That is what we hope for, my lady." the servant girl assured her before returning to massaging her back.

Azula took a few deep breaths as she appreciated the massage, laying her head back down on her arms, which she had in front of her; soon enough, however, Ty Lee spoke up once more, though no longer on the topic of their spa treatment.

"So, Zula, what were we actually going to do today?" she asked her, the Princess raising a brow, remembering that she wanted to attend to a few things, though one was clearly more pressing than the others.

"I need to see War Minister Qin's aircraft." she clarified, "It's what I will need if I want our plans to succeed."

"Ah, so do you need to figure out how it's going to be replicated or something?" she guessed, the Princess nodding.

"Well, he only has prototypes, and I assume, given that they were the first designs, probably won't be that large. I believe, though, if I can give him and his engineers a few pointers and orders, we could have a second prototype complete quickly enough, and it will be usable in my plans." she clarified; she didn't know how long it would take for Qin and his men to get a new prototype, preferably big enough to fit a decent sized group of soldiers inside.

"So, then what else?" she asked her, the Princess raising a brow as she considered what else was on the agenda; she had to see how the logistics of her army was working, and with that, figure out how best to approach her plans to seize the colonies.

"War plans, Ty Lee." she simply put it, "Even with Aang's help, we aren't exactly going to be ruling the Fire Nation any time soon without some plans in place."

"Getting to the colonies sounds like it'll be a pain if you have to walk there." she conceded, "That walk we did yesterday and the day before was such a pain; I can't imagine doing that for a few weeks."

"Neither can I." she acknowledged, "I assume that with Zhao's fleet, we will be able to strategically assault each of the colonies from sea and land at the same time." she gave her best idea on the matter, "I don't believe in a full-scale conflict. That would simply waste lives. What I need to do is have the people of the colonies trust in me to protect them, and they can do half the work for me. More men for my army, and security for the Fire Nation."

"Who will fight for us?"

"If the situation in Yu Dao a few months ago was any indication, I assume a few people would be sympathetic to our cause." she acknowledged, before chuckling, "And maybe some people will just support us because of Aang."

"But people kinda hate the Fire Nation. Not everyone, but a lot of people." Ty Lee acknowledged, "What are you going to do about that?"

"Though I don't prescribe to Katara's foolish views of good and bad, I do understand the benefits of benevolence. I intend to be a great, considerate ruler; I don't want the people to hate me, but rather, I want them to idolise me." she explained, before smirking, "Plus, the rebels who are fighting against my brother might find solace under my rule; they will still have a country to defend, in the end."

She moved her shoulders around a little bit, feeling somewhat uncomfortable from where the servant was massaging her. Azula's bruise still hurt, and she realised it might take a little longer for it to heal fully. The servant leaned over, clearing their throat.

"Your highness, I'm going to move to your hair now." she explained, "Could you lie on your back, and have your head on the edge of the bed?" she requested, the Princess heeding her words, rolling around into the given position.

Though she had to wait a few moments, the servant got around to behind her head, and kneeling down, she began to rub product into her hair, foaming up as she ran water through it. She smiled as she felt the servant begin to brush her hair, turning her eyes over to Ty Lee, who was receiving the same treatment as her.

"Ah..." the acrobat gasped out, with a wide smile on her face, turning her eyes toward Azula, "This is pretty good."

"My hair hasn't had a good wash like this in a long time." she smiled, finding with each brush, her locks became more loose and flowing, instead of the matted texture she'd associated with it for quite some time; though she did try to keep her appearance as fine as she could, the Princess found it challenging to achieve the same level of cleanliness as she would in the Royal Spa.

"So, Zula... what do you think Sokka's doing right now?" she asked her, making the Princess snicker; the first thing she could imagine was Sokka sleeping on Appa's saddle, snug up in their sleeping roll, abusing the extra space left by her departure to wrap himself even tighter than usual, refusing to get up.

"Sleeping. Or refusing to get out of bed." she suggested, making the other girl giggle.

"It's nearly midday." she observed, the Princess smirking.

"And he's Sokka. He hates getting out of bed." she acknowledged a fact that she had learnt well; she had trained him to get out of bed, mostly via threats or the offer of breakfast, something that seemed to entice him most of the time, "Maybe if Katara pulled out the jerky and wagged it over his face, he'd be up, but you never know. She mightn't even think to try."

"Are you saying you've done that before?" she asked her, the Princess scrunching up her lips.

"Something like that." she vaguely phrased it; she had once gotten some breakfast from Kanna and just sat in the tent eating it until he asked to have some- it worked, and he got up after that.

"I hope they're alright. I know he mightn't be that happy now you've gone." she observed, which made the Princess straighten her face; she didn't know how Sokka would be dealing with his emotions, as she hadn't really left him in those months they'd spent together- perhaps for fishing and hunting trips, but not much longer than that.

"He's a tough guy." she stated her own belief on the matter, "He does what needs to be done. I'm sure he's accepted the situation for what it is, and he's going to do what's right."

"Uh... you mean help Katara and Aang learn waterbending?" she asked, the Princess tilting her head down slightly, not wanting to make a full nod while the servant was carefully brushing her hair.

"That's what needs to be done. He'll be making sure they get to the North Pole punctually." she argued, "Sokka and I both adhere to the principle of timeliness, even if on a day to day basis he's lazy."

"When will we be going?" she asked Azula, who narrowed her eyes, unsure how long replicating the design that War Minister Qin had would take.

"Soon enough. If we're lucky, then within the next two weeks, and the balloon will be fast. Maybe not as fast as Appa, but we'll be able to move toward the North Pole and get there in a few days." she explained her idea on the matter; she didn't know much about the flying contraption, but from what she had heard, it worked, and they did move faster than their ships, even if it could not carry nearly as much, given its purported size.

"Huh..." she mumbled, before smiling, turning her eyes toward the Princess, "Then you'll see Sokka again."

"I assume he won't be very happy about all of this." she conceded, before sighing, "But there's nothing I can do about that while I'm here and he's making sure they get to the North Pole." she admitted, before she narrowed her eyes, realising that she had been talking about private matters, that even if she didn't mention her intentions for Zhao, said intentions could be inferred from what she had said, "Excuse me." she cleared her throat, her eyes darting up and behind her, to look at the servant girl, whose eyes immediately filled with fear as each of theirs met.

"Y-yes, your highness?" she asked her, the Princess staring her down; even if she was looking at her upside down while her hair was being brushed, that didnt' mean she couldn't intimidate the servant girl.

"You and your friend here aren't to mention anything Ty Lee and I discuss here. It is for the greater good of the Fire Nation that you keep your lips shut; I don't need to tell you what would happen if you were to do otherwise." she explained the situation as bluntly as she could, trying to make her voice as serious as possible.

The servant girl nodded at her, her hand trembling as she brushed Azula's hair, which told her that her voice had done its works, "Of course, your highness." she spoke up, before the other servant girl turned to face her, bowing in deference.

"We wouldn't dare to betray your trust."

"That's what I like to hear." she smiled deviously, appreciative of her loyalty, before clearing her throat, addressing the servant behind her, "Now, hurry up with the hair. I have an aircraft to examine." she prodded the servant, who began to speed up her brushes; not to the point where she would damage the Princess's hair, but clearly with haste- she did not want to waste any time when it came to her plans.

The servant continued to brush and her hair, cleaning off the product that she put in it by lightly dousing it with water; the Princess smiled, and closed her eyes, letting herself relax for a short period of time, knowing that she ought to have a little calm before she attended to the serious matters she would be facing. That would ensure she was clear of mind, which was the whole reason she, or anybody else, for that, meditated; clearness of mind was the tool by which she could face her goals with impartiality and a sense of rationale that she mightn't have been able to muster otherwise.

Becoming needlessly emotional would only cause problems; even if her firebending required her emotions to be harnessed, they otherwise needed to be suppressed, especially when she was attending to important matters where she had power and authority. At a moment's notice, she might require their use, so she needed to find an equilibrium; becoming like Mai was something she couldn't see being possible, nor very useful, given that she still required her bending, even if it wasn't her most powerful tool- her mind was.

"Azula, were we going to do some training today as well?" Ty Lee asked her, "I haven't practiced my chi-blocking since... uh.... you know." she mumbled, realising that was an easy way to bring up a painful memory for her.

Though she knew she had to do what she did to Sokka, she knew that it wasn't right; at least not right in the sense that he deserved it. He didn't deserve anything of the likes, after all he'd done for her, but she had to do it, for his own safety. The dilemma frustrated her to no end, and she knew that he wouldn't be happy about it, and perhaps, resent her once they reunited because of it; he had every right to be angry at her, just as she had the right to feel angry at him when she found herself stuck in the forest with him- he'd tried to kidnap her, after all.  In the end, they weren't the same; back then, Azula didn't know Sokka, and he didn't know her. When they shared that moment in the camp, it was as if everything they had done before that had just led up to her saying goodbye, leaving him there, chi-blocked on the ground, probably feeling like he was the least powerful person in the world.

"We can train." she answered her question after a pause that must have gained Ty Lee's suspicion.

She was always the observant one, even if she made stupid comments and observations from time to time, and she seemed to have gotten better at it as of late; it was either that or Azula covered her emotions far less effectively than she did before she met Sokka, which made too much sense, and made her feel uncomfortable. He had broken her in a way that nobody else ever had; she used to be stoic and uncaring, or at least, she thought she had been, and he made her open up- now that she was open, she was finding it a lot harder to close herself off again.

"I'm sorry for saying that." her friend admitted, "That was really stupid of me, Zula." she sighed, "I know you don't want to have to think of that, and I know it's half my fault."

"No, I told you to do it." she stressed, raising a hand up, not wanting Ty Lee to take the blame for something she really didn't have a choice in; she was loyal to a fault, and that had its drawbacks at times, "What I did there was necessary." she stressed the fact she was forcing herself to believe; she couldn't even call it a fact- it was practically a lie based upon the truth that Zhao might have killed Sokka if her intentions were revealed before she could get rid of him.

"And what about this." she mumbled, "Is this all necessary?"

"Well, I need my army." she stated the fact of the matter, "That was something I required no matter what. I'm simply... securing my position. I am to be the Fire Lord, so I am going to act like a Fire Lord."

"Like your father?" she asked her, the Princess tensing her jaw as she thought of the man himself; what she was doing, at least ignoring the whole fixing the Earth Kingdom and helping the Southern Water Tribe, was in line with her father's ethos- the strong guiding the weak, power making one's decisions right, and mercy being a fool's tool.

"My father might have been right about a few things, but he isn't that smart." she admitted, "Or maybe he's just arrogant. The point is, Zuko overthrew him for a number of reasons, some of which I can say are his fault. If he had simply had a more tempered fist, Fire Lord Ozai would still be sitting on the throne at this very moment."

"And where would have that put you?" she asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes; before her father's 'death', she had still wanted to use her alliance with Sokka to her advantage- perhaps to pacify the Southern Water Tribe, she had thought, before all of the chaos that ensued, and the unspeakable things she did with the Water Tribesman.

"Somewhere far away from here." she admitted, before sighing, "I wouldn't have had the chance to gain the wisdom I have learnt."

"Was it Sokka or was it losing?" she asked her, the Princess laughing; they were both so intertwined that she couldn't say it was one or the other.

"Both." she raised her chin up, "Zuko might have been the one to redirect that lightning bolt at me, but Sokka was the one who was sitting there watching."

"You're saying you lost because you were thinking about him." she guessed, the Princess shaking her head; she didn't even have an argument against Ty Lee's assumption, because she simply didn't remember what happened, at least not properly in a way that she could trust her own memories- there were distortions and nightmares that she didn't want to have think about ever again.

"I don't even know." she sighed, "I can't remember the duel that well, after all that happened that day. All I know is how it ended, and why it ended."

Ty Lee turned her gaze over toward the Princess, her expression sympathetic, "I'm sorry, Zula. That sounds like it must have been pretty bad."

"From what Sokka said, it was." she acknowledged, "But then that idiot went around and saved me." she acknowledged the facts for what they were, "That's what I know, and I'll just remember that. I won't forget it." she assured Ty Lee, before she turned her eyes back toward the servant behind her, "Is my hair nearly done or what?" she asked snappily, the servant leaning back, trying to keep her composure.

"It's just drying, your highness." she explained, Azula rolling her eyes, wishing they had gotten to that part a little earlier; as relaxing as the spa session was, she had a million things on her mind, and thus, she was compelled to do something other than lie down- that being in this situation, to see War Minister Qin, analyse the schematics and prototype for the aircraft, and have it replicated at a larger size.

"So, what's been going on through that head of yours, Ty Lee? You haven't been ogling anyone of late, have you?" she asked her friend, deciding to make some conversation that was unlikely to divert to her own issues, something she wasn't in the mood to discuss.

"Uh, of course not." Ty Lee laughed off her question, which suggested the exact opposite.

"Who?" she raised a brow, the acrobat making an uneasy smile.

"I'd prefer not to say, if to just keep the awkwardness to a minimum." she argued, the Princess snickering at her reasoning; it wasn't the worst reasoning, given that though she was rather uncaring toward others opinions, for the most part, Azula did understand awkwardness to be a frustrating thing- a social weapon of sorts, to be used against oneself, like a poorly trained firebender setting their own hair on fire.

"Ah..." she scrunched her lips up, "Well, I'm still intrigued, but I'll just wait for you to spill your guts eventually. You always do."

Her friend laughed, though it was not one expressing humour, but rather unease, "Y-yeah, I do." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "I have been thinking about what I want to do after all of this is over."

"As forward thinking as ever." she smirked, knowing that Ty Lee had already been considering going to the Royal Spa as soon as she was offered the opportunity to help Azula, even knowing that to achieve that, she'd have to have already taken the throne; it made complete sense she'd think the same about her future career paths.

"I think I want to still use my skills." she admitted, "Chi-blocking and acrobatics are what I'm good at, which translates well to... any kind of fighting, I guess." she smiled, "I don't know what kind of job that would suit though. I don't think joining the domestic forces would do- that just sounds boring, guarding around a few factories and cities"

"I concur." she smirked, "That's not the kind of job for you. You need a little more action."

"Yeah, exactly." she smiled, "I was wondering if you had any ideas."

"Well, there's the option of being my personal guard." she conceded, making the acrobat scoff.

"Ahaha!" she laughed, before she turned her eyes to face her, "Wait, you're being serious?"

"You're pretty close to it already. I wouldn't force you to wear the same kind of armour and do the duties of an Imperial Firebender, but I'd want you by my side. You'd be a great asset to prevent the kinds of things that any monarch would want to avoid." she explained, "Plus, I could use the company." she admitted, a little more quietly.

Even though she hadn't really thought of her much before she found her in the circus, Azula was thinking that she actually enjoyed having Ty Lee around; she was somebody to talk to, and even if she had Sokka for that, Ty Lee was different to him in many ways.

"But Sokka's going to be around. You don't need me following you around all the time, do you?"

"Sokka won't be there every minute of the day, Ty Lee. He's his own person, as much as I'd prefer him to be by my side all day long; he probably is going to be the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe at some point, and I doubt that we're going to be alternating residences or something like that" she admitted, "And I value your support, Ty Lee. You're a... you're my good friend. Mai is too, even if she's off with Zuko at the moment."

"Thanks, Zula." she smiled at her, "I appreciate that you're willing to talk about this." she simply told her, before grinning, "And I appreciate this spa session. It was great. Not Royal Spa great, but good for where we are." she clarified, with a raised finger, making her snicker; she was right- the spa session had been good, even if she'd had to be a little harsh on the servants.

"Is my hair ready?" she asked the servant girl behind her, who rose up to her feet.

"Yes, your highness. You may tie it up now." she explained, the Princess clearing her throat, "I apologise. I will tie it up for you."

"That's better." she smirked, glad that the servant was at the very least learning how to treat her; she probably wasn't used to giving people spa sessions, or at least people of the Princess's stature.

The only people she could imagine actually receiving them would be any wives or daughters of officers present at the base, who might have joined their respective family members in virtual exile, given that it might have been dangerous for relatives of her supporters in the homeland. She waited as the servant girl tied up her hair, pulling it into its usual top knot, allowing her bangs to fall down from it to frame her face. The Princess raised her head back up once her headpiece was put back in, something she felt unusual wearing once again; it was the same one she had been wearing before her Agni Kai, and hadn't worn it again since, at least not in public. The day prior was the first time she'd worn it, deciding to put it on when she walked into the base, knowing it would be far easier for the troops to recognise her with it in her hair. She rose up from her position on the bed, tapping the back of her neck to check that the hair was in place, before touching her bangs; feeling confident in her appearance, the Princess turned to face Ty Lee, who was still getting her hair braided.

"I think this was a successful spa session, Ty Lee." she addressed her friend, who smiled.

"Yeah, it allows me to relax." she closed her eyes for a moment, "I feel like we need a little relaxation every once in a while. To get our minds of all the things that we have to deal with."

"You mean the things I have to deal with that you assist with?" she asked in clarification, finding that to be a more accurate description of their situation.

Ty Lee snickered, "I mean, I am helping you out, aren't I?" she asked, the Princess sighing, before she forced out a nod; she didn't want to confirm her friend's wishes, but she didn't exactly want to ignore the role she would play.

Even if her friend was just tagging along in the end, she knew that Ty Lee would be extremely valuable when they went to the North Pole, given her abilities would allow her to handle any unwanted situation rather swiftly; before that, she'd provide good counsel on Azula's decisions, and ensure that she wasn't making any decisions that were just absurd or arrogant.

She knew that she had been haughty and confident in the past, and because of that, she'd made mistakes. Those kinds of mistakes were the kind she was sure her friend would help her avoid, just as Sokka had attempted to, back before the Agni Kai; she hadn't listened to him, as much as she should have, mostly out of that arrogance, and thus, she was decidedly certain on not ignoring her friend when she had something to say.

Once her friend was up and her hair tied, she turned her eyes toward her, "Okay, so are we going to see this aircraft thingy now?" she asked, the Princess gesturing toward the door as she got up from the bed, planting her two feet firmly on the ground.

"Go right ahead." she told her, the acrobat doing just that, though once she opened the door, she turned back to face her with a perplexed look on her face.

"I just don't know where it is." she admitted with an awkward face, Azula striding right toward the doorway, forcing her friend to step out of the way.

"Well then, I'll lead the way." she declared, before turning her eyes back to the servant girls once more, "Clean this all up," she commanded them with a nonchalant expression, which quickly shifted as she remembered what was more important, "and don't mention a thing either of us have said here." she warned them once more, wanting to drive home that point.

If Zhao got a whiff of her foul intentions, things could turn out very badly; his loyalty would be replaced by anger and fury which she had learned to be a rather dangerous tool, given what had happened to his and Zuko's forces in Yu Dao that evening he had decided to attack, with the intent of destroying the Fire Lord, she had gathered.

"Of course, your highness." the two of them responded in tune, bowing with respect, before Azula turned her heels down the hallway.

She and her guards had been granted their own quarters within the main compound, though she assumed that the quarters had been reserved for somebody else; her room was not that large, at least not befitting of her role as their de facto Fire Lord, though she just guessed the infrastructure was never in place for her. She would be livid, however, if it turned out Zhao or the other high ranking officers had better accommodation than her; it wasn't that they didn't deserve it, given their ranks, but rather, that she was deserving of equal or better treatment than them in terms of her living arrangements. She knew it sounded demanding, though perhaps that was the part of her that had spent six months in a tent with Sokka at the South Pole saying that rather than the part of her with any sense of royal dignity; she doubted Zuko would tolerate something of the likes, let alone her father.

Making her way toward the doorway at the end of the hall, she opened it up, leading her out into an open, wide hallway that led through the compound; the building itself was quite large on the lower floors, and Azula had been afforded a room on the first floor, which gave a view over the nearby bay, which she found to be aesthetically pleasing enough, though nothing like looking out to the perfectly maintained gardens of the Royal Palace.

Ty Lee furrowed a brow at her, "Where would these prototypes be kept. Like in a warehouse or something?"

"A warehouse, I believe." he raised a finger, "I know that War Minister Qin has a building for the inventions seized from the so-called Mechanist. That was what he told me last night when I went and asked him a little more about it. He'll have the aircraft out for me to examine today."

"Oh, okay." her friend scratched at her chin, before gesturing a finger down the hallway, "But where is the warehouse?"

"By the northern end of the inner portion of the base, outside of the compound." she remembered, hoping that her memory had not failed her.

The previous day had been a bit of a blur after all the walking she did; though she was awake enough to deal with Zhao and the likes, she quickly got drowsy and was struggling to keep her eyes open during the formal meeting she'd had later that night with all of the officers about their efforts since her 'disappearance' from Yu Dao about ten months prior. She was contrastively well-slept and ready after her spa session to deal with the day's matters.

Azula strode on down the hallway with her friend by her side, making her way toward the entrance of the compound, she could see a few officers walking by, and they all bowed to her in respect as she walked by, something that made her momentarily purse her lips up, simply appreciating the deference she had garnered. She pushed that thought away, knowing that thinking about her power was just something that would make her gloat and feel haughty, instead of actually taking the situation for what it was.  She had been gone for months, and people still believed her to be the Princess she used to be; she was still Azula, but the Azula that had left the Fire Nation Capital seeking to smite down a plot in Ba Sing Se was not the same one who faced her brother in Yu Dao, nro the Azula that stood before them at that very moment, plotting to subvert the very man they saw as their leader.

When she reached the gates of the compound, they were immediately opened up for her, and the Princess strode on out, glancing around into the settlement that surrounded it; much of the place was essentially a town made of tents, given that most of the soldiers would be moving about a lot, and that originally, the base probably only housed a relatively small amount of troops. There were solid structures around as well, though they seemed to be interspersed, with a few bunkhouses, stables and warehouses about the inner settlement. The outer portion, beyond the pales and embankment, was entirely tents, which made her think about how big her army actually was. Much of it must have been spread about the nearby areas, either in occupied towns or outposts that would be keeping Zuko's forces at bay.

The Princess immediately made her way down a path, heading toward a cluster of warehouses that sat to the north of the walls of the compound, where Qin said they'd be; she walked past a few more troops, who bowed to her one by one, before continuing on their way. Ty Lee giggled at the deference, and the Princess turned to raise a finger toward her.

"I'm Princess Azula, remember?" she smirked, the acrobat grinning as she pointed a finger toward her with each of her hands.

"Don't you mean Fire Lord Azula?" she asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes; she wasn't the Fire Lord until she was crowned by the Fire Sages, and didn't intend to start calling herself until said ceremony had passed.

"Not yet." she stressed, before turning her attention ahead as she continued to approach the warehouses.

She thought there wasn't much going on in the area, though she was proven wrong when she turned a corner and saw what she had been waiting for; the aircraft, sitting uninflated and flat on the ground, was there, right in front of her, with War Minister Qin chiding the engineers who were meant to be handling it. His gaze turned back toward her, and he straightened his posture at once.

"Oh, Princess Azula." he cleared his throat, making a conciliatory smile toward her, "I am glad to see that you made it. Did you want to examine the craft?"

"I want to understand how it works, so I can understand how it can be replicated and improved upon." she clarified his question, the Minister nodding along, before he gestured for the engineers to scatter; they stepped back, allowing the Princess to approach it.

The craft consisted of an engine, which sat inside a basket, and a large balloon, tied to the balloon by metal supports, though the balloon itself was a rather sorry sight to look at, as it was uninflated and looked more like a rotting fruit than a balloon.

"How does it fly, again?" she asked the Minister, who stepped a little closer toward her before speaking up.

"By using the heating of the air inside the balloon. That's the purpose of the engine, to burn coal to heat the air." he explained, making her furrow a brow.

"Could you power it purely by firebending?" she asked him, the Minister looking at her with surprise before nodding.

"I believe so, but you'd need a few firebenders to achieve it, given the weight of the craft."

"Well, without the engine, there wouldn't be much weight other than their own bodies." she argued, the Minister's jaw dropping slightly, understanding her analysis after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Ah... that does work." he acknowledged, the Princess furrowing a brow.

"And what of sustained flight?" she asked him, the Minister stroking his facial hair in thought.

"We can achieve it, with a speedy ascent. The issue lies in dropping down. The aircraft seems to retain the heat longer than it is gained, thus, you have to turn off the engine to stop it from rising, and then allow it to slowly descend." he explained, the Princess furrowing a brow.

"With a firebender at the helm, that doesn't sound like too much of a problem." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "Though, I believe that issue needs to be dealt with if you want to increase the size of this craft. You'll need an engine that runs on purely coal, and a way to drop and rise with more precision."

"I understand, your highness." Qin bowed toward her, "Do you want the engineers to make a new prototype that fits your specifications?"

"That's exactly what I want them to do. How quickly can it be done?" she asked, the Minister turning to face the engineers he'd told to go away, gesturing for them to come closer.

"Did you hear the Princess?" he asked them, the men all nodding, "You've all examined the aircraft designs. How quickly could you make a larger version?"

"With the right machinery and workers to assist... five days." one of them explained, "We can repurpose a steamer engine to get more power for the engine, and all we need is to assemble a larger balloon and gondola. We believe that out-gassing valves on the balloon will allow it to drop when necessary with more precision."

"Oh, good." the Princess's expression brightened, "So you know what you're doing?"

The engineers bowed toward her, "Yes, your highness." they all spoke up to her, before one of them continued alone.

"We can have this prototype ready for flight within a week. We swear on it." he told her, Azula turning her eyes to Ty Lee.

"How long did Sokka say it'd take them... a week?" she raised a brow, the acrobat nodding along.

"Well then, if you're on schedule, it will be immensely helpful to our war-effort. I already have a first target in mind." she explained, War Minister Qin turning his eyes toward her with a surprised expression.

"Did you want to bomb the enemy with the aircraft?" he asked her, Azula cocking a smirk.

"Oh, no." she shook her head, before placing her right hand on her chin, imagining what it would be like to fly into the Northern Water Tribe, unseen as they soared above the clouds; Zhao would be ecstatic to hear her plan, and he would be none the wiser to accept it, thinking himself closer than ever to his morbid dream, when in fact, he would only be closer to his doom.

"I have a far more covert use for this technology."

* * *

Sokka thought flying above the clouds, away from the ground and whatever concerns lay there, would be calming, but being away from everything only drew him back into his thoughts; thinking about Azula, and her plans, and what might happen next. He didn't know when she'd show up at the North Pole, or how exactly, at that. The Water Tribe warrior was sure of a few things, one of them being that the Northern Water Tribe was certainly not going to be accepting of his sister's wishes when they arrived, and that they'd probably not take much of a liking to them in general. They probably would have heard about their association with Azula, and perhaps like the Kyoshi Islanders, would want nothing to do with them. He was sure that his girlfriend's plan would be considering that.

In the end, whatever was to be done with Zhao, he hoped that it would help the Northern Water Tribe trust them, Azula included, and at the very best, consider helping them in their efforts to pacify the Earth Kingdom. Bumi's rebels were just a start, but they were only one peice in the puzzle to solving the problems that lay in the Earth Kingdom. The Southern Water Tribes' ships would be sailing north at that very moment, probably attending to the Southern Raiders, and with any luck, they'd reach New Omashu and assist the rebels in moving out about the Earth Kingdom and stirring up support.

He wondered where his father was at that very moment, and just hoped that he was doing alright; he knew that the warriors would be putting themselves in danger, and he wished that he could have been by their side. He knew, however, that helping Aang was more important, at least when he considered the consequences; the Avatar could truly bring an end to the war, and help the world return to balance. Though the warriors were great at fighting, and could really pack a punch against the Fire Navy, they weren't going to change the world on their own.

"Sokka, what are you thinking about?" the young Air Nomad asked him, Sokka raising his head up from the saddle.

"What Dad and the others might be doing right now." he simply told him, "They might have gotten to New Omashu by now."

"I wonder if they've been using that trick against the Southern Raiders." Katara mumbled, before turning her eyes toward her brother, "Blocking an engine without waterbending wouldn't be that hard, would it?"'

He raised a brow, not having thought of that; he knew that the warriors had done similar things on the ships they'd attacked before he got shipwrecked with Azula.

"I think they can do it." he agreed with her, "But the Southern Raiders aren't pushovers." he conceded, "I could fight them well enough, but that's only because I could chi-block them. Dad and the other warriors don't have that skill up their sleeves."

"But Dad's pretty smart, Sokka." she argued, making him snicker, agreeing with her wholeheartedly.

"Dad's the smartest guy I know." he assured her, before he glanced off into the clouds they flew past, finding them to be rather pretty, though they didn't distract him from his racing thoughts- Azula was out there, and though he was sure she was safe, he didn't know how long that would last.

He leaned back over, glancing over to the side so he didn't have to look in the direction of the sun; Sokka didn't know what to do, other than just lie there. He could make conversation, but he knew everyone was rather bored and tired; they'd already talked about a lot that morning. The beatdown his sister gave a mugger and what the refugees were going to do being the primary topics of discussion; the refugees were probably going to be alright, and they heard that Kuo and Tai both found some work in Gaochao, working as labourers at a workshop, and the family had a few nice bowls of jook.

Sokka had bought some more jerky, and he had decided to savour it and not eat it all just yet; they had enough rice crackers, dried fruit and nuts to last them a week, so he was sure they would be alright. He heard some shuffling around on the saddle, breaking him from his chain of thought; Sokka glanced over to see Katara laying down beside him, which was a bit of a surprise. Whether she wanted to keep him company, go to sleep or something else, Sokka couldn't be sure.

"You know, you've been pretty quiet today." she acknowledged, making him chuckle; the implications of her words were too offensive to ignore.

"Oh, so I'm really loud and annoying most of the time?" he asked her, making his sister cringe, though she tried her best to keep a positive face.

"N-no..." she mumbled, "Well, maybe a little. Only when you're complaining."

"I'll only complain when there's something worth complaining about." he argued, before crossing his arms, "You didn't actually want me to complain, did you?"

"Nope." she shook her head, the grimace on her face assuring him that she didn't have some weird wish to start an argument just for the sake of it; that was the kind of thing Azula would do, though Katara usually tried to have a reason to start an argument, though most of the time, it was rather petty, "I'm just wondering how you're going on in that head of yours."

"Just thinking about things." he shrugged his shoulders, "What else can I do?"

"Sleep?" she narrowed her eyes at him; Sokka held back a laugh- he could sleep, though he would find it a little challenging to do so with the sun bright and high in the sky.

"Ah I could try." he conceded, "But I'd rather just stay awake. I never know when Momo will try and steal my food." he acknowledged, Aang turning around to face him with a pout, gesturing to the flying-lemur, who was curled up sleeping by the front of the saddle.

"Hey, Momo wouldn't just do that. He knows what's his." he assured the Water Tribesman, who narrowed his eyes at him.

"Have you not seen him trying to nibble at my jerky?" he asked him, "I swear he was doing it earlier." he argued, his sister snickering.

"Are you sure Sokka? Your mind just might be playing tricks on you." she warned him, the Water Tribesman idly glancing toward the sleeping lemur; perhaps he hadn't done anything, and Sokka was just going crazy, a thought that amused him somewhat, though he was beginning to take it seriously after self-consciously realising his behaviours had shifted with his girlfriend's departure.

"Hmph, you might be right. Maybe I just need more sleep." he argued, Katara raising a brow with confusion.

"More sleep? You slept in pretty late today." she acknowledged, Sokka groaning; the sleeping in was only relative- everybody else had woken up at dawn, so when he got up just as his sister and Lian were finishing breakfast, he was technically sleeping in, even if it was barely past sunrise.

"Yeah, slept in until sunrise." he growled, "I mean, I understand why we got up early, but man... I drained my energy pretty quickly." he acknowledged, "Breakfast was good though."

"Thanks, Sokka." she smiled at him, before she glanced around, "You can sleep if you want. I'm sure nothing amazing will happen if you rest your eyes for a bit."

"But it's barely past midday." he gestured toward the sun, "If I'm like this because of a little sleep deprivation, what am I going to be like if we keep getting up early every day to start flying?"

"Well, you can sleep on the saddle, Sokka." Aang explained, "It's not that bad up here. Maybe a little chilly, but that's what the sleeping roll's for."

"Huh, good point." he acknowledged, "Maybe it won't be that bad." he smiled, before stretching his arms up into the air, "Yeah, I think I'll get in the sleeping roll."

His sister pulled it out for him, and Sokka began to unfurl it, remembering how big it was; it was weird using the sleeping roll without Azula, given that he wasn't big enough to just take up the whole sleeping roll by himself. The Water Tribesman slid himself into the sleeping roll, rolling around a bit to find a snug position, before he yawned.

"Do you have a bedtime story for me?" he jokingly addressed Katara, who looked at him with a dumbfounded face, her jaw dropping slightly, before she realised he was just making a joke.

"Sokka..." she growled his name, before raising a finger to her chin, "Though, you know what, telling you a bedtime story would get my mind flowing. I've got to think about something other than the shapes I can make out in the clouds."

"That's pretty fun, though." Aang argued, the Water Tribe girl making an awkward smile.

"Well, it's fun... until you spend two months doing it nearly every day, unintentionally because you have nothing else to do."

"We really need to buy a Pai Sho set or something." Aang furrowed his eyebrows, "Sokka, is that allowed?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Something for Azula to beat me at once she gets back." he mumbled, knowing that that was the most likely outcome if they got Pai Sho and he tried to learn it.

"Monk Gyatso always beat me, but I think I've gotten good at it- good at cheating, that is." he cocked a smirk, making Sokka snicker.

"You do know the rules, right?"

"Uh... yeah, totally. You can't break them without knowing them." he raised a finger, Katara laughing, pointing a finger at him approvingly.

"That's a good one, Aang."

Sokka shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, so, we can go buy a Pai Soh set, wherever they sell those." he noted, before furrowing a brow, "Do you know where they sell them?"

"Probably at general stores." Aang guessed, "But I haven't seen one before." he conceded, turning his eyes ahead, "I guess we'll just have to play travelling games until then."

"You mean like asking weird questions?" Katara raised a brow, "That never seems to end well." she conceded, the Water Tribe warrior snickering.

"Well, you're lucky Azula isn't here to ask those questions." he noted, before scratching his chin, "Is there any kind of game you can think of?"

"The laughing game." the young Avatar grinned at him, "That's fun."

"Yeah, it is pretty fun." the Water Tribe girl conceded, turning to face her brother, "What do you say, Sokka? Got any ideas to make us laugh?"

"I'll play, but I want you to try and make me laugh." he argued, preferring that she try and get him to cackle; he knew he could use the distraction.

"Okay then." she nodded, crossing her arms as she raised a brow in thought, "Now, how do I make you laugh, Sokka?" she asked him, obviously rhetorically, as he wasn't going to give her any pointers.

"Something about food, or puns." Aang argued, making the Water Tribesman smirk; he did like a few puns or food jokes.

"Oh, oh!" Katara's eyes widened, "I think I've got something."

Sokka turned his eyes to face her, pulling as smug a face he could, "Oh, really?" he mocked her, "Come on then."

"Okay, so this is kinda a little story, but it's funny, trust me." she raised a hand, the Water tribesman scrunching his lips up as he thought about his sister's words.

"Like a story about me? I won't laugh at myself." he declared with confidence, knowing that it would tarnish his pride to laugh at a story like the 'pee-puddle' story she'd told them before to make Aang laugh.

"No, no, it's made up." she assured him, "So, there was once this fisherman, and he was the best fisherman in his village. He kept catching heaps of fish, even when other villagers couldn't even catch one."

"Did he steal them or something?" he asked her preemptively, Katara shaking her finger at him.

"No, no, I'll get to that." she clarified, before clearing her throat, "So, the other men and women in the village started getting suspicious. He was generous in giving them fish, but he kept asking for things in return. Nobody liked that, so they decided to investigate his igloo when he was out fishing one day."

"What was there?" Aang turned around, intrigued by where the story was going.

"They looked from top to bottom, but they couldn't find anything that told them how he was catching the fish." she explained, Sokka gesturing his hand up.

"So what's funny about this? A guy's good at fishing and everyone suspects him of doing something..." he stopped himself as he realised what the joke actually was, "He was doing something fishy!" he exclaimed and let out a hearty laugh; Katara clapped her hands together, proud of her achievement.

"Thanks for the advice Aang, I knew it would work." she declared, before turning to face her brother, "So, did you like that one?"

"There's gotta be more stories you can come up with. All the wordplay." he raised his hands up, just appreciating the wit that had to go into jokes like the one Katara just told him.

"Well, Sokka, I'd say it's your turn to make Aang laugh." she acknowledged, the Water Tribesman furrowing a brow, turning his gaze toward the young Avatar.

"And what makes Aang laugh?"

"Funny things." the twelve year old told him, matter-of-factly, which wasn't very helpful nor amusing to Sokka.

"Oh, what do we call funny? Aang nearly getting himself eaten by the Unagi because he was too focused on showing off?" he suggested, the young Air Nomad cringing at his suggestion; that memory was probably not very fond in his mind.

"I think that's more of a life lesson than a funny story." his sister acknowledged, before she raised a finger to her chin, "You could probably tell him something funny from your journey with Azula."

"We covered all of that like two days ago. It won't be funny when I tell him a second time." he argued, thinking that wasn't a good idea; he needed something novel to make Aang laugh.

"You're a funny guy, Sokka. I'm sure you can make me laugh." the Avatar gave him some words of encouragement, making him raise a brow suspiciously at him.

"You're the one I'm trying to make laugh. Do you want to?" he asked him, Aang grinning at him.

"Of course I do. But, this game's all about effort, right?"

He dropped his chin down, noting that his friend was correct, "Yeah, that's right." he conceded, before he lay back, trying to consider what might make the other boy laugh.

Before he could come up with a smart line or a humorous story like his sister had, he was interrupted by the sound of what could only be a fiery explosion below them.

"Ack!" he nearly sequaled, rising up from the saddle, "The Fire Nation better not be trying to shoot us out of the sky again!"

"I don't think they're aiming at us." his sister assured him, peering over the side of the saddle, before another explosion sounded off, "But they're definitely fighting down there."

"Should we... do something again?" Aang asked suggestively, making the Water Tribesman raise two hands up.

"Come on, I wanted to actually rest."

"You were bored, Sokka." Katara observed, "Kicking some butts to help out the Earth Kingdom is a good way to not be bored, right?" she asked him, the Water Tribesman sighing, pulling himself out of the sleeping roll.

"Urgh... you're right." he conceded, "But we're here to help people. I'm not just going to jump down and beat up some firebenders. So, we're going to focus on stopping them from winning, not beating them." he argued, the other two nodding along.

"You're the boss, Sokka." Aang conceded, before grasping Appa's reins, "So, we're going down?"

"We should check it out before we do anything. If this is just some Fire Nation goons fighting each other, I say we should just ignore it. I know that sounds bad, but them fighting each other is actually good for the Earth Kingdom."

"I have to agree with Sokka there." his sister glanced over toward Aang, "If this doesn't involve the Earth Kingdom, we should probably fly away. It's just stupid to get involved with the Fire Nation fighting between themselves."

"Okay." he pouted slightly, though his face showed that he understood, even if he didn't like the idea, "I get it."

"Take us down." the Water Tribe warrior told his friend, his tone becoming stern; given that he wasn't much of a leader himself, thinking what Azula would do was the best way to go about bossing the other two around.

With that, Appa groaned and began to circle downward, diving down through the clouds, which wet them as they made their way through; Sokka wasn't too concerned, however, and reached back for his club, which he slung over his shoulder, making sure it was ready to use before they reached the ground. He always had his boomerang on the ready, and was confident in his chi-blocking skills; even if he couldn't defeat Ty Lee, he could certainly take down some Fire Nation goons with it, just as he had on Crescent Island. He noted Katara taking a form already, though he realised why as she motioned her hands, collecting water as they moved through the clouds. He smirked approvingly, but turned his attention ahead of them, knowing that he had to be ready for whatever they might face.

As they reached the lowest clouds, the ground below revealed itself; they were circling down over a steeply sloped valley, in which two groups were fighting. Sokka could tell from the clothes and what was being thrown around, that being rocks and flames, that it was a group of Earth Kingdom fighters going against some Fire Nation troops; given that the Fire Nation soldiers were coming uphill with komodo rhinos, he assumed that they were the attackers, while their opponents were simply defending their territory. He couldn't see any kind of outpost or village around them, but he knew that if earthbenders had an outpost, they might have just built it like New Omashu, and constructed it underground.

"Well, this seems like an Earth Kingdom Fire Nation fight." Aang observed, before smirking, "So, are we going to kick some firebender butts?"

"Yes, Aang, we are." he smirked at his friend, before rising to his feet, waiting for Appa to reach the ground, which he was quickly approaching; Momo had been roused from his slumber, and screeched, flying up into the air.

"Momo! Wait!" the young Air Nomad cried out, the flying lemur further annoyed by a fire stream being sent in their direction; he flew off into the distance, and Sokka cringed, just hoping that he'd be okay while they helped out the Earth Kingdom.

Glancing down toward the firebenders, they looked up their way with confusion, as well as their opponents, who were equally confused by them showing up.

"Who are these guys?" a soldier gestured toward them, Sokka drawing out his boomerang and throwing it right at his head; he hadn't been expecting it, and was flung down off his feet.

He cocked a smirk, pointing down toward the Fire Nation soldiers, "We're your worst nightmare, buddy!" he proclaimed proudly, before turning to face his sister, wagging his finger toward her, hoping she'd get the message; she needed to start throwing some water at the firebenders before they got set on fire.

She realised what her brother was trying to tell her, and wrapped the water she had collected around her, before firing out a powerful water whip striking a few firebenders off their feet by whacking them about like she was smacking them, as if they were badly behaved children. He chuckled at the analogy, and the sorry state they were in afterwards, but as he saw Aang leap off the saddle with his staff in hand, he realised he would need to contribute to the fight; a single whack from his boomerang was not enough to get the Fire Nation to run for the hills, or in this specific case, run away from them. He jumped off of the saddle, skidding down the hill slope as he eyed the Fire Nation troops. One of them threw a fire stream his way, and Sokka ducked down, stopping his controlled slide down the slope, before he drew out his club. He had yet to retrieve his boomerang, but he would get around to that quickly enough.

The Earth Kingdom fighters were enthused by their arrival, even if they didn't understand why they'd shown up. Aang was making quick work of the soldiers, throwing them off of their feet, and deflecting any fire blasts they sent his way. When a firebender charged at him with his hands full of flames, he probably thought he could throw a fireblast at Sokka's face, but was sorely mistaken as his flames were waded through by his thick whalebone club, which swung down on his leg, forcing the soldier down to his knee.

"Ow!" he cried out, the Water Tribesman cocking a smirk.

"Well, don't try and set me on fire." he suggested, before kicking him in the chest, forcing him onto his back as he scanned ahead, ready to take his boomerang back and start what he seemed to be best at- giving unsuspecting benders a beat down with chi-blocking.

He charged ahead toward his weapon, which the enemy realised he was going for; so, being the smart fighters they were, they all decided to send a fire blast his way at once. It didn't do them much good as Katara's water whip sliced through their attacks, dispersing them and creating a lot of steam, which provided a great distraction for him to pick up his boomerang. He scooped it off of the ground, and began by lopping it right at the neck of one of the firebenders; though he was still conscious after the hit, found himself paralysed, slumping down to the ground. His comrades were obviously shocked by the move and immediately began to draw away from Sokka, realising the danger he posed. They also were incentivised to move away as rocks began to be pelted at them from behind the Water tribe warrior, the earthbenders getting in on the action.

He smirked, confident they had changed the way the fight had been going, and moved forward with his club in hand, ready to deal some damage; he wasn't going to reveal his chi-blocking skills just yet, knowing that was an advantage best kept secret until the opportune time. Katara skid down the slope, just as he had, distracting the firebenders for a few moments as she pulled up a water shield, defending herself from their volleys of fireballs.

Sokka moved in at once, throwing a soldier off his feet with his club, tripping him before striking the soldier beside him in the head with the weapon. That threw him into the next enemy, the two of them falling to the ground; the Water Tribe warrior let out a cocky smirk, thinking that getting two-in-one was a good result.  He spun around, blocking a firebenders blast by forcing his hand up with the whack of his club, before he used said weapon to strike his kneecaps; the soldier grunted with pain, before he was thrown off his feet, Aang firing an air blast in his direction. He smirked at the Avatar's quick work, but turned his attention back toward the firebenders, who moved into formation, ready to send a number of fire blasts his way at once.

He stepped back, just hoping his friend would provide some cover with a well-timed gust of wind; he was surprised and pleased to see, however, the earthbenders behind him taking form, raising up a wall of stone to block the flames; it held steady, before it was shattered, part by part, and throw by the Earth Kingdoms soldiers toward their opponents. Katara landed down beside him, and took a fighting stance beside Sokka and Aang, who grinned at them both.

"Let's go kick some butts." he declared, charging forward as the last of the stone wall was sent toward their enemies.

Sokka raced ahead, picking up his boomerang, which had been strewn on the ground, before he threw it toward their opponents, striking one of them in their helmet; he was amused to see him slump down to the ground, beside his comrades, who looked like they had no idea what to do. He approached some soldiers wielding pikes, and was able to block their weapons with his club, before they were stuck in place, suddenly, by Katara dropping a mass of water by their feet and freezing it. He laughed at the sight, and then knocked them out with a few quick jabs of his fists, not even needing his club to deal with them.

Once they were out of it, he picked up his boomerang which had been left behind by the slowly withdrawing enemy, and immediately glanced around, wondering who would be the smartest opponent to attack. He decided upon throwing it at one of the komodo rhino riders, who once unconscious, was unable to stop the beast from walking around erratically, getting in the way of the firebenders, who were forced to duck under a number of rocks being pelted their way. The Water Tribe warrior continued his advance, readying his club against some firebenders, who seemed intent on getting rid of the threat he posed.

He was forced to raise his club up to block a fire blast, and though it didn't actually help that much, his sister was quick to sweep, using her water whip to whack the firebenders over, giving him the opportunity to whack them unconscious with his club. He turned to face her with an approving smirk, acknowledging that her waterbending was fast improving in its combat application; she used to be restrained to bobbing sea water up and down and throwing snow at time, while now, she was already capable of using a number of waterbending forms with a surprising degree of skill.

"Good job, Katara!" he applauded her efforts, before turning to face the quickly retreating Fire Nation forces, "I didn't even need to use my best trick. They're already running."

Aang spun his staff around, creating a powerful wind-gust, which threw a number of firebenders off of their feet, while the earthbending soldiers behind them created a number of pillars out of the ground, striking the enemy in their torsos, quickly knocking out.

"Ow." he cringed in imagining what they were feeling at that very moment, before he turned to face the Avatar, whose chest was heaving, suggesting he had gotten a fair bit of a workout, "Well, I think we thoroughly kicked their butts."

"Yeah." he made a smile, before turning to face the Earth Kingdom soldiers, who were approaching them with confused looks on their faces.

'Who are you guys?" one of them asked, Aang gesturing toward his chest.

"I'm the Avatar, and these are my friends." he pointed to Sokka and Katara, "We just saw you guys fighting and thought we could help out."

"Oh." one of them mumbled, turning to face his comrades, "Did he just say he's the Avatar?"

"That's what I said." Aang piped up, one soldier striding ahead of the others, his attire suggesting he was their commanding officer.

"Avatar." he bowed toward him, "We thank you for your assistance."

"No worries." he smiled at him, before gesturing down the hill, "Did you want us to chase them off for you?"

"No, no, I think they won't be coming back after that beating." he admitted, before looking at them with confusion, "Why are you here?"

"We're heading to the North Pole." Katara clarified, "We just saw the fighting and Aang wanted to help."

"I can't let the Fire Nation rule your country, so I help out where I can." the young Air Nomad assured him, before Sokka stepped forward, unsure what exactly they had walked into.

"Were you just defending there, or did you find them?" he asked the leader, who looked at him with slight offence.

"We are defending our homeland from invasion. You can obviously see that."

"No, no, I mean, were these soldiers looking for you?" he clarified his question, the leader narrowing his eyes for a moment before giving a nod.

"Yes, those ash-makers have been looking for our base of operations for a few weeks now. We've beaten them back every time." he explained, before gesturing up the hill, obviously in the direction of wherever they camped out "We could give you shelter, if you like. The Avatar and his allies are friends of the Earth Kingdom." he simply commented on their relationship, which made the young Air Nomad grin at him.

"Oh, that's good to hear. I thought maybe you guys wouldn't like me after I disappeared for a hundred years." he conceded, with a cringed face, Katara looking back his way with confusion.

"Why would you think that?"

Sokka raised a hand, "No, Aang has a point there." he conceded, before turning his eyes toward the Earth Kingdom soldiers, "We're trying to gather support for reuniting the Earth Kingdom." he explained one of their other intentions, which didn't exactly have anything to do with them landing down and assisting them, "Would you be interested in coordinating with our other allies?"

"Oh." the leader's eyes widened, "Well, I can't say for sure. I'm just the commander of this fighting force. We serve General Hong." he explained, "Our base of operations is in the mountains to the east of here. If you want to meet with him and discuss such matters, you can come with us."

"I'm sorry, but we can't do that at the moment." he conceded, "Aang needs to learn waterbending, and we need to go to the North Pole right now. We hope to gain the support of the Northern Water Tribe in our coalition as well." he explained, the commander bowing toward Aang.

"I understand. I wish you all the best of luck with your journey. Please, do come to us when you can. We would very much like to make our country whole once again." he admitted, the Avatar grabbing his bison whistle and blowing through it, Appa groaning as he rose up from the nearby hill, and began to fly down toward them.

"That's a scary friend you've got right there." one of the soldiers admitted, "Does he eat firebenders for breakfast?" he asked, making Aang laugh.

"No, Appa's a vegetarian. He just eats grass and stuff like that." he assured them, the soldier looking at his comrades with confusion; he was a little perplexed why the young Air Nomad didn't get his joke, something that Sokka had noticed, though he couldn't be bothered explaining it to his friend.

"Well, back to sleep for me." he smirked, raising his hands into the air, "I think we dealt with those firebenders well." he declared, before glancing around, "Now, where's my boomerang?"

Katara was already walking over to get it, the helpful sister that she was, and he grinned at her, giving her two thumbs up to thank her, though she obviously wasn't as enthusiastic as he was. She strode over and handed him his boomerang, before she looked back toward the Earth Kingdom soldiers, who were making their way back up the gully, heading presumably back to their base.

"Well, I guess that fight was over pretty quickly." she conceded, before turning to Appa, "And now we just keep on flying."

"Maybe we can fly under the clouds this time so I can get some sleep." Sokka suggested, "The sun's a little too bright above them."

"Hmph, okay." the young Avatar nodded at him, before glancing around, "Where'd Momo go?" he asked, making Sokka turn his eyes about the gully, noting that their little furry friend hadn't followed them.

"Maybe he's up the hill." he guessed, "He probably didn't want to go anywhere near those firebenders."

"Momo!" Aang called out to his flying-lemur, to no avail; the Water Tribe warrior placed a hand on his shoulder, sympathetic with his plight.

"Let's just get on the saddle. I'm sure he'll be up there somewhere." he assured him, the young Avatar pouting, before he climbed up onto the saddle.

"I hope you're right." he mumbled, "I don't want him going off somewhere dangerous."

"Momo's as skittish as a- well, I don't know what, but he's always ready to get away from danger." Katara admitted, smiling up at him, "I'm sure he's fine."

The two Water Tribe siblings climbed up onto the saddle, and a few moments later, their friend whipped the reins, "Yip-yip!" he called on the sky-bison, who roared, before he began to glide up into the air.

He moved up the gully, toward the Earth Kingdom soldiers, who turned around, watching with awe as he flew over them; everybody seemed to be in awe of the sky-bison, who was probably the biggest creature they'd seen- for the group, Sokka was sure that the Unagi was the largest thing they'd seen. Aang then pulled on the reins, driving them to the left, back in the direction of where they last saw Momo.

Appa stayed close to the ground as they moved along, across the mostly treeless hills, in the direction of the woodland that lined the lower portion of the hills; that was where they had landed, so he assumed the flying-lemur would be nearby. The Water Tribe warrior kept a keen eye out, looking over the trees, before he noted something odd; it looked like a few stray fruit, lying on the ground, just by the edge of the woods.

"Aang, slow down a bit. I think I spotted something." he explained, the Avatar nodding, as he pulled on Appa's reins, making the sky-bison drop even lower, to the point where his feet were almost on the ground.

Then they were able to see it- Momo was climbing up a tree, picking fruit and chewing them down; he'd gotten to have a little feast to himself while they were off fighting the bad guys. Sokka would admit, even if he thought the fight was a little invigorating, he knew eating would be a much more enjoyable experience.

"You got to eat all this fruit and you didn't tell me?!" he cried out, before he jumped down off of Appa's saddle, making his way toward the tree, "Good find, though. Now we can have some fruit to eat too." he turned to face his friends with a grin.

"You'll let Momo eat some more, right?" Aang asked him, the Water Tribesman glancing toward the flying-lemur, who had a noticeably swollen belly.

"Maybe not right now, but he can have some." he clarified, before gesturing toward the lemur, "Come on, buddy." he pointed toward his shoulder, Momo eyeing his way, though he didn't jump just yet.

"Okay, suit yourself." he raised his hands defensively, "But don't blame me when you can't fly due to that filled stomach of yours." he warned the flying-lemur, who didn't seem to have a care in the world.

The Water Tribesman then strode over to the fruits that had been knocked to the ground by Momo, and picked up a few, bundling them into his arms; glancing back toward the other two, he figured he could throw them the fruit. He cocked a smirk, wondering if they could do it without warning; it was a good test to make sure their reflexes were up to scratch- that was what Azula would tell him, so he was heeding that advice when he lopped at fruit right at Aang's head. he was quick enough to stop it, catching it in a ball of air, while Katara was able to skillfully catch the fruit he'd sent her way.

"Nice catchǃ" he commended them both, his sister only slightly amused by his move, given that she might have had a face full of fruit if he'd thrown toward her first.

He picked up a few more fruits, and began to throw them over to the pair, Aang taking advantage of the situation by scooping them all up with his airbending; then he began to juggle them, which seemed to annoy Katara, who might have otherwise wanted to catch some herself. Though, her annoyance seemed to fade as she took a bite from one of the fruit; Sokka did the same, licking his lips upon having a taste- they were sweet, but not too much so, and it filled the grumbling in his stomach, satiating him, even if only for that moment.

He turned back around to face the fruit tree, looking at the various fruits that still hung up on the branch; he realised they'd be a challenge to reach, unless he wanted to throw his boomerang at each to knock them off the tree. That didn't sound like it would be worth the effort, so decided to work around the problem by something they'd learned well sharing camp chores- delegation.

"Aangǃ" he called out to the twelve-year-old, "Could you use some fancy airbending to whack these fruit down?" he asked him, the Air Nomad looking at him with surprise, before he nodded, jumping down from the saddle.

"Yeah, I can do that." he confirmed, before taking an airbending stance, beginning some kind of airbending form that Sokka didn't recognise.

He began to slowly move his hands around, creating a number of vortexes that spun in the air around his body, which he let out at the tree, as if he was throwing his own aethereal boomerangs, which threw the fruit off the branches, allowing Sokka to jump in and catch them as they fell down; quickly enough, he had a dozen fruit in his hands, and he grinned brightly, knowing that the new supply of food would help keep their food stores up, at least for a few days at that. He handed some of them to Aang, who helped him carry them over to Appa's saddle. Then they began to throw the fruits up onto the saddle, Katara catching them and piling them into the bags they had spare. Once they were all up on the saddle, Sokka began to chew down on the fruit he'd begun eating, smirking as he enjoyed it.

"Well, I gotta say, this is better than rice crackers." he conceded, before the boy beside him leapt up onto the saddle, offering him a hand up, which he accepted, the Air Nomad using his bending to help Sokka jump up onto the saddle.

"Airbending's a real treat, you know that?" he patted the boy on the shoulder, making him grin brightly.

"Yeah, it's pretty good." he acknowledged, before he turned to face Momo, who was still eating a fruit, hanging from the tree, "Come on, buddy, we've got to get flying again."

The flying lemur chittered, before he leapt over onto the saddle, barely able to glide with his engorged stomach. The lemur rolled over onto his back and panted, making Katara and Aang giggle at the sight.

"Aren't you full now?" the Water Tribe girl scratched him on the belly, making him flail his legs around, unable to roll over due to his swollen guts, "I'll take that as a yes." she acknowledged, before helping him roll over the lemur coiling up, probably ready to go back to sleep.

That gave Sokka an idea as he practically leapt into his sleeping-bag, ready to sleep for the rest of the afternoon, having had enough of games, fighting and fruit-picking. His sister looked back at him, rather amused by his immediate desire to go back into his sleeping roll.

"So, is it back to sleep for you too, Sokka?" she asked him, the Water Tribesman letting out a smile as he closed his eyes, laying himself back on the saddle.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

"Your highness, are you ready to go?"

Azula turned her head around, taking note that Renshu was calling to her through her bedroom door; she'd been looking over the various military reports collated by Zhao and the other officers, giving her a run-down of the military situation, a little more detailed than their prior meeting had been in terms of its descriptions. What she read might have seemed normal to Azula about a year prior, but sitting there, reading about how her men had burned down villages, and forced people from their homes, all under the pretense of 'securing the borders'; she hadn't really spoken about that with anyone, not wanting to indicate to her shift in views.

It was in her interest to have everyone believe that she was the same old Princess Azula everyone else had come to fear and admire. That Azula had died with the lightning bolt that should have killed her, and she didn't think she'd be coming back, no matter how power tempted her. Even if she could act like she used to, and assert the authority that she had always deserved to have, she could not unlearn what she had learned at the South Pole, from Sokka, and probably most importantly, from her own inward reflection. Even if others had allowed her to achieve that better understanding of the world, it was the Princess herself who had to consider what she had done in the past, to see what her future ought to be.

"Give me a moment." she spoke up, not wanting to rush out of her room; if she was to go speak to Zhao, she had to be in the right state of mind.

She got up from her seat, looking back down at the map she had been analysing; the most glaring detail was the marking of each village her men had sacked and seized control of in her name. The suffering that had occurred, without her consent, from her authority; once she might have simply accepted it as part of the conflict that existed between the nations, but it wasn't that simple anymore- the Earth Kingdom was being ripped to shreds by the Fire Nation, over its own internal affairs.

The cruelty was ironic, given that, instead of the Earth Kingdom being pillaged by the Fire Nation's near total victory with the fall of Ba Sing Se, it turned out that their suffering came about because of the very actions of somebody who probably wanted to prevent said suffering, that being her Uncle. Of course, Iroh had probably not foreseen what happened, but he was probably regretting his actions, now that he saw what their fellow countrymen had done to the world, and to each other.

The Princess turned her heels, moving toward the door, which she opened up, setting her eyes upon Renshu, who had dispensed of the ragged robes he had been wearing, which made him seem far less like an elite guard and more so like a peasant. Now, he looked as he was meant to, with his slick steel armour, and his intimidating helmet, though at that very moment, it was not on his hand, but under his arm, hoisted by his waist.  His gaze was calm, but she could see behind those outward emotions that he was feeling conflicted; perhaps over what she had become, and thus, who he was serving. The Captain had followed the mighty, undefeated Princess Azula, not the girl who stood before him, a distortion of that image he held in his mind.

"Captain." she simply addressed him, "I assume you've done your reading. I wanted you to be... prepared to deal with whatever questions the Admiral throws our way."

"Of course, your highness. I made sure to understand your whole plan. The North Pole is a dangerous place, and I can see why you've taken the route you have. Our nation has failed to breach their walls yet, but your plan, it works around that problem quite well." he commented on what he had already learned; she was unsure whether he was being truthful in giving his opinion, or just telling her what he thought she wanted to hear.

"Even if we aren't going to go through with his insane plan, I have formulated something that could have worked. In a different time, I may have accepted this kind of move, but killing those spirits will only bring harm to our nation."

"May I ask a question, your highness?" he queried, making her scoff.

"That was a question." she rolled her eyes, before raising a hand, gesturing for him to go ahead.

"Why are we going to this effort? Couldn't you just speak with the other officers, tell them what you want done with Zhao, and why, and just be done with it?"

"If I was simply intending to take this army here and liberate the colonies, I would have done just that." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "But I think you can appreciate the complexity of this situation. I am not simply trying to earn the respect of my nation, but of the world. I need to deal with this threat in a way that will most benefit myself and Aang. He needs to gain traction with the Northern Water Tribe if he has any hope of getting them to support our efforts in the Earth Kingdom."

He nodded, conceding to her point; he wasn't going to oppose her, even if he questioned her actions. In the end, he was loyal to her, and he would follow her words; she could acknowledge that his comment was a fair one, and made her consider the viewpoints the others might hold. The other leaders in her forces mightn't comprehend her actions; they might see her as a traitor for what she was about to do, but even then, she could not explain the matter, not while Zhao was still around.

She could not give him a chance to escape, to take his fleet and betray her; she needed his loyalty while he had his authority, which would only go as far as his commands did- without access to his fleet, he was merely a man, but an important one still. That was why she needed to use him as a bargaining chip; he was not an end in and of himself, but a means to one.

"Well then," she spoke up, gesturing down the hallway, "Should we go see him? I'm sure he'll be done with whatever commands he had to deal with to his subordinates."

"He does have a lot of them." Renshu conceded, "Which is half the reason we need him, isn't it?"

"I'm unsure how many are personally loyal to the Admiral, but a few of them must still respect him, even after all his blunders. If they didn't, they might have just defected over to my brother's forces, or to my father's." she acknowledged, noting that they posed a threat in and of themselves; once she played her move, there was no telling how much of his fleet would turn on her.

"Perhaps we need to earn their loyalty." the Captain raised a finger to his chin.

"That is something that can be achieved through intimidation." she decided, "Even if I am no longer as feared as I once was, I can still play with those feelings; if they believe the worst of me, they will be far more afraid to betray me."

"That tactic has worked in the past." he admitted, before grimacing, "I apologise if that causes you any offence, your highness."

"Offence is the wrong word, Captain." she narrowed her eyes at him, before gesturing to his helmet, "You ought to put that on; you are my personal guard, remember?"

He cleared his throat, placing the imposing steel helmet over his head, tightening it into place before turning to face her; he did seem very different with it on- with that helmet, he was just any other guard, but without it, he seemed a lot more human.

"My apologies, your highness. It's just a little uncomfortable wearing this after nine months without." he conceded, Azula holding back a laugh.

She could say the same about her attire, and having to deal with everyone actually treating her as if she was a Princess; she wouldn't say she missed the Southern Water Tribe, but she did find an affinity to their meritocratic society. There, she had pulled her weight and earned her respect without any consideration of her former position; people actually treated her harshly because of it, so she was sure that when they lauded her with respect, including Katara, she had to have been doing the right thing.

"I understand, Captain." she conceded, before she gestured down the hallway, "Let's go, I'm sure the Admiral will not appreciate us running late to this meeting." she explained her reasoning, the Captain nodding before the two of them began to walk down the hallway.

"He's a busy man." Renshu commented on her words, before dropping the volume of his voice, "For now."

She tried her best to keep a straight face; she was all too amused by his words, knowing that Zhao probably thought nothing was wrong. To the contrary, he was probably elated by her suggestions that they would be heading for the North Pole. She kept her mouth shut, and didn't speak further as they approached the exit, the Captain pushing the door open, leading her out into the man hall of the compound. They would have to climb the damned stairs again, but she was willing to tolerate that, assuming that the man beside her could keep up.

"How fast can you run in that armour?" she asked him, his head turning to face her, and the silent look he gave her suggested he was a little confused, "I don't want to waste all our time walking up those stairs." she clarified the context of her question, "So, can you run?"

"I am capable of doing so." he conceded, "I haven't had much practice, but the men and I have been training these past few hours in our full armour. I believe I can do it."

She pursed her lips upward, "Brilliant." she simply commended him, before turning her gaze ahead, watching as they walked by a few officers, who given their youthful faces, probably weren't very high-ranking.

They immediately bowed toward the Princess, who flat out ignored them; she had no time for their ilk, and simply needed to get to Zhao's office. She was a woman of principle and focus; she was not going to waste her time with their deference. The Captain glanced back toward them as she made her way toward the staircase, and he let out a light laugh.

"How offended were they?"

"Less offended, more afraid." he referenced her previous comment, the Princess letting out a momentary smile.

"That's what I like to hear, Captain." she nodded, before she eyed the staircase, "I wasn't joking about the running part."

"You are not someone for jokes, your highness." he acknowledged; she did like to insult people with sarcasm, but that was mockery, not joking around- when she ordered someone to do something, she expected it to be done.

She hastened her pace as she got to the stairs, and began to jog up them; not so fast to seem inappropriate or deranged, but enough so that she was going to get up to Zhao's office in a shorter amount of time than she had the last time she went up. Of course, when she was last scaling the four flights of stairs, she'd been walking all day, so running was absolutely out of the question; the refreshed and capable Princess was more than ready to run. She thought that she ought to do some training with her guards, but she realised that there was something more important that she needed to do.

She had mentioned to Zhao that she would be able to train some of her soldiers to be ready for the environment she'd expect at the North Pole. Such training would be rather simple in her eyes, focusing on the two key elements she saw to be necessary in that environment: how to protect oneself from the cold, and how to best apply one's breathing to ensure that one did not lose any bending capabilities from the temperatures alone. Firebending was weakened by a lack of sun, which would be an issue during the polar night, but she knew that even then, that did not make firebenders incapable; she wasn't expecting much of a fight when she got there, given her intentions, but she wanted said soldiers to be ready. She knew that they could have a very real application later on when she returned to the South Pole with her forces and gathered resources from the colonies; rebuilding the Southern Water Tribe, at least to begin with, would require some assistance from her troops to rid the South Pole of the threat that was the Southern Raiders.

Azula had continued all the way up the staircase, not stopping once as she and the Captain quickly scaled each flight of stairs; she reached the top far quicker than she had when she was exhausted, and was simply relieved by the fact that it wasn't as hard as she had expected. When she got to the fourth floor, she immediately turned her eyes toward Zhao's office, and approached it at once, slowing her pace, wanting to retain a degree of composure when she met with the Admiral.

The guards didn't even address her, simply bowing as they opened the doors for her. She then eyed the man she had been intending to meet, talking with a few of the other officers; she could tell from their attire that they were in the Navy, and relatively high ranking. She wondered what they might have been discussing, though she didn't intend to find out; it wasn't overly relevant to what she was doing there. Though she did intend to ingratiate herself with all of Zhao's lackeys, she'd require his trust and support first, knowing that if she did so first, it would become apparent a whole lot quicker than she was planning to dispense of him.

"Oh, your highness." he rose from his chair, before he bowed to her, the other men doing the same, "I didn't expect you to- well, actually, no, this is exactly like you. I thank you for your punctuality." he smiled at her, his words sounding off a genuine appreciation for her timeliness, even if she had interrupted whatever discussion he was having with his subordinates.

"It is not a worry. I simply arrived when you desired me to." she clarified, before eyeing the men who had bowed at her, "Is your meeting nearly over, or do I have to go wait somewhere?" she asked, knowing that her words would lead to a punctual exit by those who stood in the way of her discussions with Zhao.

"The meeting is over by your will, your highness." one of the officers addressed her, before turning to face Zhao, "I apologise, Admiral, that we slowed down your affairs." he spoke to his superior, who didn't seem overly fussed.

"Thank you. Just see yourselves out. I'll have a look over your reports as soon as I can." he explained, which made the Princess raise a brow.

His words suggested to Azula that the men before her were scouting, though where, she could not be sure; it was also possible that they'd been fighting her brother's forces, though that didn't seem to fit with what the Admiral had already told her about his current strategy of holding down their territory and securing it from outside threats. Once the men had left the room, the Princess turned her attention to the Admiral, who gestured to the seats the other men had been sitting in.

"Please, sit." he suggested, "Did you want some tea?"

"No, I'm fine." she refused his offer, pulling one of the seats out and sitting down on it.

She crossed her right leg over her left, and placed her hands together, wanting to sit in a posture that would suggest her authority; sitting so casually was usually a sign of disrespect in the Fire Nation, but given that she was the one in a position of power, it had the opposite effect- Zhao would know his place, and listen to her without question.

"So, Princess, what do you have to speak with me about? Do you have any news of Qin's aircraft?"

"Five days." she answered his second question rather simply, "Five days is how long it will take. I assume that you will be able to provide the Minister and his engineers with whatever equipment they require to make the larger craft. It will be necessary if we want to reach the North Pole."

"I understand." he nodded along, pursing his lips up, probably imagining the victory he had sought out for years, "What will be done in the meantime, then?"

"I need to train an elite group of soldiers to be prepared to deal with the North Pole. I will instruct them myself, given that I have first-hand experience. I want them to be ready to face the elements- not just the one being bent at us." she clarified, the Admiral huffing, seemingly amused by her comment, "So, as soon as I can, I would like to commence training them. Given that you have been here, overseeing the use of this army, I assume you would be better placed to choose those for our operation."

"I thank you for your kind judgement." he nodded, "I believe I can find you the men who would be suitable. We need to be taking this operation very seriously."

"That I am, Admiral." she acknowledged, before turning her eyes to the Captain, "My subordinate here is to help me oversee the training regime, and help us plan out the operation; he and my guards are highly skilled fighters, and obviously will be accompanying us on this operation."

"I understand, your highness. You will need all the protection you can get against those savages; they do have a number of advantages on their home ground, but I assume that your plan intends to counter those." he narrowed his eyes, acknowledging her thoughts; he was thinking along the same lines as she was, which was good- it proved that she was understanding what would needed to be done in the case they were actually going to go after the spirits.

"We will use the environment to our advantage. The Poles are known for their snowstorms and horrible weather, but such weather is brilliantly useful as cover in our operation. We will need to make sure the aircraft is capable of handling such weather, which is why we will take it north on a test flight first before we undertake our operation." she explained, the Admiral nodding along with growing smirk.

"I see." he noted, before placing his hands up on the desk, putting them together in front of himself, "So, according to what you've just told me, we can make our strike on the Northern Water Tribe in less than two weeks?"

"That's right." she nodded, "I simply need the time for this craft to be built and tested, and for my soldiers to be ready to face the threats of the North Pole, and we will be victorious."

"I am appreciative of your approach, Princess." he acknowledged, "Your mindset is something we need more of around here. Everyone has been far too cautious for my liking."

"Well, that is about to change soon enough." she smirked, her words not a lie; she knew that the Admiral was probably lying through his teeth, given that he was probably the one trying to avoid a direct confrontation with both the Northern Water Tribe and Zuko- to face both without the means to win would not end well.

"Do you have any news from the homeland, Admiral? I am curious as to how the situation there is unfolding."

"There is no open revolt against your brother just yet." he looked down, sounding saddened by the fact, "But there is tension brewing. Zuko is not the Fire Lord of his whole nation, not just in terms of the reach of his authority; not everyone agrees with his stance. Our nation will remain divided until you make your move, your highness, and then, we will see glory return to the Fire Nation." he acknowledged, the Princess placing her hands together, smirking at him.

"I will see that glorious future for our nation. The dream of Fire Lord Sozin will be accomplished, and the war, the war will be over." she told him the blunt truth, though he was too blind to see what she was actually telling him; he didn't react, simply keeping his cocky visage up.

"I believe in that future, just the same." he assured her, without any understanding of what she truly meant, "The reign that was vested to you. You were the Crown Princess, and it is only because of his possession of that crown and the approval of those damned sages that you aren't the Fire Lord right now." he acknowledged the fact of the matter- those were the things that stood between her and her rightful role.

"That is true." she nodded, imagining what it would be like to achieve that victory, no matter how far away it might have seemed to her at that very moment, "When I have the Capital, the crown will come with it, and the sages will bow, as they must."

"As would be expected." Zhao nodded, "They wouldn't want to end up in prison for disobeying the will of their rightful ruler."

"Precisely." she smirked, knowing at the very least, Zhao was right about that; when it came to things that didn't concern himself, he was somewhat of a pragmatist, but when it came to his own ego, his vanity came before all else- that would be the knife upon which he would fall, "Now, do you have any recommendations for who I should be training for this mission?"

The Admiral narrowed his eyes for a moment, before he cleared his throat, glancing toward a cabinet of scrolls he had, "I believe I have some reports in there that may be of use to your question. You are looking for the hardiest men around."

"Strength of the mind, not the body, Admiral." she clarified as he rose up to his feet.

The Captain glanced toward her, suggesting that he wanted to speak, and she nodded, allowing him to do so, "Admiral, may I recommend anyone who has had to deal with isolation. The threat that we will be facing at the North Pole not lies just in the terrain and the enemies that await us, but the dangers to the mind. Being so far away from everything that makes sense to a soldier can drive anyone mad."

"I see." Zhao nodded, seeming to understand his point, and turned to scanning over the numerous scrolls he had stacked up in his cabinet.

Azula held back a laugh, considering whether her time with Sokka had driven her insane in a way that she hadn't expected; perhaps from her father's point of view, that would be what happened, but from her own, she had gained knowledge and perspective, the kind that she couldn't have found anywhere else- it was not the forest, but Sokka and the experience they shared together. A similar kind of effect could come upon anyone, if they were put in a harsh enough situation; people could become erratic, poor of judgement, because they mightn't know if they were going to live, die, or see their home again.

"There is a group that fits your ideas, Princess." the Admiral spoke up, pulling out a scroll, "A group of fifteen soldiers from the twenty-seventh division. They were stuck in the wilderness of the Northern Earth Kingdom for a number of weeks, about four months ago, after the town they were occupying rose up against the garrisoned troops."

She pursed her lips, "Sounds like the right kind of men for this operation. Any other details you have about them?"

"They have a strong camaraderie, according to the report, and have requested to remain a whole since their experience in the woods." he clarified, "They are currently stationed as border-guards to the west of here."

"How long will it take to recall them?" she asked, the Admiral raising a brow.

"Well, I am not a master of land-based logistics and troop movements, but I'd guess off where their posting is, around five days on foot." he explained, the Princess nodding along.

"Well, send a messenger hawk to them at once. I wanted them recalled for this operation." she explained, the Admiral nodding.

"Of course, your highness." he bowed to her in respect, "Should I inform their commanding officer of this redeployment?"

"Yes, we cannot afford for gaps in our operations, Admiral." she acknowledged, Zhao striding back over to his seat.

"What else do you require of me?" he asked her, the Princess raising a finger to her chin, scratching it lightly as she considered his words.

"I merely need everything to run punctually, Admiral. When I need a ship to send this airship north, I will want it at once." she clarified, the Admiral pursing his lips upward.

"Trust me, Princess, I will have everything in place to ensure we can depart as soon as possible. So, with the testing of this craft and its construction time, would you agree that two weeks is enough time to enact the operation?" he asked her, the Princess nodding.

"That is acceptable." she conceded, "Once the North Pole has been dealt with, we will move onto more pressing matters."

"The colonies." he deduced, Azula glancing toward the Captain.

"Captain, what do you say of the defensive capabilities of my brother's forces?" she asked, Renshu turning his head toward her for a few moments, before he cleared his throat.

"The number of men by the border have increased substantially since the events at Yu Dao, primarily due to redeployment of troops from other parts of the Earth Kingdom that are no longer of priority to your brother, from what I can gather from the intelligence gathering the guards and I have completed over the past few months." he explained, before stretching out his right hand, moving his fingers, as if he was getting ready for a fight, "I believe our operations will require more stealth and subterfuge than what we had intended when we first entered the colonies."

"Blockading the enemy will not be a problem." Zhao acknowledged, "The Captain is correct; the enemy are better prepared for whatever ground operations we may make, so we will need to think around their defences."

"I have a few ideas in mind, but until I have sufficient intelligence gathered on this matter, we cannot make our moves. Keeping the border secure is the best thing we can do at this moment, and avoiding unnecessary skirmishes with the enemy will ensure that we do not waste our supplies." she explained, the Admiral narrowing his unburnt eye.

"That is what I have been focusing on, your highness." he explained, the Princess not commenting, but rather just continuing on with explaining her thoughts.

"Our forces are not occupying the richest part of the Earth Kingdom, and until we take the colonies, there is little chance we will have much resources spare for wide-ranging operations. An invasion of the homeland is functionally impossible without either support from locals, sympathetic to my cause, or with all the resources and manpower that the Earth Kingdom territories can provide to us."

"So, we will need to gather support in the colonies first. I assume that your ideas involve achieving that." he concluded, the Princess pursing her lips upward.

"You are correct." she acknowledged; he just didn't know what kind of support she was thinking of- if he knew, he might betray her then and there to her father's forces, "We should discuss this at a later time. I am sure you have matters to attend to; you have a whole fleet to run, while all I have is this operation." she conceded, the Admiral raising a hand.

"If it is authority and duties you seek, your highness, you only need to ask, and your men will be yours to command."

"It is not the time, not yet." she acknowledged, putting on a disenchanted face; she was not actually feeling incapable of leading, but she knew that it was not wise to exert her authority while she lacked the gravity she would require with all the men she sought to one day lead against her brother.

Despite feeling that she'd prefer to run her forces at once, she could not lead them with the threat that Zhao posed to her; ingratiation was the tool she would use to get his own forces on her side, while trickery would be her weapon against the Admiral himself. The Princess didn't know what else to say to the Admiral, having gathered the information she required; she was ready to prepare herself physically for the operation, even if she didn't really need to, seeing that it was all a hoax.

However, she wasn't going to waste a few weeks getting back into shape. Though she'd been training with Sokka for the past few months, she had not been firebending as much as she would have liked; she had built up a fair amount of muscle, though with it, she'd gotten a little pudgy, though said pudginess was quickly dealt with by the harsh diet she and others had had to endure since leaving the South Pole; there simply wasn't that much food for them to eat, even when they had the money to buy it.

"Well then, I believe that is it." she acknowledged, rising to her feet, "I wish you luck on your endeavours, Admiral Zhao."

"And I to you, Princess Azula." he too stood up, bowing to her in respect, before she and the Captain turned their heels, and headed toward the doors; now she didn't have much to do, and she was feeling in the mood to spar.

"Do you know where Ty Lee is?" she asked Renshu, who looked at her, the jolty movement he made suggesting he was surprised.

"Ty Lee? I haven't seen her. I thought she would have been with you." he acknowledged, before he pushed the door open, allowing them to exit Zhao's office.

She momentarily eyed the Admiral, before turning her attention back ahead, "I haven't seen her since we dealt with the aircraft. I was simply going through those reports, and she must have gone off and done... something." she mumbled, "She better not have gotten herself into trouble; I am not going to spend the next two weeks parenting her."

The Captain seemed to be struggling to hold back a laugh at her comments, the Princess sighing, knowing that it was an amusing situation; given Ty Lee's inquisitive nature, she tended to go off and do things that were rather unusual in her eyes, and Azula wanted more than anything for her friend to remain on hand. She didn't want her off trying to get herself a new boyfriend, as much as she might have liked to do that.

"Do you need to see her again? Was there something you needed to discuss?" he asked her, the Princess nodding, her face remaining serious, not wanting to express her reasoning through any subtle facial movements.

"Yes, there is." she lied; there was really nothing she needed to discuss in particular, but she knew that she would want to spend her afternoon with her, if she was going to spend it with anyone.

The Princess struggled to admit such things, but she wanted her company; she would go as far to say that she required it, given that if she were stuck alone for long enough she might go mad. Isolation was a thing that she understood after her time with Sokka; even if she was with him, it had brought perspective to times in her life where she had been, for all intents and purposes alone. She didn't want to experience it again, as much as she liked to pride herself on her independence and willpower; even she needed the company of other human beings, from time to time, and perhaps her time with Sokka had weakened her in that regard.

Prior to having met him, she could be content training and preparing herself for the role of Fire Lord, as her father wanted for her, and the fear of failure drove her to continue that without much issue. Of course, it didn't mean she liked it, but she found nothing wrong with it; ever since he had come into her life, she had come to realise how much she actually liked the company of other people; it was something that brought her both amusement and anger, happiness and sadness.

"So, what will you do then, Captain?" she asked him, remembering that just like her, he was a person who must have had feelings just like the ones she had; he obviously wanted to be with his men, to enjoy their company and take his mind off the other matters that might bother him.

"Train with my fellow guards." he explained simply, "They aren't in the same shape they used to be."

"Well, I will likely be training too. Perhaps we can restart our training sessions."

"Without the Water Tribesman this time." he acknowledged, "I can train with the assertion that a boomerang won't be striking me in the back of the head." he spoke in a tone that suggested he was smiling under that helmet of his; she decided that she was going to break that smile, just because she knew there was a reason he shouldn't be smiling.

"Ty Lee can still kick your arses." she warned, pursing her lips up, "With more precision and speed than Sokka can."

"Oh, how wonderful." he sighed, his tone clearly sarcastic, "She doesn't try to flirt when she fights too, does she?"

"From what I've seen, I can say that she enjoys the flirting more than the fighting." she smirked, before turning her eyes ahead, "She won't go after you, don't worry."

"What?" he mumbled, just loud enough that she could hear him behind his helmet.

"Not her type. You're too serious." she clarified, the Captain snickering, shaking his head, suggesting that he might even be a little disappointed by that fact.

"Ah... thanks for telling me." he acknowledged her comment, before gesturing down the staircase, "So, we find Ty Lee, and then we'll train."

"Precisely." she nodded, before she began to make her way down the stairs.

"And what comes after that?" he asked her, Azula pursing her lips upward as she turned back his way.

"Dinner, and sleeping in an actual bed, for once." she clarified, the Captain remaining silent for a few moments as they made their way down the staircase.

"So, no more plans, or reading?"

"There's no need. All we need now is a little patience, and for War Minister Qin's engineers to be competent." she acknowledged, "I don't want to wait here overtime, when we could have already reached the North Pole by more conventional methods."

"Could you even break in without such a craft?" he asked her, the Princess scoffing at him; Renshu failed to grasp the skills and knowledge she'd picked up at the South Pole.

"Unlike most people in the Fire Nation, I have learned how to live in the frigid, desolate conditions of the poles. If anyone could break into the North Pole, it would be me." she argued, before chuckling, "Or the Southern Water Tribe's warriors, if they were really feeling up for it."

"You don't expect them to do anything like that, do you?"

"Hmph... well, if the government of the tribe proves to be frozen by their conservative stupidity, then I will have to take action, or rather, Chief Hakoda may take action for me."

"Wait, Chief Hakoda... that's-" he began to mumble, before she pat him on the shoulder, which might have come as a shock to him; she knew how antsy he was about what happened on the ship all those months ago.

"The man who bested you on the Royal Barge." he clarified, before she smirked at him, "You may end up meeting him again at some point. I'd prefer if you restrained your vengeful spirit, Captain."

"I wasn't going to do anything." he retorted, making her laugh.

"I know you cry yourself to sleep knowing you were bested by a non-bender." she smugly proclaimed, the Captain's sigh exactly what she wanted to hear.

"I don't."

"So, you're okay with what happened?"

"I never-" he began to argue in response, before she shut him up by speaking over him; he wouldn't dare speak over her, given her rank as a Princess.

"Thank you Captain for being so considerate. I know those savages were misguided in attacking me, and now that we've all made up, it's only right that you forget those past grievances." she told him, her tone clearly mocking, though she did speak with intent; he ought to give up his frustrations, because they weren't going to get him anywhere, unless he intended challenging Hakoda to some kind of duel.

The guard shook his head, conceding defeat, "Of course, your highness. I understand I must have annoyed you in the past with these matters."

"I wouldn't say annoy." she raised a finger, "I quite enjoyed your spats with Sokka. You bonded through them a little, I'd say."

"I thought we bonded through beating the crap out of the Dai Li and those brainwashed soldiers together." he argued, the Princess smirking.

"Well, that too. Fighting for your life is a great way to earn respect for a fellow fighter who is worthy of it." she argued, before chuckling, "And you respect me because of all the fighting I've gotten out of in one piece, do you not?"

"I respect your resolve, Princess." he clarified, "You are someone who would never give up. That is why we waited for you; it would be completely unlike you to remove yourself from a situation without intending to finish the task at hand." he acknowledged, the Princess cocking a smirk; it covered her true reaction, which was shame- she had given up, and she had had a decent reason to do so.

Zuko was the incompetent child of Ozai, yet he bested her in a duel, and even before the lightning-redirection, he had actually given her a serious fight, probably the hardest she'd ever had to experience. With that failure, she felt like she was incapable of victory, and unworthy of what she sought; of course, over time, she regained her confidence, but she was sure not to be blinded by grandiose dreams, like the Admiral who she sought to remove from his high seat of power.

"I thank you for your honesty, Captain. My only desire is to be like the Princess which you imagine me to be."

"But you are." he assured her, Azula sighing, allowing herself to be honest, just that one time; she trusted Renshu enough to tell it to him straight.

"Not anymore. Not since that day."

* * *

Aang didn't know how long it would take them to reach the sea, but he was more than relieved when he finally caught sight of it. It was approaching sunset, and he knew that Appa would be getting tired, but more importantly, he'd need to rest up for their flight toward the North Pole. The young Air Nomad was looking forward to a good night's sleep after their rather interesting day; they'd fought the Fire Nation, helped refugees, and Katara had even beaten up a mugger, which he thought was hilarious.

The joke ran old pretty quickly, however, so he didn't bother bringing it up again; he knew he'd be able to talk about in the future, just to remind them of their experience. The group was tired, though Sokka had napped while they were flying, so he was actually more alert than either Aang or Katara. He was the first to address him, acknowledging that they'd arrived at the north coast of the Earth Kingdom.

"Aang, we need to take Appa down. I know everyone's tired, but we've got set up camp." he explained to him, the Avatar nodding along, pulling up on Appa's reins.

"You hear that, buddy? You get to sleep now." he told his friend with a wide smile knowing that he'd appreciate the rest after flying nearly all day, barring their short stops in Gaochao and to help the Earth Kingdom rebels.

"Down?" Katara rose up from the saddle, her hair all muddled from having laid on it for too long, though Aang didn't comment on that, knowing that'd be an easy way to aggravate her.

"Yeah, we're at the coast." he clarified, pointing out ahead of them, "See?"

"We're not just down with the Earth Kingdom yet, Aang." Sokka warned him, "We've still got to fly up along the coast tomorrow before we head out toward the North Pole. We're at the coast, but that doesn't mean we're very close to where we're heading yet."

"Oh..." his enthusiasm lulled a little, thinking they were closer to their destination, "Well, at least we're here. It only took us...." he trailed off, raising his hands up to count off his fingers how many days it'd been since they left the South Pole, though he quickly realised he couldn't remember.

"About a bit over two months." Sokka clarified, "Though we did stop along the way, and there were a few detours. Not as many as feared."

Aang pouted, remembering that they hadn't got to do everything he'd wanted to, "Aw... we still have to go see the hog-monkeys at some point." he argued, turning to face Katara, "You'll ride them with me, won't you, Katara?"

"Eh." she shrugged her shoulders, "I don't think we'll be doing that for a while Aang." she argued, which further soured his mood; she wasn't enthusiastic at all- they all needed a little more fun.

"We really need to get that Pai Sho set or something. You guys are no fun." he crossed his arms, Sokka scoffing at his words.

"I'm fun-ny, not fun." he argued, "Plus, I prefer laughing over doing crazy stuff like riding giant koi fish. I'm just a guy with a boomerang."

"And a Princess for a girlfriend." he added, knowing that had to be the most abnormal thing about the Water Tribesman.

"Oh yeah, that too." he chuckled, before glancing down over the saddle, "This area is covered in trees. Trees mean firewood, which means we can actually cook dinner."

"I can-" Katara began to speak up, before Sokka raised a finger.

"No, I'll do it. I'll make dinner, seeing that I'm the most alert one." he argued, the Avatar nodding along; that was a fair judgement to make on his behalf.

"Maybe we can practice our waterbending at the beach, Katara." he suggested to the Water Tribe girl, whose eyes widened upon the mention of waterbending.

"Oh, yeah... but tomorrow. It's going to be too dark, and we don't have a helpful firebender around to help light up the beach for us." she clarified, before leaning back on the saddle, "And I'm tired. Really tired."

"Aren't we all?" Sokka sighed, before gesturing toward Aang, "Come on arrow-boy, get Appa down. I'm sure he wants to sleep as much as her highness over there."

"Excuse me?" his sister raised a brow, making him grin at her smugly.

"See, getting you annoyed is a great way to wake you up."

"You better not try that method too much, Brother." she warned him, pointing a finger toward him threateningly.

"I don't know if you're trying to imitate Azula, but it's not working."

"Yeah, you're a little too nice to be scary." Aang admitted, hoping she'd take his words as a compliment; he really did mean it- she and Azula were polar opposites in a lot of ways, though in some, they were actually quite similar.

"I can be scary." she retorted, "But I'm just not as good as Azula when it comes to being scary."

"Replace being scary with bending and that sentence still makes sense." Sokka raised a finger making Aang snort with amusement; Katara could definitely bend, and she was getting good at it, but Azula was far better than her, without a shred of doubt.

The young Air Nomad was still afraid of the Princess's bending, and not because it was firebending, which seemed dangerous to begin with, but because of the pure power she held in comparison to other firebenders. He always thought back to Kyoshi Island, and remembered how many firebenders she'd stopped, bending their own flames away from him; he was in such awe, and he still couldn't comprehend how she was able to have such fortitude, mentally, to achieve such a feat.

"I'm not bad at bending, Sokka. Would you like a demonstration?" Katara spoke up against her brother, as if to warn him, to which the Water Tribe warrior cocked a smirk.

"Demonstrate with what water, there's no clouds and we're still way away from the beach." he argued, crossing his arms, "And also, I never said you were bad. She's just way better- better than both of you."

"You have a little bias in that area, don't you think?" she tried to break his argument down, before Aang cringed, turning back to face her.

"Well, actually, he's right. Do you remember what she did on Kyoshi Island? That was insane."

"It was insane." she acknowledged, "The gold firebending, that is."

"The gold..." Sokka mumbled, "What? When did Azula bend gold fire?"

"When we meditated and I tried to make her understand what drives her bending." she explained, the Water Tribesman narrowing his eyes with confusion.

"But Azula's fire is still blue." he mumbled, "What do you mean drives her bending?"

"Like what emotions she draws on. That's kinda how firebending works, from what she told me." she clarified, before smugly pursing her lips up.

"Wanna guess what made the gold fire?"

"Uh, the thought of having a nice family?" he asked her, making Aang cringe, remembering what they had been told while entering New Omashu for the last time.

He tended to forget that Azula was actually a Princess, one from the family that had led the destruction of his people; though he was sure some of them had to be half-decent, like Iroh, at least from what Sokka's descriptions told him, her family seemed to be full of crazy or just flat out evil people.

"That's actually pretty close, Sokka." Katara conceded, "But you're off."

"Urgh." he sighed, before his expression brightened, his cheeks flushing red, "Well if it's not having a nice family- and by that I mean us, then it has to be me, right?"

"I think you're right." she nodded, making him glance off into the distance; he didn't speak after that, and the young Avatar turned his attention toward landing his sky-bison.

Aang found the silence that followed rather awkward, but he just tried to focus on getting them down safely than what might have been going through Sokka's head; he was obviously worried about Azula, but it wasn't like any of them could do anything to change that- talking about her might just make it worse.

As Appa slowed, he pulled on the reins a little harder, turning him around as they landed by the edge of the woods; there were a few sandbars between them and the shoreline proper, but close enough that he and Katara could walk there if they wanted to practice their waterbending. When Appa touched down, Sokka immediately set off into action, and picked up the cooking bag, taking it off the saddle with him as he jumped down; he walked off, probably to make a campfire, and Aang turned back to face the girl beside him, who by her gaze, seemed to be worried about her brother.

"Do you want to set up the tent right now?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl making a cautious nod, before she turned to face him.

"Yeah, we can do that." she confirmed, "Let's just keep an eye on Sokka. I don't know what's going on in his head, but I have a feeling it can't be very good."

"Yeah..." he mumbled, "Mentioning Azula and love and all that... probably not a good idea." he conceded in a whispered voice, the Water Tribe girl turning her head down; usually she'd get defensive when accused of something, but for that moment, she seemed to be accepting what she herself had done.

"I should just stay quiet." she decided, before turning her head toward their bags.

"Okay, let's get the tent set up." she decided, striding over toward said bags, and picking out the frame pieces of the tent, as well as the mat, "Okay, I've got these, you can get the pins and the canvas." she requested, the young Air Nomad giving her an affirmative smile before she climbed off of the saddle, following after Sokka.

He glanced around, noting that Momo was sleeping, and he patted him on the back, just leaving him there, "You sit tight buddy. I know you might get a little cold out, so just come over to the tent if you get cold tonight." he told him, unsure whether he could understand him, but he spoke to him anyway; the lemur was welcome to sleep by his side in the tent, as long as he wasn't screeching because of something outside the tent.

He picked up the canvas and the bag of bone pins, and leapt off of the saddle; glancing around, he noted that Sokka was quick at work, setting up their dinner, though he hadn't set the fire just yet. The young Avatar paced over to where Katara was setting up the frame of the tent, and he knelt over, pulling the pins out of the bag and whacking them into the ground, doing so as quickly as he could. Once he had gotten them in the ground on either side, he turned back to pick up the canvas, which the two of them draped over the frame of the tent, before pulling either side down and connecting it to the pegs. Once that was done, the pair rose back up to their feet, the Water Tribe girl letting out a yawn.

"Could you go get the sleeping rolls? I'm going to help Sokka with dinner." she explained, the young Avatar nodding along.

"Gotcha." he grinned at her before pacing back over to the saddle, finding himself not in the mood to run, instead casually approaching his sky-bison, who he patted, knowing that he deserved a little love for all the hard work he did.

"Thanks, Appa." he smiled at the sky-bison, "We're nearly at the North Pole, and then you won't have to worry about flying for weeks! Won't that be great?" he asked him; he was silent for a few moments, before he let out a light growl, making him beam at his sky-bison, knowing that he deserved all the break that he would receive as soon as they reached the Northern Water Tribe.

With the help of his airbending, he jumped up onto the saddle once more, picking up the two sleeping bags, which he slung under either arm, before leaping back off the saddle. He took them back over toward the tent, and while doing so, could hear Katara and Sokka talking.

"You can't use salt water for the rice, Sokka." she warned her brother, who groaned with frustration.

"But where are we going to get fresh water from?" he asked, Aang raising a hand up, catching their attention; he accidentally dropped one of the sleeping rolls, but that wasn't on his mind as he remembered what he'd seen while they were flying up above.

"There's a stream over that way. I saw it when we were flying over. If I just use my glider and take a water skin, I can get all the water you need in no time." he suggested, the pair nodding along.

"Huh, that's a good idea, Aang." Sokka conceded, "Just put the sleeping rolls in the tent and then go get it. I'm sure Katara doesn't want a dirty sleeping roll, though." he gestured toward the one he had dropped, making the Avatar cringe.

"Oh... sorry about that." he conceded, before picking up the sleeping roll, "I'll dust it off."

He paced over to his and Katara's tent, and proceeded to pull his own sleeping roll out, putting it into the tent nice and snugly, before he grasping hers and began to shake it off, using his airbending to blow his breath a little harder than usual, so he could get rid of the dust that way. Once it was clean enough, Aang laid it down inside the tent, before turning around, glancing back over toward the saddle, where he had left his staff.

"Uh, where's the water skin I'm taking?" he asked the pair, Sokka tossing a leather skin his way; the Avatar caught it with his airbending, before he paced off back toward the saddle, jumping up and grasping his staff.

"Just don't go too far, Aang. We don't know who's out here." Katara warned him, the young Avatar nodding; they'd gotten themselves into danger last time when they tried to rest at the abandoned farmhouse, and found the refugees.

He knew there was just as likely a chance they could have ran into the Fire Nation, which was exactly who he wanted to avoid after what he did at that battle of Fire Nation ships; after that, he wasn't so sure that the Fire Lord, that being, Azula's brother, would take too kindly to him, and neither would his soldiers. He opened up the glider, and after taking a deep breath, he leaped up into the air and took flight; launching himself above their campsite, he glanced up ahead, gliding up above the treetops, using his airbending to propel himself upward.

His breathing was steady, and ensured that he would remain in flight; moving as quickly as he could, he glided above the forest, turning his arms to push the glider to his left, leading him in the direction of the river, which he could see in the distance. Flying along, he kept his eyes focused ahead of him, making sure he didn't accidentally fly headfirst into an unexpectedly tall tree; he did not, and weaved around anything that stood out, making his way toward the edge of the river, which widened out at the beach it ended at, forming some kind of usual lake that stopped at the sandbar. He continued to fly along the river's length, wanting to get far enough away from the sea to find some decent, fresh water for them to use for cooking and drinking.

When he felt that he was far enough away from the sea and its salt water, he dropped down to the ground, closing his staff; he landed on a beach, and immediately turned toward the water.He reached out toward the water, and decided that bending it into the water skin would be good practice; he took a deep breath, motioning his hands back and forth with the flow of the stream, which lapped up against the shoreline.  Taking the water out, he pulled it slowly into the water skin, which he held out, feeling it grow heavier as he pulled more and more liquid into it. Once it was full, he closed it and tied it back around his waist, before opening his glider once more; he wondered how the extra weight would affect his flying, but decided not to worry about it, knowing that it couldn't be that much of a difference.

Leaping up into the air, he blew out of his mouth using airbending to create a funnel of air which raised him up faster than he might have otherwise, Aang noticing the weight around his waist was noticeable, but he didn't care about it that much as he glided back up to the elevation he'd been at before, moving up above the treetops and flying back in the direction of their campsite, noticing that they had a smokestack coming up, which was probably from the fire they'd gotten around to starting.

He noticed another smokestack in the corner of his eye, and thought it was a village for a moment, before he realised that it was a Fire Nation ship, off in the distance; it was sailing along the coast, from what he could tell, and though he worried about it a little bit, he was sure they wouldn't be so pedantic to go after every single campfire they saw. That would just be crazy, in his eyes, but he knew, at least from what Azula had told him, and what he'd already seen, that the Fire Nation were quite intent on going after anything they thought to be a threat.

He turned his attention away from the ship as he focused once more on avoiding the taller treetops, making his way back over toward the camp, which he was able to easily navigate back to with the campfire smoke clear to see. Once he got close enough, he pulled the glider up, slowing his descent; he eyed the two Water Tribe teenagers, who turned to face him as he moved to land. He closed his glider, and landed on his own two feet, using airbending to soften his landing with two blows from his hands.

"Huh, that was pretty quick." Sokka complimented him, the young Avatar smirking, before he tossed the water skin over toward him, as he had to Aang; he grunted as he grabbed it, obviously not expecting the weight.

"Ah!" he cried out, "Don't throw it when it's so heavy." he warned him, before sitting back down beside the campfire.

The young Air Nomad cleared his throat, knowing he shouldn't avoid mentioning what he saw, "Guys, don't panic, but I saw a Fire Nation ship when I was gliding." he explained, both of them turning to face him with surprised faces.

"Wait, really?" Katara asked him with a panicked tone."

"Yeah. It was pretty far away, though. But it was there." he noted, the Water Tribe warrior sighing.

"Well, let's just hope they don't come after our campfire; I can put it out as soon as we finish cooking, but I don't know if that'll make a difference."

"What if we have to run?" he asked the Water Tribesman, who cringed at the suggestion.

"Then I guess that's what we'll have to do." he sighed, before turning to face the pot of food he and his sister had been preparing, "But in the meantime, let's make dinner. I'm not really that hungry after all that fruit we ate, but if we eat this, maybe we can avoid making a proper breakfast tomorrow." he suggested, before narrowing his eyes, "We mightn't be able to cook for a few days when we're flying."

"We've got enough crackers, right?" he asked Sokka, who nodded along.

"Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't worry about food, though maybe Appa might get hungry." he noted, glancing toward the sky-bison, "He can last a while without food, can't he?" he asked Aang, who smiled.

"Yeah, he can, but he needs his sleep no matter what." he assured him, the Water Tribe warrior nodding.

"Well, that's why he can sleep now." he suggested, before pouring some of the water into the pot, "Now, let's get cookin'." he smirked, raising a finger, "It's vegetarian, Aang, don't worry."

"I guessed. We don't have any meat other than your jerky."

"Which you still refuse to share." Katara added, with a somewhat annoyed tone.

"Hey, you guys can eat as many rice crackers as you want, and I'll even avoid eating them, but the jerky's mine... and maybe Momo's, if he bugs me too much." he acknowledged, making her laugh.

"Wait, you're going to give it to Momo and not us?"

"I can reason with you two, but I can't reason with a flying-lemur." he argued, making the other two roll their eyes; Sokka was trying to sound smart while saying stupid things.

"But what if I want some jerky?" his sister asked him, the Water Tribe warrior crossing his arms, "Then you should have got more for yourself." he suggested, making her groan, barely holding back her anger.

"Now, now, guys, we don't need to argue about this. Just appreciate it. Sokka's going to give Momo some jerky." Aang offered them, the Water Tribe boy raising a finger.

"I might, if he annoys me enough." he stressed, "I'm not just handing out jerky here like I'm making it."

"Yeah, you're right." Katara mumbled, before she yawned, "Arguing is just a waste of energy."

"Yeah, let's just think about the delicious meal we're going to eat." Sokka piped up, licking his lips, "Something something vegetables and rice." he gestured toward the pot; Aang couldn't tell whether he was trying to be sarcastic or not- he really did like food, so there was a chance he wasn't actually joking around.

"So... what do you guys think the North Pole's going to be like?" he asked them, before raising his finger, "Other than being mean to girls." he added, knowing that was something they all understood already; Kanna had explained it to them well enough.

"Lots of ice. Ice buildings, ice walls, ice thrones." Sokka guessed, before chuckling, "I wonder if the seat their chief sits on just melts because of his butt being so warm."

His sister snickered, thinking that to be a funny idea, "Well, yeah, it's just like sitting at the campfire for too long." she nodded, "You'll get a hot butt, and melt the ice and snow around you."

"So, what, there's going to be a guy sitting in a puddle?" the young Air Nomad asked them in clarification.

"Well, he might get whatever waterbenders he has serving him to freeze his seat every once in a while." the Water Tribe boy guessed, "You know, he might even have servants serving his every whim."

"So, what, is the North Pole a knock-off Fire Nation?" Katara asked him, "That's just sad."

"Well, you get enough stuck-up people in a room, you suddenly feel compelled to invade the rest of the world." he joked, making Aang cringe.

He didn't know exactly how Fire Lord Sozin decided to go invade the other nations, but he guessed Sokka couldn't be that far from the truth; one had to be pretty disconnected from the suffering of war to come up with war as a solution to one's problems, or to 'spread prosperity', as Azula had told them.

"Well, they can't have that many stuck-up people, seeing that they haven't tried to invade the rest of the world." the Water Tribe girl deduced, "Though, that probably has to do with the fact the Water Tribes have a lot less people than the other nations."

"Yeah, I doubt we could muster an army in the South Pole to conquer a city, let alone the Earth Kingdom." her brother added, making the young Avatar nervously cough.

"Uh... we were talking about the Northern Water Tribe, not... whatever you're talking about." he told him, the Water Tribe teen cringing, glancing toward his sister for a few moments before he turned back to face him.

"Sorry." he apologised, "But yeah, the Northern Water Tribe is going to be just like our tribe, just with more people and buildings." he explained, before Katara coughed, muttering under her breath.

"And more sexism."

"Our tribe's already pretty sexist." he conceded, "I mean, I used to be pretty bad. Katara beat me up a few times with her waterbending because of it." he added, making Aang raise a brow; he was surprised by that suggestion, though how he spoke about sewing suggested he thought girls should be doing it, even though he could probably try and do it himself.

"So just what you used to be like, but way worse." the Water Tribe girl deduced, sighing with frustration, "It's going to be a pain, isn't it?"

"For them." Sokka argued, "When I chi-block their butts." he smirked, before raising a finger, "I'm not actually going to jab their butts. I'll be hitting their torsos to paralyse them." he added, just to clarify he wasn't going to inappropriately assault the leaders of the Northern Water Tribe.

"But what if you did?" Aang snickered, "They'd just all be sitting on the floor, while you make fun of them and their dumb traditions."

"You bring up a good idea, young Avatar." he scratched at his chin, pretending to be some wisened philosopher or guru, thinking over ideas for living, "I'll consider it for when we get there."

"Don't get them too angry, though." Katara warned, "We might get chased out of the North Pole, and then how will Azula sway them to help us?"

"Okay, good point." Sokka nodded, before sniffing the pot he was sitting beside, "This is smelling pretty good."

"It's okay." the young Avatar mumbled, before remembering that soon enough, they'd be eating food at the Northern Water Tribe, something he was feeling a little cautious of, after all the Princess had said about Water Tribe food.

"Is Water Tribe food as bad as Azula says it is?"

"Well, I feel like I'm a bit biased in that area." the Water Tribe warrior conceded, "But, I can see why you wouldn't like it. There's a lot of meat, and the non-meat parts aren't exactly that normal, at least compared to Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation cuisine."

"Seaweed stew isn't bad." he acknowledged, "As long as they have enough of that, I think I'll be good."

"You're the Avatar." Katara gestured toward him, "If anyone's going to be able to get the food they ask for, it's you."

"Oh, yeah, just like Kyoshi Island." he remembered how well treated, especially in terms of food, he had been there.

"Well, let's just hope the Fire Nation doesn't chase us out from there too." the Water Tribe girl acknowledged.

"That can't happen." Sokka assured her, "When the Fire Nation works for us."

"You mean Azula." Aang corrected him, the Water Tribe warrior shaking his head.

"It was cooler when I said us." he argued, the young Air Nomad nodding along, seeing his point; it did sound cool to say that their enemies were actually working for them, even if they were really working for, or at least, loyal to Azula.

"It's a bit weird." the Water Tribe girl spoke up, "Sometimes I forget she's a Princess. That she was meant to be the Fire Lord."

"Yeah." Sokka mumbled, glancing over idly into the distance, "She has some big shoes to fill. Or, should I say, big robes." he raised a finger, the other two snickering at his jokes; the Fire Lord supposedly wore big and unwieldy, though fancy-looking, robes, according to their resident informant on the Fire Nation.

"So, is dinner done?" Aang asked him, licking his lips, "I'm kinda hungry, and I want to go to bed." he explained, the Water Tribesman moving the pot away from the fire.

"Just let it cool down for a bit, then we can dig in." he explained, before reaching his arms up to stretch; his eyes widened as he looked over their campsite, "I haven't even set up my tent." he noted, before shrugging his shoulders, "I'll get around to it."

"You better do it quickly." Katara warned him, "It's going to get dark soon."

"I will. I just have to eat dinner first." he assured her, "We'll have a good sleep, then we'll get up early and start flying."

"We're so close." Aang mumbled, "I didn't think we'd get here this quickly."

"Of course you didn't. You had a million detours planned." he argued, making him cringe; he did have a few things planned that ended up falling through as he realised their priorities.

"Sorry about that." he acknowledged, running his hand through his short, fuzzy hair, "I know we need to stay focused. We won't be able to stop all the fighting if we don't." he concluded, Katara smiling at him brightly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"That's right, Aang." she grinned at him, "You have a big job to do, but we'll be here every step of the way."

"Making sure you make smart decisions." Sokka added, before pulling out a spoon, which he plopped into the pot, "Like having dinner at a reasonable time every day." he suggested, taking a spoonful of the stew and putting it into one of the bowls he had ready; when it was full, he handed it over to Aang, who gratefully accepted the meal into his hands.

He blew on the bowl, to make sure the meal wasn't too hot, before he took out some chopsticks, quickly getting into the meal, which had an interesting flavour which must have resulted from the mixture of vegetables present. He licked his lips after taking his first few bites, and turned to face Sokka, thankful for the effort he'd put in.

"Thanks for dinner, Sokka."

"Don't mention it." he assured him, before gesturing toward his sister, "Plus, Katara helped me out, and you got the water. This was a group effort."

They continued to eat their meal, mostly in silence, other the sounds of them chewing and swallowing the food; Sokka finished first, unsurprisingly, before he gestured to the pot, "Uh, can I have seconds?"

"I mean, you made it." Aang noted, "Go ahead." he smiled at him reassuringly, before returning to eating his own meal.

He continued to chew down on the mixture of rice and vegetables, and once he had licked his bowl clean, he turned to face Katara, thinking they'd had a good meal, "That was pretty good. I'm not hungry at all."

"Me either." she noted, before turning her eyes toward her brother, "I guess that means you'll be able to have thirds, Sokka."

"Fine by me." he acknowledged, 'If you're not eating then..." he trailed off, rising up to his feet, "Momo!" he called out to the flying lemur, "You want some food?"

The flying-lemur clearly was stirred from his slumber by having his name called, and he chittered, before jumping off of the saddle, flying over toward them, landing right down by the pot, sniffing it, obviously knowing that it was food.

"You want some?" Aang asked him, the lemur reaching in, as if he was about to start licking the pot.

Sokka grasped him by the nape, stopping him from doing so, "Now, now, buddy, that's just rude. I'll get you a bowl." he clarified, doing just that, plopping the spoon into the pot and readying a bowl, which would usually be used by Azula, for the lemur, who was eager to eat their dinner.

"You know, that was pretty nice of you, Sokka." Katara observed, her brother shrugging his shoulders.

"Eh, he was going to lick the pot clean no matter what. Now he can do it with a little manners." he suggested, gesturing down to the flying-lemur, who was eating from the bowl rather slowly, instead of stuffing his face- after all the fruit he'd eaten, it made sense he didn't want to go all out.

"I wonder if Nice Sokka is going to stop being around when her majesty returns." the Water Tribe girl narrowed her eyes at her brother, who raised his hands defensively.

"Hey, I'm being nice because I am nice. Azula doesn't make me mean or anything."

"She kinda makes you act like a tough guy." Aang commented, "Do you not like being nice when she's around?''

"I-" he mumbled, before turning his eyes down to his bowl, "I don't know. Maybe... maybe I just do it without thinking."

"Well, I hope you act like this after she comes back. You don't have to be the tough guy." he assured the Water Tribesman, "You're the smart guy."

He smiled at him, still looking a little uneasy, but appreciative of his words; he couldn't tell him to be nice, but he sure hoped he stayed so once his girlfriend and her sometimes unhelpful influences returned.

"Thanks, Aang."


	16. Chapter 16

"Ty Lee, I want you out of that room and on the training field. Right now."

Ty Lee groaned at the sound of Azula's commanding voice, slamming her face into the pillow of her bed; she just wanted to read some book that she'd found, which was a very interesting romance novel. She'd bought it off some random servant who she saw reading it. She didn't want her money to go to waste, so she was pouring her heart and soul into reading it; instead of being able to finish it, however, she was being forced out to train. She didn't dislike training, but she thought that when it came day after day, and seemed to last forever, it became a lot easier to disdain.

"Yeah..." she responded with a weak voice, "I'm coming." she assured her friend, who cleared her throat before speaking once again.

"Sorry, I didn't hear that. You're going to keep yourself stuck in there for the rest of the afternoon?" she mocked her, the acrobat rolling her eyes; she preferred to be the one making fun of Azula, despite how much it annoyed the other girl- it was something she could enjoy, when it was playful.

"Just give me a minute." she asked her, "I've got to..." she trailed off, looking for an excuse, "Find my shoes."

She pulled herself up from her bed, and let out a sigh, not wanting to leave her story just yet; she knew she could get back to it, but she just felt robbed of the emotional content by having to leave her room at that moment. She actually wasn't wearing her shoes, but they were sitting in front of her bed, and thus, she'd put them on once she stopped fumbling about.

Ty Lee turned her gaze over to the mirror on the other side of the room, and noted that her appearance was rather trim and proper; she had a feeling that it wouldn't last if she had to endure a few hours of training with Azula, who was always intent on exercising herself to exhaustion. It might have made for an easy sleep afterwards, but the acrobat doubted it would be very fun to experience the whole process.

She stretched her arms up, before stepping down off her bed, letting her toes dig into the mat below her; she raised a leg up, just to make sure she was still as flexible as usual. She hadn't pulled any muscles lately, so she wasn't worried that much about it. She turned over to the shoes she had sitting by the end of her bed, and slipped her feet into them, before she opened the door.

Her eyes met Azula's, and the Princess stood there, with her arms crossed and a single eyebrow raised, "Are you done finding your shoes?" she asked her, before turning her gaze to the acrobats feet, "Good." she noted, before tilting her head down the hallway, "Come on, let's go outside."

"No 'how are you Ty Lee?'." she observed, making the Princess chuckle, turning to face her with a rather skeptical look.

"Sorry, am I meant to want to know about every intricate detail of your life?" she asked her, the acrobat shrugging shoulders.

"It's just being polite." she corrected her, the Princess raising her chin up.

"Ha, ha." she laughed mockingly, "I've never been one for politeness, Lee. Even Sokka couldn't change that." she assured her, preserving the old idea that she shouldn't respect people for the sake of it; seeing that Ty Lee was her friend, it was a little annoying that she clung onto that, even with her.

"I got that, Zula." she nodded, knowing that she had been like that forever; if the Princess was actually polite and kind in a non-conceited way, then the world had to be ending.

There was a few moments of silence while they strode down the hallway, the Princess opening the door, before she turned back to eye her, "So I assume you were reading that book of yours."

"I was." she confirmed, Azula furrowing a brow as she let the other girl through the door.

"Well, is it any good?" she asked her, making her snicker.

"Yeah, I don't think it's your type of book, Azula." she conceded, the Princess nodding along.

"I'm more of a strategy manual person myself." she clarified, before glancing around the hallway, to check if there was anybody walking by, "How'd you pay for it?"

"I gave some servant girl the last of my money to buy it off her." she admitted, knowing that it sounded like a bad idea when she said it aloud, but the fact was that Azula would be providing for her, so she didn't really need to worry about spending that money.

"An unwise decision." she noted, before chuckling, "But seeing that you have free food and lodging at the moment, I can see why you spent it." she conceded, the acrobat nodding along.

"Yeah, that was my argument in my head." she confirmed, before narrowing her eyes at the Princess, realising that she hadn't even asked anything of her; she must have been doing something, seeing that she was only just going out for training, "What have you been doing?"

"I..." she mumbled, before turning to face Ty Lee, stepping closer to suggest that she had been doing something covert, "Don't mention this, but I stole one of Zhao's waterbending scrolls. I'm pretty sure he stole it from somewhere himself, and I doubt he'd ask me if I took it. I'm going to give it to Katara and Aang, seeing that they might find it useful when they do their more advanced forms." she explained, the acrobat's eyes widening.

"Huh, that's a good idea." she acknowledged, "Though stealing from him is a little... well, it's funny."

"I know it is." she smirked at her, "That's half the reason I did it. Just because it's hilarious that he's going to be worrying about where this scroll went when it fact, I'm taking it, just like I'm going to take his fleet."

"Ah, yeah." she mumbled, finding it to be awkward to be talking about such matters, even when they were alone; it just seemed a little too dangerous, even if Azula was whispering.

The pair made their way up to the front door of the compound, stepping out into the courtyard, where they'd be training; there was a little area off to their right, where she could see the guards, already standing dressed down for the occasion, given that they were just training their firebending rather than actually trying to simulate what real battle conditions would be like. She wouldn't be wearing anything different even if she was fighting in a battle, which she hadn't really done before. She didn't count Crescent Island, seeing how much she, Azula and Sokka outclassed the men they were fighting, given that their combined skills were unstoppable against a few mediocre firebenders and men armed with pikes.

The Princess cleared her throat to catch the attention of her guards, who were taking stances for what she assumed was a firebending set, "I'm ready to train." she declared, the guards nodding along.

"Are we going to practice our firebending with the circle test?" the Captain asked her, Ty Lee remembering that training exercise; she'd learnt of it once she started observing the guards and Azula training together.

"Let's start with that before we move into testing our firebending endurance." Azula decided, before turning to face Ty Lee, "I guess you can just do some stretches or something... unless you just want to watch, but that wouldn't be very productive."

"I'll do some stretches." she agreed with her first idea, raising her arms up above her head as she began to pull her arms out as far she could, flexing them to the point where it was strenuous.

She did the same with her legs and different positions with her arms, all while observing the Princess and her guards do their 'circle test'. It consisted of the guards all forming a circle around Azula, who would proceed to quickly attack each of them, in order with a powerful firebending attack, which they had to disperse. She watched as each of them could barely contain Azula's power, though they were able to keep their stances steady; the Princess's firebending was graceful and fast, almost like dancing, though a whole lot more deadly. The acrobat continued along with her stretches, pulling each leg up backward, touching her head with her toe-tips on both feet, though she did each one at a time, balancing on the other free foot.

Once the Princess had tested out each of her guards ability to hold back her firebending, she turned to face Ty Lee, "Ty, I'd like you to give them a challenge." she suggested, making the acrobat raise a brow, realising that she wanted her to chi-block, or at least, fight with her chi-blocking against her guards.

"You want me to chi-block them?" she asked her, the Princess shaking her head.

"No, I'd like you to spar them." she clarified, the Princess raising a finger, "You don't just use chi-blocking. You could knock them out with your fists too." she noted, making her snicker, knowing that Azula was right; she could pack a punch, if she needed to.

"Ty Lee is not like any opponent you will likely face, but you have to be ready to deal with tactics like chi-blocking." she explained to her guards, before gesturing to Ty Lee, "Don't actually burn her with your firebending, keep it weak enough to singe and perhaps apply a little blunt force." she clarified, "And Ty Lee, don't try to trip someone over and break their nose. Is that all fair?"

The guards nodded along, before Renshu cleared his throat, "Who's first?"

"I think you misunderstood my proposition, Captain. It's all of you against her." she corrected him, the acrobat trying to hold back a snort.

"Sorry, what?" she looked at her with surprise, "I'm good, but I don't think I'm good enough to fight all these guys at once. If they can face off against you, it'd be like fighting a dozen Azulas at once, right?"

"Not really." one of the guards admitted, "The Princess is more agile than us, and her bending is a lot more... well, I don't know exactly how to describe it." he conceded, the Princess cocking a smirk.

"It's better. That's the word you were looking for." she snarkily corrected him, before crossing her arms, turning her eyes to Ty Lee, "Go ahead."

"Uh, okay." she nodded, before taking form, scanning all of her opponents with a serious glare.

There were a lot of them, twelve to be exact, and she really only had one advantage up her sleeve; firebending at any range further than a direct punch or kick was liable to miss, and if she was fast enough, they'd miss every time. That meant the only time she'd come in danger was when she actually moved to chi-block them, though given her speed, she'd aim to strike each of them from behind to avoid getting hit head on by some fireballs. She gestured for them to approach, and with that, a fireball was thrown her way; she ducked under it, before she found two fire streams coming her way; she smirked, rolling underneath the attacks, forcing the wielders to move their streams, and thus, indirectly attack their own comrades.

She had yet to try and approach any of the guards, and continued to duck and weave out of the way of their firebending attacks; one of them struck her with a fire whip, and she cringed from the heat licking her arms, before she rolled toward the wielder. He attempted to throw a fireball toward her, but she jabbed him in the wrist. He grit his teeth, realising his mistake, and leapt back, he threw a fireball toward Ty Lee in his other hand, who jumped back, landing on her hands before pushing her feet into the chest of a guard who was approaching her. He grunted, and fell onto his back, the acrobat returning to her feet.

"Anybody else want some?" she cocked a smirk, realising that she was actually capable of going toe-to-toe with all of them at once, even if they were explicitly trying not to harm her with their firebending.

One of the soldiers threw a fireball her way, and she somersaulted underneath the attack, narrowly dodging another fire blast aimed at her from behind. One of the guards lunged at her with his hands covered in flames, and she rose back up to her feet, moving her hands in between his own, before she smacked his chi-lines on both arms, paralysing them, even if it didn't stop him from bending.

She ducked under another attack from behind, which then hit the guard who had been trying to hit her right in his face; he grunted as he stumbled backward, and she swung around, kicking the other attacker in the chest. Her toe tips struck him in the gut, which allowed her to block his bending, though the strike wasn't very hard; he'd get his bending back soon enough, so she'd need to take advantage of the situation. She jabbed him in the shoulders and arms a few times as he tried to tackle her without the help of his bending; he found his upper-body paralysed, and a few moments later tripped over, lying on the ground for all his comrades to see. She swore she could hear them laughing, and immediately spun around, readying a stance to take the next attacker on.

A fire stream was sent her way, as she arched backwards, allowing her to dodge it, before she spun around, flipping her body over as she surprised one of the other guards who was approaching. He found himself chi-blocked in the torso, making his arms practically useless as he tried his best to whack her while they were limp; she would admit, he was doing a good job at it, but she was a lot faster than his clumsy movements, and was able to chi-block his back, before pushing him forward into another guard who was trying to approach her.

She weaved out of the way of another fireball that was sent her way, and grasped a guard by the shoulders, vaulting over him and throwing him to the ground in the process, before she landed in front of an unsuspecting guard; he stepped back, was made a fire shield to block her attempted chi-blocking, but she was able to trip him over, though she was distracted by another attack coming her way, a fire stream sent out by the Captain of all people; she weaved around, finding it challenging to dodge the attack as he constantly moved his form to adjust to her motions.

She charged at him, knowing that was the only way she was going to be able to deal with his attacks, and somersaulted froward, dodging his attempt to knock her out with a fireball to the head; she then leaped up, moving her hands forward to chi-block him, only to find them whacked away. She narrowed her eyes, finding his movements to be fast enough that it was actually a challenge to chi-block him; she was forced to go dirty, kicking him in the shin, making him grunt and lurch forward, giving her an opening to chi-block him in the chest, which safely stopped any future bending. However, she hadn't expected him to grasp her arms, and tackle her down to the ground, holding her down to prevent her from chi-blocking him again; his physical strength was formidable enough that she could only sigh, and nod.

"Okay, you win." she conceded the fight, the Captain cocking a smirk as he rose back up to his feet.

"See, men, that's how you beat a chi-blocker." he declared confidently, his comrades looking rather disenchanted that they hadn't been the ones to defeat Ty Lee.

Azula strode toward her, and clapped, obviously impressed by what she had done, "Now, now, Ty, that's what I call a work-out." she smirked at her, "Given you could beat four of my guards before getting tackled, you're obviously the better fighter."

"Better than them... but I'm not better than you." she acknowledged, "I don't even know if I could beat you that easily."

"Well, you could try." she suggested, before chuckling, "We're not up to that yet." she admitted, before turning to face her guards, "Okay, those of you who got chi-blocked will have to sit this out, but I want the rest of you to start doing endurance tests against each other. Switch over once your partner has been downed, understood?" she asked the guards, who nodded along, "The rest of you can just do some basic exercises." she acknowledged, the chi-blocked guards moving away to train by themselves.

The Princess turned back to face her, "Well, I'm going to be paired with you."

"And what are we doing?" she asked her friend, unsure what she would be doing, given that she didn't have bending.

"You'll just be doing some endurance, just the kind that non-bender can do." she clarified, "Get upside down, on your hands." she told her friend, who narrowed her eyes.

"Uh, so you want me to do a handstand?" she asked, a little confused why she wanted her to do that specifically.

"Yes, Ty Lee. That's what I want you to do." she confirmed, the acrobat obliging her friend, pulling herself up onto her feet; a few moments later, Azula grasped her by the calves, and held her legs steady- there was no way she was going to fall over because of being unbalanced if her friend was holding her feet.

"Oh... so you want me to handstand for as long as possible?" she asked her, the Princess making an affirmative mumble.

"Huh." she mumbled herself, glancing over to the nearby wall while upside down, "I don't know how long I can do this for."

"That's what we're going to find out." the Princess told her, matter of factly.

She took a few deep breaths, feeling the tenseness in her hands grow with every passing second she spent there, her head starting to feel weird, probably more distracting than the aching in her hands and arms.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little woozy, Zula." she conceded, before she tried to look up, only able to see her friend's hands clasped around her calves, "Uh, can we stop?"

"Does it hurt?" she asked her, the acrobat scrunching up her lips.

"Kinda." she admitted, before narrowing her eyes at her friend, "But my head feels weird."

"That does happen when you're upside down." she conceded, before letting go of Ty Lee's legs, allowing her to fall back down to the ground, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

She shook her head, feeling even more disoriented with her head back the right way, "Urgh..." she raised a hand to her face, "That was not nice." she mumbled, before she turned her gaze to Azula, "Can we do something that won't make me feel like that? Like planking? Or stretches?"

"We can, actually." she noted, before dropping down to the ground into a planking position, "Come on, let's get this done." she commanded her, the acrobat sighing, still feeling weird after her handstand, but complying anyway, knowing it was better to do that than piss her off.

She dropped into a planking position, holding herself up by only her forearms and toe tips, and glancing over toward the Princess, who was looking right toward her; there were few moments of awkward silence, and Ty Lee looked over toward the guards momentarily, before turning her gaze back toward her friend.

"Do you have anything important planned for today?" she asked Azula, who shook her head.

"No, I do not." she answered rather simply, before twisting her neck around to stretch it, "Ah, but I do need to do these exercises. I need to stay in shape, and I can't go off fighting righteously every single day."

She snickered at her suggestion, realising that was what they, that being Sokka, Aang and Katara seemed to like to do, especially the young Avatar; for a pacifist, he was very keen on intervening in other people's problems, in cases where she herself would just try and ignore them.

"Ah, yes." she pursed her lips upward, "Well, you still go and try make sure... you know who isn't doing bad stuff." she suggested, the Princess making a cringed face.

"I mean, my goal in the end is to have these forces utilised for their original purpose, that being to take the colonies from my brother's rule. They will do just that, and will not be going about massacring villages and throwing the country into further disarray." she argued, "If you want to create more rebels, that's you do it."

"Y-yeah..." she mumbled, feeling strained from the plank, but continued to hold it, "I guess that's been a problem for a while."

"A hundred years to be exact." she clarified, "The war has always been terrible, people just hadn't realised it. Most are still living in the homeland, completely unaware of what the Fire Nation has done. Even if there was righteous intent in Sozin's ideal, there is no way even I can say what ended up happening was prosperity. I know what prosperity is, and what most of the Earth Kingdom has experienced in the exact opposite of that." she explained, before breaking her plank, letting out a deep breath, "Well, I think that plank went well."

Ty Lee groaned before falling flat on the ground, unable to continue doing her own, "Ow." she grumbled, before pulling herself back up to a seated position, "So, uh, what's next?" she asked her friend, who pursed her lips upward.

"Firebending training for me." she clarified, taking a deep breath before thrusting her right fist up into the air, creating an impressively large blue stream of flames, which licked up the wall of the multi-storey compound, probably frightening anybody who was inside.

"And for me?" she raised a brow, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"You could go for a jog." she suggested, "That'll help you run off all that bubbling energy you have inside you." she joked, the acrobat rolling her eyes.

"Okay, Zula." she sighed, "I really wanted to read that book. I was getting to a good part." she lamented, the Princess laughing.

"Ah, don't worry, you can get back to it. I want you to work to your limit. Then whatever enjoyable thing you do afterwards will be all that more refreshing." she suggested, the acrobat shaking her head, still not agreeing with her; she would do the jog, knowing that Azula at least had a point- she would be able to work off some tension and improve her mood a little better with some aerobics.

She turned her eyes toward the gate of the compound, "So, should I just do a lap around the compound?" she asked her, the Princess nodding.

"That'll work. Come back and maybe we can have a spar, how about that?" she suggested, making the acrobat cringe.

"Are you tiring me out just so I can beat me better?"

"Of course." the Princess assured her with a smug grin, which was a way of telling her that she was lying; usually she wouldn't try and let her know that she wasn't telling the truth, but just to annoy her, she would let her on.

She shook her head with frustration, "I'll run around, and I'll beat you." she declared with a sense of growing confidence; she wasn't actually confident that she could beat the Princess, but she was confident she could disappoint her, just to rub it in her face- if she couldn't read her book, then Azula wouldn't win their spar.

The acrobat began to jog off toward the gate, which was opened up as soon as she approached; she walked through the entrance and then began to make her way, first to the left, around the walls of the compound. She increased her pace as she went along, wiping the sweat from her forehead, keeping her eyes focused ahead of her to make sure she wouldn't trip over any indentation in the ground.

As she made her way along the outside of the wall, she could see soldiers walking by, and they did, unsurprisingly, look her way; she couldn't blame them- she was an attractive looking girl, and she tended to catch people's attention, something she'd learned pretty quickly after joining the circus. She, of course, usually had to compete with her sisters for people's attention, but now, as she stayed with Azula, all of it was firmly placed on her. At times it made her feel a little uncomfortable, given that she couldn't know for certain how many people looked at her, or what they thought of her; she didn't meet or talk to that many people, at least compared to how many had to be living in the tent city surrounding the compound.

Ty Lee continued to jog on around the compound, and she glanced around, noting all of the structures that surrounded the place; there were fortifications, of course, given that it was a military base first and foremost, as well as some larger structures, resembling the army barracks that she'd come across a few times on her journeying across the Earth Kingdom with the circus. She assumed that was where the original forces stationed at the base stayed, and probably where any sailors who arrived and stayed there off duty would stay.

She wondered if anybody had better accommodation than them, knowing that Azula had gone out of the way to ask for the best of the best, but Ty lee couldn't help but be a little skeptical. Her room was smaller than the one she'd had at her old home in the Fire Nation Capital, any even there, she'd been sharing the house with six sisters, who all had their own rooms, which was a lot better than when they were all stuck living in the same tent together. She chuckled, wondering how they might be going at that very moment; probably just doing their acrobatics as they had done before, with a little more attention split between them with her out of the way.

She turned her attention ahead, moving around to the opposite side of the compound, where she could see a number of ships, docked in port, along a massive stone pier, resembling the ones she knew from the Fire Nation Capital, which had a great, impressive port; she glanced over and saw a few sailors walking by, up and down the pier, some of them heading along past her, probably to go head for whatever accommodation they might be staying in during their stay at the base. She slowed her pace, deciding that of any time she could spend eavesdropping, it would be then. The acrobat narrowed her eyes, listening out for anything of interest as the group made their way by. Unsurprisingly, a few of them glanced her way, but they didn't seem to know who she was, nor care, which was not completely unsurprising; they had things to do, places to be.

"Yeah, I gotta say, I'm getting tired of these damn patrols. We aren't finding anything." one of the sailors lamented, another one of his comrades raising a finger, with an eager look on his way.

"Didn't you hear? Commander Sheng's group spotted the Avatar." he spoke up, which was clearly of interest to Ty Lee; they were her friends, after all.

"But did they catch him?" one of them scoffed, the sailor's expression immediately souring, "Yeah, I don't think so. Nobody has a chance of doing that."

"Didn't the Princess become allies with him?" another of them asked, as the acrobat began to walk on away, lamenting the fact she'd been walking in the opposite direction; she had really wanted to hear what they were going to say.

"Yeah, but I don't think that makes a difference. What if he's trying to work with the snow-savages?" another sailor piped up, just loud enough for her to clearly make out his words.

She furrowed a brow, considering what Zhao's fleet might do if they decided to go after Aang; she thought it might have even been possible that that would prod them to attack the North Pole again. They hadn't done it for a good few months, from what Azula had told her, and she assumed that the Avatar's presence would be a good excuse for Zhao to attack- nobody wanted to go off into the cold of the North Pole and fight for a place they didn't even want to colonise.

She continued along, approaching the rear of the compound, which seemed to connect to the pier; there were another set of gates that she walked by, but she didn't try and go through them- she wasn't going to cheat her jog. She had already increased her pace again, beginning to pant because of all the running she was doing; Ty Lee was okay with getting puffed out, but she didn't want to exhaust herself so much that she wouldn't be able to read the book she had to get back to.

As she made her way back along the side of the compound, she eyed a few patrolling guards, who looked at her with confusion as she jogged by; which aspect of her presence surprised them, she was unsure, but she didn't really think about it. She was more thinking about kicking Azula's butt when she got back to the training ground, knowing that would certainly be an enjoyable experience after she dragged her out of her room. When she finally circled back to the gates, she paced back in, deciding that she wasn't going to stand for another run around the place; she approached Azula, who was doing some firebending forms, and caught her attention with a high-pitched whistle.

She turned around to face the acrobat, pursing her lips upward, "Oh, you were quick. Did you have enough already?" she asked Ty Lee, who simply moved into a fighting stance.

"Nope, I just wanted to get back here and fight you."

"Do you really want to read that stupid book so bad?" she scoffed at her reaction, the acrobat narrowing her eyes at her friend, confident that she would beat her, just off of the power of frustration.

"Yes, yes I do." she assured her, before gesturing for her friend to approach, "Come on, Zula."

The Princess smirked, taking a fighting stance, with her left foot forward and her hands in line, ready to send out a fireball or two into the acrobat's head; she did try that, but Ty Lee was prepared, and ducked under the attack. Azula then sent out a sweeping kick with her right foot, forcing her to roll to the right to dodge the wave of flames that was fired out from her foot; she reoriented herself, turning to face her friend, who began to barrage her with fireballs, which she was forced to weave out of the way of; the closer she got, the harder it was to avoid Azula's flames.

She stepped forward, hoping to hit Ty Lee square in the face with a charged fire blast, but the acrobat was able to kick her friend's wrist, sending the fire stream up into the sky above them. The blue flames were undeniably beautiful, but she remained focused on blocking the Princess's next attack, using her fingers like knives with the tips shooting out intense torches. She was whacked in the arm by her fingers, which singed her skin, making her cry out with pain; despite that, she was able to block Azula's right hand with her forearm, keeping her fingers well away from her face, which was what she had aimed for.

The Princess kicked her in the shin, making her grunt as she was forced to her knee, not even considering the hot touch of her friend's firebending licking up her leg. She rolled forward to dodge the next fire blast that she had aimed Ty Lee's way; though she had rolled into Azula, she used that to her advantage by raising her legs up to jab her friend in the gut. The Princess gasped out for air, and once the acrobat had reoriented herself upright once more, she jabbed her friend in both of her arms chi-paths, preventing her from using them.

Her eyes widened with surprise, before she stepped back, opening her mouth wide and sending out an unexpectedly powerful fire breath, which forced Ty Lee to lean back, "Argh!" she cried out, barely keeping herself off the ground by reorienting her arms behind her.

"You think a little chi-blocking is going to beat me?" her friend scoffed at her, raising her right leg up, showing that she could create a jet of flames on the sole of her foot; she forgot from time to time that Azula could bend with all of her limbs with equal proficiency, as well as her mouth.

The acrobat rolled out of the way of the fire stream she sent out of her foot, before she jabbed her friend in the knee with her toe-tips; given she wasn't wearing her armour, that actually did hurt Azula, who grunted as she struggled to remain upright. She had failed to chi-block her leg, but she was sure once she had her hands back off the ground, she'd be able to do just that.

"Not good enough!" her friend derided her efforts, before breathing out another fire stream at her, the acrobat gritting her teeth as she rolled out of the way again, getting up to a crouched position; she was forced to dart out of the way, the Princess sustained her attack for a few more seconds.

When Azula finally gave her a moment of reprieve, Ty Lee sprung into action, chi-blocking her friend in the legs, forcing her down to her knees. She left over her shoulder, before grappling her arms and holding her down, hoping that would force her to concede the fight. Without any other option, the Princess let out an exasperated sigh.

"Good job." she commended her efforts, "I'm sure you'll be able to handle any threat that comes our way." she assured her friend, who made a small appreciative smile.

'Thanks, Zula." she simply told her, before rising up to her feet, noting that the guards had been watching her beat the Princess, "Yeah, I'm tough." she proclaimed, placing her hands on her hips, the guards simply looking at her with surprised expressions, none of them denying her claim.

"Give me a minute. I can't move any of my limbs." Azula clarified, making her scoff.

"What?" she looked at her, confused that the Princess had suddenly become forgetful, "Did you think we were gonna fight again?" she asked her, before she began to stride away, intent on going back to what she actually wanted to do.

"I said I wanted to read that book."

* * *

Sokka was relieved that the people that had attacked them earlier that morning were from the Northern Water Tribe; the worst possible thing that could have happened would have been if Zhao's goons had ended up chasing them and tried to capture Aang. Of course, Azula might be able to break them out, but that would just waste time and get them away from their real goal: waterbending. Katara and Aang needed a waterbending master, and the Northern Water Tribe was the place they needed to reach. He could see icy cliffs laying ahead of them, and with them a set of tall walls, inscribed with the insignia of the Water Tribes. He could see some structures behind the walls, but they were too distant for him to think of them as anything more than igloos; they might have been more complex than the ones they had at the South Pole, but he couldn't be sure until he saw some up close.

"Wow, that's a big wall." Aang commented, the Water Tribe teen chuckling, remembering the wall they had around their village.

"Uh, yeah, it is pretty big." he conceded, before he grimaced thinking about what it was keeping out; he thought that if they had the same kind of defences at the South Pole, the Southern Raiders would have gotten utterly stomped.

As they got nearer, he noticed a number of people on the wall, who took what he assumed to be waterbending forms; suddenly, a portion of the wall lowered down, seemingly being held up by all those waterbenders. Glancing over to his sister, he wasn't surprised to see that she was amazed by it, giddy at the sight of such a powerful use of her element. Once the portion wall had dropped into the water below, it allowed them to continue on inside, revealing the massive city before them. Sokka's jaw dropped, amazed by what he was seeing, and honestly a little jealous. Though he was frustrated to admit it, he could concede that the Northern Water Tribe did really know how to build stuff; he didn't really know what to expect, only ever having seen igloos and tents at the South Pole, but the North Pole was really something else. Their city was full of canals, and their buildings were ornate and square shaped, reminding him of the Earth Kingdom, but far more Water Tribe in aesthetic.

"This place is beautiful." his sister mumbled, and Sokka chuckled.

"You say that now." he warned her, Katara shaking her head, already knowing what they were to be getting themselves into.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." she mumbled with a disappointed face, before turning to face Aang, her expression warming up a little, "How excited are you to get a waterbending master?"

"Pretty excited." he grinned at her, "With this many waterbenders, it'll be easy to find a master to teach us."

"That's right." Sokka crossed his arms, "And none of them are going to teach Katara squat. Ain't that great?" he sarcastically quipped, Aang furrowing a brow in thought.

"But the women must do something. They can't just ban them from bending all together. That'd just be horrible." he argued, Katara cringing somewhat.

"It already is horrible." she grimaced, "I can't imagine not being able to fight with my bending. With all that's going on out there, people need to be able to defend ourselves. Our tribe only has the warriors, but I know they're not enough, if the Fire Nation really tried to get rid of us."

"They wouldn't do that." Aang assured her, before wincing, remembering something, "Oh, but Azula's dad... yeah, Roku said he would do something like that."

Sokka rose up from the saddle, giving him a reassuring smile, "Aang, don't worry about that. Ozai isn't the Fire Lord, and I doubt that'll be the case... ever." he assured him, before placing his hands together, "What we've gotta worry about is how we're going to get to the palace or wherever their chief is."

"Oh yeah." Katara mumbled, before turning her gaze up the canal, "I think that's where these guys are leading us."

"Good." he cracked his knuckles, "That's where we ought to be heading."

"Don't go too fast into bonking heads." she warned him, the young Avatar turning to face him.

"I'm sure I can try and bargain with them." he argued, the Water Tribesman raising a skeptical brow.

"How exactly are you going to bargain when these guys aren't threatened by the Fire Nation?" he asked him, before he shivered, remembering something, "Oh, we could do... that." he mumbled, his sister turning to face him.

"Sokka, you don't mean what I think you mean, do you? Isn't that what Azula's trying to prevent?"

"No, she's trying to earn the Northern Water Tribe's trust and get rid of a problem person at the same time." he corrected her, "The spirits are a reasonable bargaining chip. We couldn't do anything to them, though. They're important. I'm pretty sure you shouldn't mess with the spirits that control the forces responsible for waterbending."

"Yeah, I agree." Aang nodded, "We shouldn't do that, but... I guess Azula really is our best hope if they don't agree to teach Katara."

"Well, not exactly." he acknowledged, his sister turning to face him with an almost worried look.

"You're not going to beat them up, are you?"

"Not once. I'll beat whoever's the top waterbender here up every single day until they start teaching you. I'll make Ty Lee proud with the arse-kicking I'm going to be giving." he declared confidently, before placing his hands together, "But we shouldn't worry about that, not just yet." he conceded, glancing over to face Momo, "Are you hungry, Momo? Because I sure am."

The flying-lemur chittered, and glanced around over at the buildings around them; the Water Tribe warrior cringed, knowing that at present, there really was nothing for him to eat.

"Yeah, I know that feeling." he cringed, before looking ahead, "We have to be getting close. I think I can see the palace." he gestured ahead to some kind of stepped ice pyramid, which was topped with a symbol which he believed to represent the Northern Water Tribe, or the Water Tribes more generally.

His sister nodded, and glanced over, pointing ahead, "I can see a dock. You're right, Sokka."

He smirked, but didn't decide to claim that he was more observant than anyone else; that'd be an Azula thing to do, and he was pretty sure they hadn't just merged into an amorphous blob and were still definitely two separate people. He laid himself down on the saddle, wondering what she might be doing at that very moment; he guessed either plotting or training, given that the latter was all she could really do while she prepared to enact her plan. He hoped she was okay, unsure how she was dealing without him; of course, she had Ty Lee for company, and the acrobat was sure to be keeping her in higher spirits. He smiled at the thought of the two of them arguing, with the acrobat saying something about Sokka and Azula's romance while the Princess told her to shut up because the guards were around, and he was sure that speaking about romance around the guards was the most forbidden thing to do.

He raised his head back up from the saddle and stretched his arms up as Appa reached a staircase, which he assumed they'd be climbing to reach the palace. He could see a few warriors striding down the stairs, obviously there to escort them to the palace; the trio climbed off of Appa's saddle, and Momo immediately leapt over onto Aang's shoulder, probably thinking that wherever they were going, he could get some food- that was an accurate judgement on the lemur's behalf, if that was what he was actually thinking.

One of the guards stepped forward, addressing them with serious voice and form, "Good day, Avatar, and... companions." he eyed the other two Water Tribesmen.

Sokka snickered, imagining what might have happened if he'd shown up in his fully decked out Fire Nation armour, and just acted like he was a dignitary from Zhao, trying to organise a peace treaty; it might have been a funny joke, but he was pretty sure that was a quick way to find himself thrown into prison.

"Oh, hi!" Aang waved to the warrior brightly, before glancing around him, "Are you guys here to take us to the Chief. You know, the big guy, the one who's going to get me a waterbending master?"

"Uh..." the warrior's eyes widened, glancing to the men beside him before he gave an affirmative nod.

"Yes, that's what we'll be doing." he confirmed, before gesturing for them to follow along, "Follow me. The other warriors will attend to your sky-bison and make sure he is well taken care of."

"Thanks." he grinned, before turning to face the other warriors, who had been with them, sailing in canoes, "Could you give him a wash? He hasn't had one in a while." he asked, the warriors looking amongst themselves with cringed expressions, before they nodded, confirming they'd do that.

Aang turned to face Sokka and Katara, "I think we're off to a good start."

"Don't say that." the Water Tribe warrior lamented, "You're just asking for this to go sideways."

Making their way up the staircase, he kept his focus on the impressive architecture before him; the Northern Water Tribe's palace was intricately designed, and seeing it made him think what they might have at his home after Azula became the Fire Lord. He could imagine something majestic, and smiled at the thought; something the people of his tribe could witness and know that the bad times were past them. He could see a glorious future for their tribe, one of prosperity and hope, not one of sadness and fear, as they might have experienced if not for Zuko's coup. He realised that it was that, not Azula 'changing sides' was what had really made a difference; he didn't really know, nor trust the Princess's brother, but he was under no presumption that things would have been very good if he hadn't turned against his father. His tribe would still be under threat, and Azula would never have gotten the chance to move out of her father's shadow; no matter what had eventuated at Yu Dao, he was glad that the Prince had turned against Ozai, if only for the opportunity it had provided for his sister to do the same.

As they neared the doors of the palace, walking over a small bridge, which crossed over a small moat, said doors were opened up for them, and inside, Sokka could see a long mat that led up toward the throne of the Chief. It was truly impressive, and he felt a little jealous, feeling that his people had never had anything of the likes, even before the Fire Nation attacked them. He turned to face Katara, who seemed just as impressed as he was, looking at the structure with eyes of awe. The Water Tribe teens walked with the Avatar toward the throne, where the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe sat; he was a middle-aged man, probably a few years older than his father, who looked to be friendly. He rose up from the throne, and raised his arms, obviously a gesture of welcome.

"Avatar." he addressed Aang, "It is an honour to have you come to my tribe." he bowed toward him, "I assume you have come here to master the element of our people." he acknowledged, the young Air Nomad nodding, bowing in return.

"I have." he smiled, before turning his gaze back to his friends, obviously thinking it the right time to introduce them, "This is Sokka and Katara. They've come with me all the way from the Southern Water Tribe. I was frozen in the South Pole for a hundred years, but now, I am ready to master the elements." he explained, the Chief nodding along.

"It is a good thing to see a brother and sister from the South. It has been long since people from your tribe have visited." he acknowledged, Sokka scoffing at his words; it was like he was completely ignoring the reason why they hadn't contacted the Northern Water Tribe- they were fighting for their lives, and had lost all of their benders to the Southern Raiders.

His sister pinched his hand, telling him to be quiet; he understood her caution, but unlike him, she hadn't gone to fight against the Fire Nation with the other warriors. Aang was the first sign of hope they'd had in a hundred years, and the Northern Water Tribe had weathered it all, to the point where he could even argue that it was like the war had never occurred to them. That was the greatest unfairness, and he could not remain silent toward it.

"We have... struggled." Katara put it lightly, "All of our waterbenders were taken by the Southern Raiders, except me." she admitted, the Chief's eyes widening.

"I thought that was just a rumour. So, there really are no other waterbenders?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl nodding along.

"The Southern Water Tribe has gone through a lot in the past hundred years." Aang spoke up, "The whole world has. We haven't just come here to ask for a waterbending master."

"You want me to do something?" he raised a brow, "It is not like our tribe can stand up against the Fire Nation. We can repulse their attacks, but moving against them would be insanity. We do not have the manpower or the resources to fight them like the Earth Kingdom... could." he admitted, Aang cringing at his argument, turning to face Sokka; his eyes told him that he wanted a little back-up.

"It won't just be you." he assured him, speaking up and catching the Chief's attention; the Water Tribe warrior stepped closer, "We have the support of a powerful rebel group in the Earth Kingdom, and hopefully we'll find more who will support our cause."

"And we have somebody who can solve the Fire Nation problem for you." Katara added, not forcing her brother to say it, "Princess Azula lives, and she is our ally and personal friend."

The Chief's eyes widened, "So the rumours are true. The Avatar and the Princess are working together." he gasped, "How did that happen?"

"I happened." Sokka gestured to his chest, "I tried to kidnap her a few months ago, failed, and then we worked together to survive in the Earth Kingdom. I became her most trusted advisor, and when her brother defeated her, my tribe gave her refuge." he explained, the Chief's eyes widening; he'd obviously heard about him- he would be surprised if he hadn't.

"I've heard of you." he admitted, "But now I have a name and a face to those stories. Why did you do it?"

"Join the Princess?" he asked him, the Chief giving him an affirmative nod, "Because she is not as bad people think she is. She is a smart woman, and she understands the world better than most, especially now."

"Where is she?" he furrowed a brow, "You say she is your ally, but I don't see a Fire Nation Princess in front of me." he acknowledged, Aang and Katara cringing at his question.

"We didn't think bringing her here would be a good idea." the Avatar conceded, before the Water Tribe girl spoke up.

"And she had things to attend to." she added, "Things that will help protect your tribe."

"I don't understand." he narrowed his eyes at her, the Water Tribe warrior raising a hand.

"It would be better if we didn't say. This operation she is undertaking is highly dangerous, and if it succeeds, your tribe's greatest threat will be extinguished."

"The Fire Nation?" he asked, the Water Tribesman shaking his head.

"No, Chief... oh, you didn't introduce yourself." he acknowledged, the man raising a hand to his chest.

"I am Chief Arnook." he clarified, Sokka nodding along.

"Well, Chief Arnook, the Princess of the Fire Nation is going to deal with Admiral Zhao, who has been trying to conquer your tribe for a number of years now." he clarified, the Chief's eyes widening.

"Our contacts have spoken of him. He indeed seeks to conquer our tribe." he narrowed his eyes, obviously finding distaste in the suggestion it could even occur.

"Yes, and he won't ever get the chance." he acknowledged, before clearing his throat, "Uh, and there's something we need to attend to."

"Me?" the Chief asked, the Water Tribesman cringing; he didn't even know if the Chief had the authority of what he was about to ask, but he decided that being nice about the situation first would be better than resorting to violence and intimidation.

"Yes." he nodded, "My sister here is the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. She needs to become a master if we could ever hope to continue our bending art." he explained, remembering what Katara had told him of the matter; he didn't really care about it that much, that being waterbending, but he did care about his sister's dreams and aspirations, and above all what was right.

"She can learn from our healing master, Yugoda. She will be able to master that aspect of waterbending." he acknowledged, before cringing, "But I apologise, we do not teach women combative waterbending, if that was what you desired to learn."

"She's a great bender." he assured the Chief, "Please, just make an exception, so Southern Waterbending can go on." he pleaded, hoping that the dire situation their culture as whole faced would ring a tinge of sympathy from the Chief.

"I-" he began, before his eyes turned down, "I can't. The Elders would never allow it." he explained, the Water Tribesman nodding; he wasn't going to beat up some elders, given that they were probably all as old as his grandmother, "I'm sorry."

Katara clenched her fists, and looked ready to start a rant, just from the look in her eyes; Sokka intervened, placing a hand up to block her by the sternum from moving forward, "Katara, please. Let me handle this."

"I can- I can prove myself." she declared, loud enough that Arnook must have heard her.

"I- uh- don't recommend that." he warned her, "Our waterbending masters are formidable. Even if you are a natural, you will not stand a chance against the likes of them."

"No, I will." the Water Tribe warrior declared, stepping ahead of his sister, "Whoever you have... I will beat them, on the honour of my people, for all that died. All that the Fire Nation killed, and stole away." he declared with an unwavering tone of confidence, "Their deaths will not be vain, just for waterbending to be extinguished, for my sister to lose this opportunity." he declared, the anger in his voice rising, though he tempered himself, taking a deep breath, "And before you say I can't beat them because I'm not a bender... you obviously haven't heard the stories well enough." he warned the Chief, who seemed to be intimidated by his words.

"Master Pakku is the man who will teach the Avatar." he clarified, "You would have to face him, if this is really what you desire."

"Oh, oh it is." he cocked a smirk, "I will be the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe one day. Before that, I need to kick some dumb, old waterbender's butt to show my worth." he explained his intentions, before placing his hands together, "Thank you for being understanding of my wishes, Chief Arnook."

"U-uh... that's alright." he nodded with a timid voice.

"And the Fire Consort too." Aang whispered to him, making him chuckle; he didn't want to mention that possibility, given it might make the Chief second guess the Water Tribesman's loyalty- he was always going to be loyal to his tribe, even if he one day married the Princess of the Fire Nation.

"Oh, also, do you happen to have a feast or something happening because Aang's here?" he asked, the Chief raising a brow.

"I would say the Avatar's arrival is worthy of calling a feast." he acknowledged, "Are you hungry?"

"Famished." he acknowledged, "Uh, so, do you guys have any food we can eat? We were surviving off rice-crackers for the last two days there." he admitted, "I feel like I've been eating dirt."

"Uh, I'm sure we could have some food brought to your accommodation." he clarified, the Water Tribesman raising a brow.

"Do we get our own igloo?" he asked Arnook, who nodded.

"I assume you haven't slept in one in a while." he noted, the Water Tribe warrior nodding.

"A year, now." he noted, remembering that the last time he had slept in his family's igloo was before he left to fight with the warriors.

"Oh." his eyes widened, "That doesn't sound very nice." he conceded.

His tone was sympathetic, but Sokka was sure that the Chief had not endured the same as he and Katara had, though he wasn't going to complain about that; that was just the circumstances they were dealt by being born where they had been.

"Well, that's good to hear." Aang smiled at the Chief, "Thanks for giving us a place to stay."

The Water Tribe girl turned to face her brother with an understandably concerned tone, "Are you going to fight that waterbending master soon?" he asked, the Water Tribesman raising his chin up.

"I'll wait a little while. I want to see if he's worth beating up." he conceded, "I don't just beat up anybody and everybody." he argued, before crossing his arms, "Not everyone is deserving of the Jet treatment."

"Jet was." she argued, "He's an arse."

"Yes he is." he agreed, "A misguided arse." he acknowledged, before chuckling, "Now we've got stubborn and misguided people to deal with."

"Fun." she sarcastically commented, before the Water Tribe warrior turned to face the Chief.

"Uh, so where's this igloo?" he asked, the Chief raising a hand, gesturing for the warriors who had escorted them inside to approach.

"The warriors will show you there." he clarified, Sokka nodding to show his understanding before walking over to the warriors.

"Hi, sorry if you don't like me talking to your chief like that, but you know, all the shit my tribe's been through just gets me in a bad mood." he bluntly addressed his actual reason for being so cold when he spoke to Arnook, the warriors looking amongst themselves with surprised expressions.

"Don't mind my brother." Katara gestured toward him, "He's usually in a lot better mood." she acknowledged, before she gestured for Aang to follow them; he did, and with that, the warriors began to lead them out of the Chief's Palace.

The Water Tribe teen kept up his pace, trying to act as casual as he could, though he probably just came off as being dorky; he kept a straight face, posture and direction of walking. The warriors lead them across the bridge they had crossed earlier, before turning to the left, walking along through the courtyard in front of the palace toward a number of buildings, where he assumed they would be staying. The Water Tribesman turned back to face his sister, scrunching up his lips in thought.

"Well, I think that went well."

"You nearly made the Chief pee his pants, Sokka." she warned him, "Not that that's a bad thing, though. Intimidating him is probably the only way you're going to get me accepted as a student of this Master Pakku guy."

"Well, I would say fight the guy to show your worth, but that mightn't end well. You're still learning how to harness your waterbending; that'd just be dangerous and reckless. If you ended up losing, he mightn't even teach you at all, even if I do beat his butt." he acknowledged, one of the warriors looking back at him with a confused expression.

"Sorry, did you just say you're going to beat Master Pakku?" he asked the Water Tribe teen, who nodded with a confident expression, "That's not going to be easy. You're a non-bender, right?" he asked Sokka, who cocked a smirk.

"Yes." he declared confidently, "I'll beat him just like I beat the Fire Lord." he added offhandedly, making the warriors look at him with perplexed faces.

"Wait, you're the guy?" he asked him, the Water Tribe warrior nodding.

People had heard of him, which relieved him slightly; he thought Azula got away with all of the notoriety, while he had gone off unnoticed and unacknowledged by the world for his actions.

"Uh, yeah, I boomeranged him right in the head. Definitely didn't see it coming." he explained, making the warriors look amongst themselves, obviously putting two and two together.

"It's the damn 'Water Tribesman'." he entitled him, before glancing back toward him, "That's what they call you. The Fire Nation, that is."

"Oh, I thought they'd be polite to use my name." he crossed his arms, remembering the wanted poster he'd seen, "Oh, yeah, the wanted poster did just say 'a Water Tribesman', didn't it?" he asked his sister, who nodded.

"Uh, yep, that's what it said." she confirmed, Sokka glancing back toward the warriors, whose faces were filled with awe.

"Damn, now I'm nervous. I never thought you'd actually show up here." one of them admitted, making him chuckle.

"Oh, if you're wondering about me bringing chaos wherever I go, trust me, that's the Princess, not me." he assured him, before furrowing a brow, "Or is it?" he whispered to himself, unsure if it was truly the case that Azula was the one gathering all of the chaos that came their way.

"Yeah, I think that's mostly her." Katara acknowledged, making him snicker, remembering what had happened the last time she'd taken the reins.

"And who stole a waterbending scroll from a store because she thought the owner was a thief?" he retorted, his sister clenching her fists at him.

"That's because it was stolen! How does somebody from the Fire Nation get a waterbending scroll, Sokka?" she retorted with a growing tone of anger.

"Okay, okay calm down." he tried to defuse the situation, "But admit it, you know how to bring out a little chaos."

She turned her eyes away, seeming embarrassed over what she had done, or rather, how it had resulted; a very short goodbye for Ty Lee and her six sisters, and them having to run back to Appa like their lives depended on it.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sure Ty Lee wasn't happy that she had to leave without a proper goodbye." she conceded, the Water Tribe warrior shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, don't apologise to me." he retorted, "She's the one you wronged," he clarified, before cracking his knuckles, "in exchange for learning how to waterbend, and thus, how to beat up whoever refuses to teach you." he acknowledged the great benefit of her stealing that scroll, "Plus, you don't think you stink at waterbending anymore, do you?"

"You're pretty good at it." Aang admitted, "She wasn't wrong. You are a natural at waterbending." he acknowledged what Azula had said, making her laugh off his words.

"I'm not that good... not yet." she conceded, her tone suggesting that she was looking forward to whatever training she would receive.

"Oh, that 'not yet' is going to become a 'yes now' very soon." he assured his sister with a confident smirk, placing a hand on her shoulder, "But first, we need to get some food. I'm starving." he declared, making her snicker, shaking her head with a bemused smile on her face.

"For once, Sokka, I'm going to agree with you there."

* * *

"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe. And they have brought with them someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now... the Avatar!"

Aang smiled at the sight of everyone applauding and cheering to his name; he was ready to be the Avatar, and he was just glad that everyone was supportive of him. There was a lot of pressure on him, but with friends like Sokka, Katara, Azula and even Ty Lee, he felt like he could do anything. The feast they had before them was bountiful, and he would admit it was good, even though he hadn't been expecting the best; Azula truly knew how to lower people's expectations, and for him, it was Water Tribe food. He was pleasantly surprised to taste it and find it wasn't that bad, though the stewed sea-prunes were not that nice, just as he'd been told. The Water Tribe siblings were sitting beside him, and both enjoying eating Water Tribe cuisine.

"Mhmmm... so good." Sokka grinned as he licked his fingers of what he assumed was splatterings of the stew he'd been eating, "This really makes me miss Gran-Gran's cooking."

"Me too." Katara mumbled, with a bittersweet look on her face; Aang turned away, feeling slightly ashamed- it was because of him that they'd been separated from their family, even if they had chosen to come with him.

She turned back his way, looking at him with an intrigued face, "Are you alright, Aang?" he asked her, "You're getting a feast called just for you."

"Y-yeah, I know that." he assured her, forcing a smile out, "I just- well, I know you guys must miss your family."

"We do." she acknowlegded, "But it's okay. We want to be here."

"You want to learn waterbending." Sokka clarified as he stuff some more food into his mouth, "If you could've avoided this place, you would've."

"Yeah, after what Gran-Gran said, I wasn't enthusiastic about coming here anymore." she conceded, before looking down at the food she was eating, "But the food is great."

"That it is." he grinned at it, "It isn't bad, right, Aang?" he asked the young Air Nomad, who nodded in confirmation.

"It's good." he assured him, "Especially these seaweed noodles." he grinned, "They're like noodles but extra-vegetarian." he licked his lips before slurping some into his mouth.

He chewed them down, before glancing over toward the chief, who was looking his way, "Avatar." he addressed him, the boy raising a hand.

"Uh, it's just Aang. You don't need to call me 'Avatar'." he assured him, making the Chief chuckle.

"Of course." he nodded, before gesturing down to the fountain, where an old man with a long goatee stood, "That's Master Pakku. Would you like to meet him?" he asked him, the young Air Nomad looking down at his meal.

"Uh, could you give me a minute? I just want to finish these noodles." he asked, Arnook nodding.

"I understand, go ahead." he pointed toward his meal.

As he chewed down on the noodles, he noted that a girl with white hair was trying to speak with Sokka, and he furrowed a brow, thinking her appearance was rather unusual for a Water Tribesman.

"Sorry, you're the Chief's daughter?" the Water Tribesman asked her, the girl nodding.

"My name's Yue." she clarified, "He told me you're 'The Water Tribesman', the one who worked for Princess Azula." she acknowledged, making Aang nervously slurp up his noodles; he didn't know where the conversation would go after that, but he didn't think it could be very good.

"Uh, yeah. Sokka is my name, by the way." he acknowledged with a nervous voice, before turning his eyes ahead, "And Azula... she's my girlfriend."

The girl's eyes widened with surprise, "Wait... so you're.... so you're going to be the Fire Lord?" she looked at him with a perplexed face.

"Uh, no, Fire Consort." he clarified, "She'll be the Fire Lord."

"Huh." she mumbled, before turning her eyes away, obviously a little unnerved by that revelation.

"Maybe you shouldn't have phrased it like that, Sokka." Katara warned her brother, who shrugged his shoulders, "Fire Lord Sokka has to be about the worst thing I've ever heard." she acknowledged, Aang cringing.

"Well, he's going to get pretty close." he acknowledged, before slurping up some more of his noodles; the young Avatar didn't want to think too much about the weirdness that was going to be politics once the Princess was the Fire Lord- Sokka wanted to the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, which made any arrangement between them kind of unusual, given they'd both be monarchs.

He turned back to face Arnook, clearing his throat, "Uh, Chief, I'm ready to meet Pakku." he clarified.

He smiled at him and rose from his seat, gesturing for the young Air Nomad to follow him; he did just that, following him along the table, before they made their way down some stairs toward the fountain in the centre of the room, where he could see the waterbending master waiting patiently. He noticed that he had been overseeing the forms of his students, who made a display before the chief gave his speech. Master Pakku turned to face them both, eyeing Aang and obviously understanding who he was; that was despite his short black hair, which partially obscured his tattoos and the Water Tribe clothes he'd put on, which were a little more comfortable to wear in the cold climate of the North Pole.

"Master Pakku, meet your newest student, the Avatar." he gestured toward the young Air Nomad, who gave him a bow.

"Just because you're destined to save the world, don't expect any special treatment." he warned the young Avatar; he seemed a little snarky, which made him feel slightly less bad for what he was about to say to the waterbending master.

"I, uh, don't." he assured him, "I need to master waterbending so I can help return the world to balance. Thank you for allowing me to be your student." he acknowledged the man, before he got onto the more difficult topic.

He eyed up to the table, seeing that Sokka was intently looking his way; even if he couldn't hear what he was saying, he knew what Aang was going to say, or more accurately what he had to say.

"You aren't going to like hearing me say this, but you have to teach Katara." he stressed, making him furrow a brow.

"Sorry, Katara?" he asked him, "Is that your friend up there, the boy who keeps eating like a cow-pig?" he asked, the Air Nomad boy cringing.

"No, uh, that's Sokka. Katara's his sister."

"In our tribe it is-" he began to say what he knew he was going to say; what Katara told him he would most likely say.

"No, I think you misunderstand." Aang stressed, "I mean no disrespect, Master Pakku, but my friend, she needs to learn waterbending. She is the last southern waterbender. Every other one was taken to the Fire Nation, to some prison where they all wasted away; they were... deprived of their humanity." he admitted, telling him exactly what Azula had told him when he had asked about it, feeling a little uneasy to discuss the matter with Katara herself, "And Katara's mother, she was killed by the Fire Nation, protecting her daughter's identity as the last waterbender." he added, knowing that couldn't be ignored.

"I sympathise with what the Southern Water Tribe has gone with, I truly do." Pakku stressed, "It is nothing less than a tragedy what happened to them, but we have traditions, rules; she cannot learn here, unless she desires to learn healing."

He cringed at the waterbending master's words, "She can't go anywhere else. There are no other waterbenders to learn from." he stressed, "And that's why Sokka, her brother, is going to beat you up, every single day, until you accept Katara as your student."

He scoffed at his words, "Are you trying to mock me?" he asked him, unamused, "I am a master of my bending art. That boy's... well, he has to be a non-bender, right? I doubt he could even touch me."

"Uh... he won't need to." he acknowledged, "Well, to deal with the waterbending part." he clarified, Pakku's eyes narrowing at him.

"Excuse me?" he asked, now sounding more aggrieved than simply frustrated, "What do you mean deal with the waterbending part? Did you not just hear what I said?"

"I did." Aang raised his hands, "The first time I met Sokka, he showed me his skills. I'm a master airbender." he pointed to his arrow, "He won. By a long shot."

The master crossed his arms, still unconvinced, "I don't believe you. You're trying to intimidate me, and it won't work."

"This isn't intimidation." he corrected him, "That's what Azula will be doing."

"Sorry, Azula?" he asked him, turning to face the Chief, "The missing Fire Nation Princess is coming to our tribe?"

"Uh, yes." Arnook confirmed, "I don't know when, and I don't think they'll tell us."

"We won't," the young Air Nomad confirmed his suspicions, "because you might throw her in prison." he narrowed his eyes at him, "That's what a lot of people want to do."

"I know." the waterbending master crossed his arms, his tone suggesting he knew more than he was saying; Aang didn't want to feel nervous, for Katara's sake.

"Uh... yeah, so please, Master Pakku, don't just refuse her. I'm the guy who likes to solve problems with words." he admitted, grimacing slightly, "Sokka likes being a loudmouth too, but he prefers his fists. And Katara, if she wants to, she'll fight you to be your student..." he admitted, before turning his eyes back toward the aforementioned Water Tribe girl.

"You and you're friends don't scare me, Avatar." he narrowed his eyes at him, "And even if you did have the Fire Nation Princess here to intimidate me, this is beyond my honour or anything of the sorts. I respect the traditions of the Northern Water Tribe, and I suggest you do too, for the sake of the world."

He sighed, feeling uncertain if there was anything he could say to dissuade him, "I'm sorry." he sighed, "I will be your student." he admitted, "But I want Katara to be your student to. I just hope you can see that she is worthy."

He crossed his arms, scoffing at his words, "We will see, Avatar." he decided, before turning his gaze up toward Sokka and Katara, "He doesn't look like much."

He snickered, before turning to face Chief Arnook, "Thank you, Chief for this opportunity you have given to me." he spoke as formally as he could.

"It is my honour to have the Avatar taught under the supervision of one the greatest waterbenders to grace our tribe." he acknowledged, before gesturing back toward the table, "Please, continue eating. I'm sure you're hungry after your long journey."

"I am." he nodded, before he paced back on up toward the table where he'd been sitting before; Sokka and Katara eyed him as he moved along, and when he returned to his seat, he straightened his posture.

The meeting with Pakku had gone as well as he expected it to, and the waterbending master at the very least sounded sympathetic with Katara's plight, though clearly, without some coercion, he wasn't going to teach her waterbending.

"How'd it go?" she asked him, the young Avatar sighing.

"Well, I guess Sokka's going to start beating him up every day now." he acknowledged, "He won't budge."

"I'm not surprised, but... urgh..." she groaned, snarling slightly as she eyed Master Pakku, "Why'd this one rule have to be here?"

"Because people love to be frustrating, Katara. Haven't you noticed that yet?" her brother asked her with a smug expression, making her roll her eyes.

"Yeah, I have." she narrowed her eyes, making a small pout; perhaps she'd been referring to Azula, and Aang guessed that's what Sokka was thinking, because his expression faltered pretty quickly, before he returned to eating his meal.

The young Air Nomad returned to his meal, sighing with frustration; he wished things were easier, but they just weren't. He didn't have a choice, and neither did Katara, so they just had to work with what they had, which seemed to be Master Pakku or waterbending scrolls, if they could buy, let alone find some. The taste of the food didn't seem as could when he wasn't happy, or hopeful; the food just reminded him that he'd be done with dinner eventually, go to sleep, and then start his waterbending training without his friend, who definitely wanted to learn waterbending more than he did- he had to learn it, because he was the Avatar, while she had always dreamt of it.

He turned back to face her, "Did you want to practice, though?" he asked her, "We still have the forms on the scroll to practice."

"Yeah, we can do that." she made a small smile, Aang smiling right back at her; he hoped that if they did that together, it would lighten both their moods- he wished she could get what she wanted, but it seemed like it was going to be a challenge for them to get there.

He continued to eat the seaweed noodles he had been chewing down, and quickly finished off the bowl; he decided that he'd go get some fresh air, feeling a little uncomfortable at the feast with so many random eyes on him. They people he didn't know, that he'd probably never know; he knew, however, Katara and Sokka, who were there by his side, and there to help him, and in return, he'd help them. Aang just wished he could do more, after all they'd done for him; they'd given him a family, something he hadn't had, not ever. Monk Gyatso was just one guy, and he was like his father; he probably did have a mother and father, but he couldn't remember them- all he remembered was the monks, and Monk Gyatso's bright smile, and the smile he'd give him in return, especially when they got up to something mischievous.

"I miss you." he mumbled under his breath, knowing that he couldn't really speak to him; he was gone, like all the other Air Nomads, and had been for a hundred years, which had passed with him stuck in an iceberg, unable to do anything and unknowing of what happened to his people.

He glanced over to the two Water tribe siblings, who were quietly eating their food; Katara seemed sad, while Sokka just seemed to be channelling all his emotions into eating. He really did love food, so it made a lot of sense. He got up from his seat, and took a deep breath, deciding that he was going to go back to their new home; he'd probably say hi to Momo and Appa, and make sure they were both fed. He was sure the flying-lemur was as hungry as they were after having almost no food for an entire day.

"I'm just going to go back to the igloo." he clarified, the Water Tribe siblings nodding.

"Uh, I'm kinda in the middle of my dinner, but I'll come as soon as I can." he assured him, his sister stepping up to look at Aang face on.

"I'll go. I'm not that hungry anymore." she admitted; she didn't even need to sound sad- he could see it in her eyes.

He nodded, before pursing his lips upward, "Do you wanna do a little waterbending before bed. I'm sure you can beat me... or try." he prodded her, hoping that she might enjoy a little sparring.

She snickered lightly, before nodding, a small smile returning to her face, "Yeah, I can try, and I'll win."

"Now, now, Katara, don't get too overconfident." Sokka warned her, "That's how to lose easily."

"I know Aang. I know what he can do and how he fights- it won't be that hard."

"I don't know." he smugly elbowed her, before striding along down the table, "You might not expect what I've got in mind."

"A trick." she crossed her arms, before following after him, "Even if you're going to make fun of me, I want to see this. It might be good practice."

The two of them made their way along the table, approaching the staircase, which would lead them down to the plaza below, where Master Pakku and his waterbenders had been showing off before their dinner. The young Air Nomad eyed the waterbending master, as did his friend, who he presumed was giving him a death-stare, which given the context, was probably deserved; when they made their way out of the plaza, they were addressed by some guards.

"Avatar." one of them spoke up, "Did you require an escort to your residence?"

"Uh, no, we're fine." he smiled, "I remember where it is." he assured them before he and Katara made their way down through the courtyard that sat in front of them.

"Urgh... I can't believe this place." she sighed, Aang pouting slightly.

"I know it's bad, but let's just hope Sokka can... uh, persuade Master Pakku." he acknowledged the threat that her brother would pose; he didn't doubt he could beat the waterbending master, who probably had never encountered a chi-blocker in his life, and thus would be completely unprepared.

"At least he'll teach him a lesson. If Pakku doesn't teach me. I'll take Sokka's route."

"Wait, what do you mean 'Sokka's route'?" she asked, the Water tribe girl cringing.

"Uh, making Azula beat me up with her firebending until I can beat her." she acknowledged, the young Avatar cringing.

"That mightn't be that easy." he conceded, Katara nodding.

"That's why I don't want to do it, but if Sokka's evidence, it's a proven method." she acknowledged, before chuckling, "I have a feeling that's how Toph's going to teach you earthbending." she acknowledged, the young Air Nomad grimacing.

"Yeah, I have no idea how I'm going to learn earthbending." he mumbled, "And yeah, she seems like the kind of person to throw rocks first and give lectures second."

"She definitely does." Katara nodded with a slight grimace, before smirking, "So, what's this waterbending trick you wanted to show me?" she asked, the Avatar raising a finger.

"Now, I can't show it, because then it wouldn't be surprising. We'll have to spar first." he explained, before gesturing in the direction of their igloo, which wasn't too far away, "Let's go to the nearest canal, and then I can show you." he explained, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow skeptically at him.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Aang?" she warned him, "I might be better than you expect."

"You're a good waterbender, but trust me, I need to try this." he assured her, not wanting to give anything away; he'd been thinking about it while they were flying on Appa's saddle for a few days straight, and now he had a perfect opportunity to test it out.

He led her along down the stairs that led to the city's canal system, and he smirked in thought of what her reaction might be; when they reached the bottom of the stairs, she strode away, taking some water out of the canal, wrapping it around herself. Aang reached out himself, and took some water to do the very same, though he took a lot more than she did; he wanted to be ready to do his trick, so he'd need some water to do it.

"Okay, so what are we doing?" she raised a brow at him, unsure what they were doing just standing there with water floating around them.

"Huh, good point. This is a spar." he clarified, "And with my new waterproof Water Tribe parka, I'm ready to go." he grinned at her, moving into form.

He quickly created a water whip, which he struck out in her direction; she raised her hand up, blocking his attack with a water shield, which she spun around her before throwing his way. He reached toward that water, and bent it around himself, creating a wide and tall stream of water, which obscured him from view. She chuckled at his move, obviously thinking that was the trick; he was still well away from doing what he had planned.

"What's that there? A really big shield." she scoffed at him, "That's very Air Nomad of you, Aang." she acknowledged, making him smirk, knowing she could see his face.

"Oh, it's not." he clarified, before flattening out the water, "Remember what Azula did at Kyoshi Island?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl's eyes widening with shock, understanding his intentions.

"You wouldn't." she refused to believe his idea; if she thought he was going to try and firebend, she was sorely mistakened.

She threw her own water whip his way, which he bent into his growing stream of water, "Just as planned." he grinned, before he pulled his arms closer to his body, taking a deep breath; the water enveloped him, and for a few moments, he was inside the spinning mass of water, which he was able to bend into a funnel, raising himself up; using the last of his breath, he airbent a hole, allowing the young Avatar to pop out of the top of the funnel, which now towered over Katara.

"What the..." the Water Tribe girl mumbled with awe.

"I figured out this would work. If I concentrate enough, I can bend air and water at the same time." he declared with a grin, before creating two tentacles out of the funnel, the Water Tribe girl's jaw dropping.

"Okay, this isn't what I was expecting." she conceded, before taking her own form, imitating his own move; he immediately moved to stop her, using the tentacles as water-whips as she attempted to create her own funnel.

He splattered water everywhere, and threw the Water Tribe girl back, who was forced to create another water shield to defend against his two water-whips; she reached forward, and broke his tentacles apart, and Aang decided he'd used the funnel as a weapon instead, pushing it motion toward her, like a massive spinning top made out of water, with a boy straddling the very top. As he moved closer, Katara was forced to move into a defensive stance, trying to hold back the funnel, though she struggled to do so; she snarled, before throwing her hands forward, cutting the funnel in half as the water disappeared beneath him, and thus, the Avatar lost his footing. He struggled to keep himself up with airbending, as he was too focused on holding the mass of water together, which certainly wasn't 'together' any longer. He let out a squeal of fear as he fell down, right on top of the Water Tribe girl, who couldn't do much to defend herself, other than raise her hands up. He grunted as he fell on Katara, her body cushioning his fall down onto the icy surface. She cried out as well as she was forced to the ground, the two of them lying there, Aang dazed from having struck his head into her arms.

"Ow..." he mumbled, "Maybe I shouldn't... I shouldn't have tried that." he decided, thinking his prior course of action to be rather stupid in hindsight; if he was going to create a massive funnel of water, of course, Katara would be able to bend it as well.

"Urgh." she groaned, rising back up to her feet, looking at the young Avatar, whose eyes fluttered as he tried to regain his bearings.

He pulled himself up slightly, before falling back flat on his back, "Ouch." he mumbled as he lay there, too pained and exhausted to do much.

She leaned over, offering him a hand, "Maybe we should try some more practice tomorrow, Aang."

"Yeah." he nodded, grimacing slightly from the pain he felt on his forehead, before he accepted her hand, rising back up to his feet.

The young Avatar looked at all the water they'd splattered over the ground around them, and noticed that he was drenched, especially his hair, which was dripping down his face.

"I think I need to get a towel or something." he admitted, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow.

"Actually, I think I can bend the water out of our hair." she explained, placing her hand just above his scalp.

She pulled her fingers upward, drawing the water out of his hair, which felt rather weird in his opinion, but he was glad she'd done it. He touched at his scalp, and felt that it was suddenly dry and fluffy.

"Huh, it worked." his expression brightened, appreciative of the help, "Thanks, Katara."

"No problem." she smirked, before she unbraided her hair and did the same, running her hands down the length to draw out the water, which she tossed back over into the canal; once she'd done it a few times, she grasped her hair and began to tie it back into a braid.

Aang gestured up the stairs, "Uh, did you want to get back to the igloo now?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Yeah, I feel like hopping in bed now." she nodded, walking along behind him as she continued to tie her hair back up.

Making their way back up the stairs, she began to chuckle, "You know, that was pretty impressive, Aang."

"Th-thanks." he made a small smile, hoping that he wasn't blushing, "It didn't really work, though. You cut right through my funnel."

"That doesn't mean it wouldn't work against a firebender or an earthbender, though." she considered, "It's a good idea." she simply told him, "Though, I really don't know that much about waterbending."

"Yet." he added, "You will, Katara, I'm sure you will."

She snickered before pursing her lips upward, and glanced up back toward the plaza with a devious smirk on her face, "Well, I'm sure Sokka's going to beat this Master Pakku guy."

"And then he'll have to teach you... and if he doesn't, we'll still be able to rub it in his face." he declared, happy that they'd at the very least be able to teach the Northern Water Tribe a lesson; the kind of lesson he was sure Azula would be approving of.

"Oh, I intend to, Aang. I intend to."

* * *

Princess Azula was not in the mood to do anything; she didn't think that she could really get bored that quickly, but after nearly a whole week at the Fire Nation base with Ty Lee and her guards, she realised how much she missed the others. It wasn't even just Sokka, though part of her declared that she missed him more than anything; she missed her arguments with Katara, and Aang's silly antics, and all the stupid conversations they'd have together, some of which were serious, and others that were meaningless. She forgot when she thought about her time with them that she was a Princess, the Crown Princess, to be exact; the Fire Nation still awaited their rightful Fire Lord, and she still wanted the throne. That didn't mean that it was the only thing she wanted; Azula wasn't as single-minded as she had once been in the past.

There were many things she wanted, for varying reasons, though most of them just came down to her personal sense of justice. Some things just needed to be done, because she knew that they ought to be; not because they were good, but because they were right. The Dai Li had to be gotten rid of, because they were unrighteous in their rule over Ba Sing Se; Katara needed to learn waterbending, because it was right that her bending tradition, that of the South Pole, continued. There were many things she could think of that were right and things that were wrong, though the barrier between the two was more permeable than she would have preferred. There was always a choice in the matter, and it seemed that free decision making both created the chaos and destruction, as well as the righteousness in the world.

She turned her gaze over to the door of her bedroom, knowing that she ought to start training the new arrivals; the soldiers who Zhao had hand picked for their mission. The rather pointless training she'd be doing, seeing that she had no intention of the Admiral succeeding in his intentions to kill the spirits. However, the training would give her something to do, as well as an opportunity to train a few people into shape, not physically but mentally, and perhaps inspire them to follow her personally. More respect and followers was what she needed, and even if the soldiers she was to train were technically already her soldiers, they had no personal loyalty to her, at least yet. She had an opportunity to inspire some personal loyalty, and given what we sought to achieve, she thought it was something that might be helpful in the long run.

Azula stretched her arms up, and sighed, knowing she ought to get out and get her new men trained and ready for the situation they were going to face; they were in their own quarters, though he could send out a message to have them called for training at any moment. Getting out of her room was something she knew was necessary; even if she trained her bending and her guards as much as she could, there was only so much time she could spend doing it. Ty Lee had been actively avoiding her since their last training session, probably under the pretence of getting that book she was reading done. She was amused that the thing that made her rebellious was some random romance novel she bought off a servant, and not some kind of deep-seated issue she had with Azula's decision-making; that was the kind of thing she feared, and it seemed, at least for the meantime, that wasn't going to happen.

She rose up from her bed, and approached the door of her bedroom, opening it up; she glanced up and down the hallway, and decided she'd go find somebody to send the message. She guessed that it would be one of her guards that would be forced out of their quarters and off to go find the soldiers, who were probably set up in some part of the massive tent-town that surrounded the base proper. She'd been told by Zhao where they were set up, a location marked as 'position twelve seventeen', which seemed to be running off some coordinate system that would be on the maps they used and the real life locations. She approached one of the dormitories that her guards shared, and knocked on the door, hearing some scurrying inside, the guards obviously a little startled by her knocking; she then opened the door, eyeing the few men who sat inside.

"Which of you wants to volunteer to retrieve the men I'll be training for the North Pole?" she asked them, the guards looking amongst themselves, as if they were eyeing off who ought to be sacrificed to her command.

One of them, whose name she remembered to be Hong, sighed with frustration, before rising up from his bed, "Urgh, whatever." he grumbled at his fellow guards, "I'll volunteer, your highness."

"Good, you've just earned yourself an exemption from tomorrow's training session." she crossed her arms, smugly smirking at the other guards, whose expressions unsurprisingly shifted to ones of regret.

"Oh..." he mumbled, before he strode toward her, "Uh, do I have a location?" he asked her, the Princess pulling the map from her belt; he accepted it into his hands, scanning it with interest.

"Give this back to me when you return. Coordinates are position twelve seventeen, which I'm pretty sure you can see by looking at the margins." she gestured to the map, which he had already unfurled.

"Uh-huh, got it." he nodded, "I'll get it done, Princess." he assured her, before walking out of the door, smugly looking at his comrades, obviously wanting to rub it in that she'd given him an exemption to their rather arduous training sessions.

"Humility and service." she simply commented, mocking their inaction, before she closed the door behind her.

She stood there, smugly appreciating how she'd made the guards antagonise each other so simply; she missed mockery and playing with people- it was very fun, though she tended to avoid doing it with Katara and Aang, given that they weren't her subordinates, and wouldn't tolerate it. She missed her arguments with Sokka dearly, probably more than any other kind of interaction she had with him; that news might have disappointed him, but the conversations they had were always interesting and he always had his way to prove his point. He was an intelligent person, at least compared to most the people she'd dealt with in her life, and more than that, he was critical; he actually thought about problems instead of just making some smart-arse judgement of the world- he was always trying to think of solutions, ways to get around the problems they faced.

She didn't have solutions for everything, despite how often she'd like to claim the latter; she did have a plan, but she knew from experience that she couldn't just trust wholeheartedly in what she had intended. She desired the throne, but how she was to arrive there was still unknown at that point; many aspects of the situation were beyond her control, and thus, she had to wait, and observe, despite how much she'd like to act. If she thought she could win outright, she would face her brother again in an Agni Kai, but she was uncertain if he'd allow it, let alone if she'd actually win in the case such a fight went ahead.

She decided that as she would have to wait a bit, she would spend her time doing something rather unproductive, but she would still derive some enjoyment from it. Her friend was probably still reading, but all she desired to do was take up a little of her time to discuss the matters at hand, as ell as just be a little social; she enjoyed her friend's company, and she had grown to enjoy the banter she could have with her as much as did with Sokka. Her observant nature led to rather amusing comments that could be played around with; of course, sometimes her comments were absolutely embarrassing, shameful or just flat out inappropriate. That wasn't a concern as he approached Ty Lee's door, and knocked on it; a few moments later, her friend's voice calling out in response.

"Oh, Zula, is that you?" she called out, the Princess clearing her throat.

"Yes. Can I come in?" she asked her friend simply, who led out an affirmative 'mhm-hmm', which she took as a pass to open the door; she stepped inside, noting that her friend was on her bed, reading her book- she placed it down, and looked up at the Princess.

"What brings you to my room?" she asks her, "It isn't more training, is it?" she asked, making her chuckle.

"No, I'm just here to chat." she clarified, approaching the end of her friend's bed, which she sat herself down on.

"Huh, chat. That's very... un-Azula-ish of you." she acknowledged with a bemused voice, making the Princess roll her eyes, "Did something happen?"

"No." she simply told her, leaning back onto the wall beside which her friend's bed sat, "That's kinda the thing. Nothing much has happened." she admitted, 'The new airship prototype is probably going to be ready in the next day or two, but other than that, we don't have much to look forward to." she acknowledged, before sighing.

"So, Princess Azula is bored. Who would have known that was possible?" Ty Lee chuckled, before gesturing down to her book, "You didn't want to read this, did you? I could give it to you once I finish." she suggested, Azula raising a hand up, immediately refusing.

"No, I think I'll pass." she declined her offer, before glancing back her way, "Is that all you've been doing lately?"

"No. I've been doing some stretches and exercises in my room as well." she explained, before narrowing her eyes, "A little less intense than what you're used to."

"Well, I still meditate every day." she added, "And that's the opposite of intense."

"But what about your thoughts... are they intense?" Ty Lee asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes; sometimes, when she thought back to what she did to Sokka, then she'd have intense feelings.

She didn't feel anger toward Ty Lee for what she'd done, but rather, she felt those feelings against herself, and not anybody else; she wondered if that was what it felt like to be Zuko, or at least, Zuko before he grew a spine and decided to betray their father. It was unnerving to think that Sokka was her weakness; he was the one she had opened her heart, her innermost thoughts to, and in exchange, she could feel guilt for what she did to him. She never usually felt guilty about anything; she didn't feel guilt over the Dai Li, or what she was going to do to those Earth Kingdom protesters, or trying to kill Zuko during their Agni Kai. Her perspective on those actions had changed, but she couldn't regret them.

Her past decisions she had made had brought her to where she was, just as her decision to stop Sokka from coming with them had; unlike the others, she regretted that, however, because of how powerless he must have felt. That powerlessness, the kind of weakness that Azula herself so despised that she sought his help, as well as help from Aang, Katara and Ty Lee, to feel that she could never be powerless. She had given him that powerlessness, as if she had deflected it onto him because she did not desire to feel her power threatened in the case things turned out badly; if she could not protect Sokka from Zhao, she could keep him away, at least for the meantime. Things could still turn out badly, but she was ready for that scenario; she had to be, and her friend understood that possibility.

"Sometimes." she admitted honestly, narrowing her eyes in thought, "I don't want to be weak, Ty Lee."

"I know that, Zula. That's kinda been your thing forever." she acknowledged, the Princess nodding.

"Before that Agni Kai, I thought I was unstoppable, and... I was." she reminisced to what she used to be like, "But I was wrong. Zuko is an idiot, and a foolish one at that, but if he beat me, then I have to be an even bigger fool than him." she snarled, frustrated by that fact of the matter; she was foolish for thinking she was going to win that Agni Kai against her brother without any doubts in her mind.

"You're not a fool." she assured her, "You've learned. People learn, that's just how life works." she raised her hands up, "I learned to tolerate my sisters, after I made the choice to leave my home, only for them to come after me. That doesn't make me a fool, but just somebody who had to deal with a problem. I didn't get what I expected... but it was something good."

"Sokka is good." she made a small smile, before raising a hand to her forehead, "And I might call him an idiot, but I know he's smart. He's not just going to welcome me back after all this. Even if it's right. Even if I'm keeping him safe."

"He wanted to be here." she nodded, understanding the situation as well as she did, "But he's not going to hate you because of this. He might be a little grumpy, maybe very grumpy. Let him have it. That's what he might need to do, and he'll have to, but eventually, he'll trust you again. I mean... he probably still trusts you- he gets how you think."

"Yeah, he does." she nodded, "I shouldn't have lied. I should have just been upfront with him, instead of well... tricking him. We played him for a fool, and now he probably thinks I might toss him at a moment's notice just because it suits me."

"You won't." she smiled at her, "Because you love him."

"I- I do." she mumbled, "I can't believe I do, but I do." she sighed, "I'm not good enough- or maybe... it's just I'm too obsessed with this. With the throne, with getting things done. Maybe we could have just stayed there at the South Pole... but I don't know if I would have been happy with that."

"This is your way of confronting your past." she told her, making the Princess raise a brow.

"Confronting it? You mean Zuko?" she asked her, unsure what she meant; her brother was somebody she'd have to confront, sooner or later.

"Not just Zuko- everything. You're Azula, but you're not the same Azula I used to know; you've got to reconcile the new you, with who you used to be. The Princess who wanted to conquer Ba Sing Se, who wanted to see the world ruled by the Fire Nation, who hated the other nations." she explained, "You've got to confront all that you used to be, and just... well, I don't know what you do with it. It's really up to you."

"I want to be the best Fire Lord the Fire nation could have, Ty Lee." she stated her belief on the matter, "I want to serve my country, and one day, I will rule it, but I need to... well, you're right, I need to confront what I used to be, so I can decide the kind of ruler I want to be. I'm not my father, and I can't be my father." she admitted another fact that she'd come to understand; the longer she spent away from her father, and the further away his teachings were from her mind, the more foreign they seemed, "Everything he taught me, I can either use it for what is right, or I can just use it to better myself. Sometimes, those things coincide, but I don't think they do."

"Teachings aren't just things you have to follow straight without question. If everyone followed the rules all the time, how would anything ever change?" she asked her, "Whatever your dad told you, it's just a guideline, and if you find something better, use that instead. He isn't some wise guru who knows everything about life and death and destiny." she joked, making the Princess chuckle; that was about as far as possible one could go from her father.

"Yeah, he's definitely not that." she agreed with her, before she narrowed her eyes, "If I've changed so much," she began, turning her gaze toward Ty Lee, who had a wistful look on her face, "then how am I still Azula?"

"Because you remember." she told her a fact that she understood a little too well; she could remember all the failures and mistakes she had made, "You remember what it was like when we were younger, and we were at school, and you scared all the other girls." she reminded her, the Princess chuckling.

"Ah, that was fun." she pursed her lips upward, Ty Lee making a small smile as well.

"You're not that same little girl anymore, or the Princess who went off to Ba Sing Se. You're always changing." she admitted, "I've changed as well, but I'm still Ty Lee, and you're still Azula."

"And together, we're still friends." she acknowledged, before sighing, remembering what she had done for her to be there with you, "I'm sorry for taking you away from your sisters. I know they must be worried about you now- I could tell from how pent up they were getting that afternoon."

"I don't worry about them that much. There's six of them, and they can all take care of each other." she acknowledged with a small smile, "They're annoying, but we all count on each other. Just like how you, Sokka, Katara and Aang do." she added, making the Princess sigh, remembering that they were still out there.

"I hope they know what they're doing." she acknowledged the unknown.

She could not be certain what they were doing, or where they were; she hoped they had reached the North Pole, and that Sokka had figured out a way to get Katara a waterbending master, despite the rules that she understood were in place there.

"They don't need you to guide them every step of the way. You're a good leader, Zula, but you know, they can take care of themselves." she explained, the Princess nodding; she knew Ty Lee was right, given that she'd seen the leadership that all of them could take at times, even Aang, who was only twelve years old- he understood his responsibilities, just as she did her own.

"You're right, we don't need to worry about them." she acknowledged, her friend nodding, before her expression faltered, "What is it?"

"I still don't know what's going to happen to Mai, and Zuko too. Are people going to try and kill them?" she asked her, the Princess grimacing.

"They could try. I don't think if Zuko can beat me, there's anyone but our father that could kill him. That doesn't seem very likely... given that Iroh's there with him." she acknowledged, "My uncle's power ought not to be underestimated."

"Yeah, you've said that a few times." she mumbled, before grimacing, "But I don't want Mai to get hurt because of all this. She's... well, maybe she isn't innocent, but she hasn't done anything that bad." she acknowledged, "She tried to help you and Zuko, from what it sounds like... but that backfired."

"Maybe she should have shown up to the Agni Kai." she noted, "That might have changed my brother's attitude."

"We can never know, I guess." the acrobat sighed, "I just wish... maybe if you'd come to me before all of that happened. Then maybe I could have made a difference."

"The only difference you could have made would be to teach Sokka chi-blocking a little earlier; that wouldn't have done much, unless you wanted to chi-block my uncle and brother and hold them hostage." she acknowledged, before she narrowed her eyes, realising that there was no way that fight could have ended well, "You being there... you would have just seen what Sokka did. I don't think you would have liked it."

"I wouldn't have." she confirmed, "It would have been horrible, and I would have been angry, and I would've told Zuko how bad a brother he was being by shooting that lightning back at you." she declared, with a rising tone of confidence, the Princess grimacing.

"But I was the one who shot it at him. I didn't know if it was going to kill him... but if it had, that would have been on me." she acknowledged, "I don't even know if I hate Zuko enough to kill him. I despise him, sure, but my hatred toward him, it's all bundled up in that crappy childhood of ours. That wasn't his fault, even if he was there, getting our mother's love and attention." she added, with a growing voice of spite.

She quietened herself, knowing she shouldn't ought to get angry over her past. There was no point, given she couldn't do anything about it; her mother was gone, Zuko wanted her in jail, and she wanted the throne. Maybe if things had gone differently, she might have held some kind of bond with him, as she did with Ty Lee and Mai, but she couldn't even claim that. All she had was his weakness, and all the love that he received despite it; she realised how stupid her thoughts on the matter were after the Agni Kai, given how Sokka had protected her, and cared for her, despite her failure and weakness. She and Zuko were eerily similar in some ways, even if their experiences happened at different times during their lives, and for wildly different reasons.

"You don't need to hate him. Yeah, he might have nearly killed your dad, and yeah, he might have nearly killed you, but I don't think he intended to that either time. He's not a murderous guy; he's angry, I know that. He's always had that pent up inside him." she acknowledged, the Princess chuckling.

"I wonder why." she mumbled to herself, already knowing the answer; it was because of how their father treated him, making him feel worthless.

The old Azula would have agreed with Ozai, that her brother was a weakling and incapable, and deserved all the derision that came his way; the new Azula knew that people could grow, and change, and she knew that even if it wasn't in her interests to have a competent brother, she knew that her father could have tried to make him grow. Burning his face might have been justified as achieving such, but all it did was create that spark of hatred that led to her father's defeat; whatever lightning bolt had come back her father's way, he'd certainly been asking for it. He wanted a ruthless, capable son, and he got one, though perhaps in a way that he probably didn't want.

"Father made Zuko into the man who defeated him, even if Uncle was there to guide him," she observed, before smirking, knowing there was a certain parallel she liked, "and now, Zuko has made me into the person I need to be to defeat him, even if it was Sokka who got me here."

"Without your defeat, you couldn't become the Fire Lord you want to be." Ty Lee rephrased what she said, and smiled at her, "Well, that's a better way of looking at it."

"This doesn't mean I'm into needlessly intense positivity, by the way." she warned her, before narrowing her eyes, "Speaking of which, has my aura improved?"

"Uh, yeah." she nodded, "It's better than the other day. Maybe you're getting better."

"I must be." she nodded, before rising up off of the bed, "Well, I ought to go out to the training yard. Those soldiers aren't going to become capable of surviving at the North Pole without my guidance." she declared, before smirking, "You might need some advice too."

"Oh, warm clothes, and uh... bad food?" she asked, making the Princess snicker.

"That's the jist of it." she sarcastically acknowledged, "There's a lot more to living at the poles than that. To combat the Water Tribes... if that was actually what I was intending, would require an understanding of their culture, their mentality about life, which I do actually have a good comprehension of."

"A good comprehension of Sokka's mind?" Ty Lee asked her, making the Princess raise a brow.

"Well not just him, there's Katara too. I have to consider how waterbenders think; they would be one's most threatening opponents in the case one was to actually attack the North Pole." she admitted, the acrobat furrowing a brow.

"But you're not... so what's the point of all this then?"

"To make Zhao think that I actually want to conquer the North Pole and eliminate waterbending." she clarified, "I need him to believe our loyalty, otherwise, things mightn't go as planned."

"What, like getting thrown off of the airship and falling to our deaths?" she asked the Princess, who grimaced, realising that was actually a very morbid but plausible outcome.

"Uh... yes. I might have a little more luck than you, given that I can achieve propulsion with my firebending, which might soften the fall somewhat." she acknowledged, making her friend look at her with an unamused face.

"Thanks, that's great to hear." she sarcastically commented, "We need to think of some kind of escape plan."

"Break the balloon." she simply told her, "That's how it stays in the air. In the worst case scenario, we have to send it down into the sea."

"I'd rather not think about that." she admitted, the Princess nodding.

"Well, hopefully, we won't need to think about it." she acknowledged, before she glanced toward the door, "I really should be off. It would be a bad impression to show up to their first training exercise late." she conceded, making Ty Lee snicker.

"Now, that would be really un-Azula-ish of you." she acknowledged, "Go on, I've gotta read this book anyway. I'm getting to the ending."

"Do you think there's a twist coming?" she asked her, the acrobat pursing her lips upward.

"Well, that'd make the ending better. Things went sideways in this story. The two lovers have been torn apart, and now they're trying to find themselves."

"You just told me yourself. People conflict with themselves, not just those they love." she acknowledged their conversation and how amusingly relevant it was to her story, "Perhaps they'll figure something out about themselves."

"Oh..." her eyes widened, before she pulled the book back up, "Now I have to keep reading!" she exclaimed, making the Princess snicker.

"You do that." she simply farewelled her, raising a hand to pull the door open; she stepped on out, and closed it behind her.

She made her way down the hallway, passing by a servant, who bowed toward her in respect; she ignored them, continuing along, running her finger over her hairline, just to check if everything was in place. Once she was certain her hair was how she intended it to be, she continued along, making her way out into the main hallway of the compound, walking by some on-duty guards, who just like the servant, bowed toward her in respect. Though she noted their stiff forms and wary eyes, she dismissed their deference; it assured her that she had power and respect, but that was about it.

She continued forward, making her way toward the front door of the compound, which the stationed guards opened for her, allowing the Princess to exit without having to touch anything herself, something that she appreciated. It made her feel like she was still a Princess and not just a warlord, sitting in spirit's know where in the Earth Kingdom, even if that's what she happened to be in practice- she had yet done much warring, and hoped to keep that aspect of her rule to a minimum. She eyed around the courtyard, noting that the guard that had left to find the men she was to train was yet to return

She decided to walk over into the training yard, where she and her men usually spent their mornings working on their sets and practised on their firebending endurance, which given their skill when it came to forms and power, she knew to be the most important aspect of their training. They had to be ready to deal with any threat, so being able to endure as much firebending and physical strain as possible was what she required of them. For the men she was about to train, there was a different focus she'd be taking; it was about the mental fortitude one needed to be able to deal with survival situations. Considering the worst case scenario, if a unit of Fire Nation soldiers was stuck at the North Pole and needed to survive, she was the best hope they'd have to learn how to do just that.

She sat down and crossed her legs, deciding that she'd spend whatever time left she had to wait meditating; Azula didn't really have much on her mind other than training the soldiers, as well as her lingering fears about what might happen once they actually took the airship to the North Pole. The problem she faced was that Zhao might actually get a chance to harm the spirits, and achieve what he desired to; that was the worst possible outcome, given that there was no way she'd have a chance to persuade the Northern Water tribe to help her- if anything, they might arrest her, no matter what Sokka or the others said about it.

She took a deep breath out, expelling those thoughts from her mind; she knew that they were distractions, things holding her back from achieving her goals. Fears were something that were useful, as they would allow her to avoid situations like she had in Yu Dao. Her cockiness was stronger than any fears she might have held about the duel, but if she'd really listened to Sokka, back at Pohuai Fortress, perhaps she'd be the Fire Lord at that very moment, and not Zuko.

She heard Hong's voice, which broke the relative silence of the courtyard, "Your highness, I retrieved the men." he explained, prodding her to open her eyes, seeing that he had indeed brought the soldiers she was waiting for.

They were a hardy looking bunch, though they only wore the same armour that any other Fire Nation soldiers would. It was in their eyes that she saw that wisdom, even though it really wasn't wisdom- it was an understanding of the dangers they could face as soldiers; the dangers of isolation, suffering and death.

"Good morning." she addressed them, "Is this everyone?" she turned her eyes to Hong, who nodded, before approaching her; he offered out the map he had given her, the Princess rising up to her feet to accept it.

"You may return to your quarters, if that is what you wish." she told her guard, who simply nodded, before turning his heels.

She eyed the soldiers who stood there, awkwardly looking at her, probably not wanting to address her without being spoken to; that was against protocol, she assumed, given that she was royalty.

"Do you know why you have been called back to this base?" she asked the soldiers, who looked amongst themselves, as if they were going to choose which among them was to speak to her; she guessed that it would be the man who had the attire of an officer, though a clearly low ranking one.

That man stood forward, and cleared his throat, "Uh, we were told by the message we received that our operation is on a need-to-know basis."

"Well, that is true." she conceded, "There are things that we should rather not discuss publicly." she added, which unnerved the men somewhat as she strode toward them, slowly enough that it didn't make her seem eager, "I am to be training you for your upcoming operation. All that you need to know is that you will be going to the North Pole, and thus, you have been picked out because of your survival skills as a unit."

The men looked amongst themselves with surprised glances, their 'leader' once again speaking up, "You mean when we got stuck out in the middle of nowhere?"

"Precisely. The Admiral spoke of an uprising against the Fire Nation. Could you detail your experience to me? I simply need a little background if I am to be training you all." she asked of him, the man nodding.

"Of course, your highness." he bowed toward her as a sign of respect, before he began, "We were posted in an occupied town to the south-east of here a few months ago. The Earth Kingdom locals had been agitated, I believe due to a crop failure, and our taxes were not approved of in the slightest. The locals then staged a revolt, and we lost... bad. I believe seven of our men were lost in action, but my unit was able to flee into the woods. Despite our struggles, we didn't lose any more men after that, but we were stuck out there, with the threat of bandits and hostile Earth Kingdom rebels in the area." he explained, the Princess scratching her chin.

"Well, how did you survive?" she asked, knowing that they had been out in the wilds a lot longer than she and Sokka had been.

Unlike her, they obviously didn't have the privilege of being able to sneak into Earth kingdom settlements and fool the locale; they were very right to believe they might attack them if they tried to seek refuge.

"Rudimentary hunting and gathering. We were able to survive mostly off our rations for the two weeks or so, but after that, we were forced to hunt. We encountered a few Earth Kingdom forces, but were able to hide in the woods with some camouflage we made. Once we were able to get our bearings, we signalled some ships up on the northern coast, where we were able to get picked up and head back to base here." he explained, the Princess smirking, finding their survival to be quite impressive.

"Well, I am glad you survived that ordeal. I would say you are all more than capable of handling this operation, as long as you are trained with the right precautions." she acknowledged, "The North Pole will be like nothing you have ever faced before." she warned them, the men standing firm and saluting her.

"We will do our duty, your highness." he assured her, the Princess chuckling.

She knew they had no choice in the matter, but she was going to try and earn their respect and trust; if it was the men before her who she would need to betray Zhao, then she was going to have to do just that.

"Sorry, I didn't catch a name." she addressed their leader, who saluted her once more.

"Lieutenant Dai." he gave his name and rank, the Princess nodding.

"Well, Lieutenant, I'm sure you and your men will be able to serve me well." she acknowledged, before she narrowed her eyes, "Your training will consist of both instruction and physical testing to simulate the environment you will be facing." she clarified, "The local environment is not very similar to what you'll be facing, but certain aspects of it can play way into our training."

"What is our first test, your highness?" he simply asked her, the Princess raising a finger to her chin.

"You may have to move a lot at the North Pole, and given that it is cold, and you'll be wearing thicker armour to deal with the temperature. In the worst case scenario, you'll need to cross the tundra, presumably to regroup with a Fire Nation vessel that will be able to reach the coast." she warned them, making the men grimace, "Because of that possibility, I'd like to test you with that situation. To simulate the temperature, I will have you all doused with cold water, before you have to run along the beach. There is a course I will have set up for you, and you will be required to run along it."

"Excuse me, your highness, when you say run, do you mean run?" one of the soldiers spoke up, his voice sounding afraid of the exercise rather than what she implied they'd be facing; they'd be running from Water Tribe warriors and waterbenders, who would most likely be able to catch them if they didn't.

"Yes, I do." she narrowed her eyes at the soldier, "What do you think, that the waterbenders won't just chase after you? You need to be able to outrun their bending, even if you can neutralise some of them." she warned, all of the soldiers grimacing, "You will have supplies, given that we are planning for this potential outcome, even if nobody wants it to occur. We must be ready for it, otherwise, you may freeze to death out there." she warned them, "I have been to the South Pole, so trust me when I saw that without the right equipment you may die."

They nodded along, all of them grimacing slightly, even if they didn't want to show their fears; it was a dangerous place for them to go. In terms of the terrain and environment it was nothing like the Earth Kingdom they had faced, even if the scenario they could be dealing with would be quite similar to the one they already had- in enemy territory, forced to move away with haste, with the threat of being captured or killed.

"So, now that you know what you will be facing, you can best prepare for it. I recommend you take things like cold showers, if you've had any of those to begin with. You must acquaint yourselves with the blistering cold before you even face it." she warned them, before placing her hands together, "Which of you are firebenders?"

Five men stood forward, and she gestured for them to move closer, "There's something important firebenders ought to understand when going to such an environment. When the sun is down, your bending is weakened, which is compounded by the environment. Thus you must rely on your breathing to ensure that you do not put yourself at a disadvantage."

"Breathing?" one of them raised a brow, "Like breathing exercises?"

"Not just exercises. Those are to ensure your bending is constant and you do not peter out due to exhaustion." she clarified, "What I am talking about is channelling your firebending through your breath to remain warm; that will ensure that you do not become weakened by the cold." she clarified, before narrowing her eyes, "Above the other tests and exercises I will have the rest of you do, I want you all to come here to practice your breathing with me. I will not have your bending be underutilised when you face this harsh environment."

"Of course, your highness." a few of them responded, though all saluted her, to assure her that they understood their jobs.

"Good, it seems like you all understand the issues you might be facing." she acknowledged, before pursuing her lips upward, turning to address them all, "Now, I said you had to run while drenched with cold water." she reminded them, before crossing her arms, "It's only right that you do some exercises under the same conditions." she explained, making them grimace, "I apologise if these are the only clothes you have, but this preparation is necessary."

She turned around, before looking for some water source for them to use, "Well, I believe we actually need some water first, before we can try it." she acknowledged, before she turned back toward them, "Could one of you go inside and ask where they store the water for cleaning?"

"Uh..." one of the soldiers mumbled, before stepping to the side, "I can do that, your highness." he assured Azula, who gestured toward the doors.

"Well, go on then." she glared at him, which was enough to prod him into heading right inside; she turned her gaze back toward the men, who obviously didn't like the idea of being drenched with cold water before training.

"If it's any consolation, I will be training with you." she clarified, "I too must prepare myself as well for the environment we will be facing."

"That's... uh, respectable of you, your highness." Lieutenant Dai addressed her, the Princess chuckling.

"Well, you see, I actually know how to deal with water and the cold, so I'm more than prepared for this training exercise." she assured him, before narrowing her eyes at the firebenders who she'd called forward, "I hope you all figure out quickly enough how to dry your clothes, because you may need to do it when we get there. Snow is water, after all."

"Of course, your highness." one of them nodded, "We know how to vaporise water. We were trained to do that back in school."

"But do you know how to vaporise the water in your clothes without burning yourselves or your attire?" she asked them, the firebenders grimacing, which made her chuckle, crossing her arms, knowing that she was the one with the knowledge, and thus, the power in their new relationship.

"Uh... we did not learn that." he conceded, the Princess turning her heels, glancing away; everything was going to plan, and quickly enough she'd have some soldiers who both respected her and would be ready to face the North Pole.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

Katara was seriously surprised how fast Aang was eating his breakfast; she knew that he wanted to get to his waterbending training with Master Pakku, but she didn't expect him to be as rushed as he was. She assumed that it was because they'd gotten up a little late, and with that, the young Avatar thought he'd be late to his first day of waterbending training. Even Sokka was a little amused by his quick eating, and when he had finished his bowl of seaweed stew, he gave him a clap.

"Aang, buddy, that was impressive." he congratulated him, "You must be really eager to start your training."

"Uh, I just don't want to show up late." he clarified, "If this guy is half as serious as Azula when it comes to bending, then he'll be grumpy with me all day if I show up late."

"Huh, good point." the Water Tribe warrior scratched at his chin, "Well, uh, you ate your breakfast." he gestured to the empty bowl, "Are you going?"

"Uh... I need... what did I need?" the Avatar mumbled to himself, looking like he was internally panicking; Katara placed a hand on his shoulder, noting that he was only wearing his robes, and hadn't put on his parka yet.

"Your parka?" she asked, his eyes darting to meet her own.

"That's it! Thanks, Katara!" he grinned at her, before pacing over to pick up his parka, which he quickly slung on, before turning to face the Water Tribe siblings, "How do I look?"

"Like you're pretending you're from the Water Tribe." Sokka nonchalantly commented, the twelve year old boy pouting slightly, thinking that he had made a mistake in wearing clothes more suitable to the environment.

"Don't listen to him, Aang." she stressed, "It looks fine. Your hair's a little messy though." she gestured to the black scruff on his scalp, which was just getting long enough that he even had a little fringe at the top of his forehead.

"Oh." he touched his short locks, grimacing slightly as he ran his hands through them, "It doesn't look bad, though?"

"No, it's fine." she assured him, "Just go to your waterbending lesson. We'll be there soon enough." she assured him, the young Avatar chuckling, eyeing Sokka with suspicion.

"How bad are you going to beat him, Sokka?"

"Until he lets Katara waterbend or goes crying to the Chief." he clarified, making him wince.

"Ooh... that's gonna hurt." he mumbled, looking as if he could imagine the beating Master Pakku was to receive, "I better learn something before his mood gets ruined." he acknowledged, the Water Tribe warrior letting out a hearty laugh.

"Ahahahah! That's a good one, Aang!" he commended him, which was a little funny in and of itself; he was only observing what might happen to the waterbending master, which Sokka was obviously going to enjoy.

Once he'd regained his composure, he pointed a finger at Aang, "Now, scram. You wanted to get there early? Go!"

The young Avatar nodded, before waving to them, darting out of the door of their igloo; Katara turned back to face her brother, and wondered what was going through his head- probably thinking of some lines to dish out at Pakku, knowing him and his love of a good joke. He scooped some more of the seaweed stew into his mouth, before licking his lips.

"This could've used a bit more meat."

"Do you know how much meat you ate last night, Sokka?"

"Not enough." he sighed, "I was already filled up from that late lunch we got with the igloo. These people really know how to treat us... except the waterbending part. They're just being a bunch of dummies with that." he added, the Water Tribe girl nodding, thinking her brother was right.

"Yeah, they're really generous with giving us this big feast, but they didn't give me what I actually came here for." she sighed, raising her hand up, as if she was cursing at Master Pakku himself, "What's with these people? They just think because I'm a girl, I'm somehow not capable of fighting with my waterbending. That's stupid."

"You see, the real message I've got is that the Southern Water Tribe, we're smart. We mightn't be rich, or have a fancy wall to keep the Fire Nation out, but we're ready to do what needs to be done to help our people, to become our best selves." Sokka argued, making her smile, thinking that was a nice way of putting it.

They lived lives with fairness and equity, at least compared to the other nations, and every person in their tribe was able to fulfil their potential, if they had the capacity for it; Katara didn't have a waterbending master to learn from, so she had to go to the one place where they had other masters, except they didn't even want to teach her. She wished there was another bender in the Southern Water Tribe, somebody who could have taught her how to wield her element; she never even had a chance, and it infuriated her.

"Yeah, Sokka, you're right." she agreed with her brother, before taking another bite out of her seaweed stew, "I just wish people here had even just half your brains. Maybe then someone would actually teach me."

"Did you just call them a bunch of idiots?" he narrowed his eyes at her, before scrunching his lips, "Am I an idiot?"

"N-no! That's not what I was saying, Sokka." she stressed, "I'm saying that if they were smarter, I'd have a master, because it's just stupid to not teach me because of these stupid rules."

"Uh-huh." he nodded, "Maybe we should educate them about how we civilised people live in the South Pole with respect and decency." he made a high and uppity sounding voice, which made her snicker, covering her mouth to make sure she didn't spurt out any of the stew.

"Just let me eat my breakfast, Sokka." she raised a hand, her brother smugly grinning at her for a few moments before he dug back into his meal.

She was already close to finishing her own, and she would say she enjoyed it; the opportunity to have some proper Water Tribe food again was a blessing, especially after flying on Appa with only rice crackers to eat. She glanced over to Momo, and noted that he hadn't been given any food yet; she decided to pick out some dried seaweed that they'd been given as part of their pantry of sorts. She broke a bit off, and wagged it at the flying-lemur, who turned her way with interest.

"Oh, did you want this?" she asked him, the lemur slowly approaching her, before he snagged it out of her hand, scurrying over to a corner of the igloo where he could stay warm, that being Aang's sleeping roll, and began to chew on it.

Sokka raised his arms up, and yawned, before smiling, "Ah, that was a good breakfast." he beamed, before rising up to his feet, "I feel like I'm in a beating up a waterbending master mood."

"You don't seem like you're very angry." she acknowledged, her brother chuckling.

"Oh, I don't need to be angry. I'm excited. I want to rub the smug look off his face when he thinks that he's the toughest guy around. And then I'm going to force him to apologise. It'll be funny to watch, and you'll have a master at the end of it." he explained, before stretching his arms, "Ah, I just need to get into my warrior's tunic."

"Wait... seriously?" she raised a brow at him, not thinking he was going to do that.

"Well, it was either that or walking up dressed as a Fire Nation soldier, but I think that'd be a little too... out there." he conceded the absurdity of that idea; she thought it would be funny if he did, but of course, people might take it the wrong way if he walked around looking like he was an enemy of their people, "Plus, I am a warrior, Katara." he stressed the fact, making her snicker.

"Oh, are you? I thought you were Azula's assistant." she mocked him, Sokka crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"Ha-ha, very funny." he sarcastically retorted, before scrunching his lips up, "Even if you're technically correct." he added with a quieter voice, before he spoke louder once more, "Anyway, I need to be dressed like a warrior if I'm going to face this guy down. This is a duel of honour, for our tribe, and for you; I'm taking this seriously."

"No, I got that, Sokka." she acknowledged, before she stretched her neck by twisting it a little, "I'm almost a little disappointed I won't be fighting."

"It's better if you avoid that. I know you're good, but this guy, at least while he can bend, will be a serious threat." he warned, "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Yeah, and what if you get hurt?"

"Ah, it won't be that bad." he assured her, "I can handle a little ice, and plus, I'll have you there to unfreeze me if things really do go sideways." he added, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

'Well, uh, I'll just wait for you to get dressed up, then." she decided, moving to sit over on her sleeping roll, idly glancing toward the water skin she had sitting beside it; she remembered Azula's first lesson, and furrowed a brow, wondering how much better she would be at just bending the water with her breathing.

She decided to test it out, crossing her legs and closing her eyes for a few moments, and reached out to the water skin; she began to slowly breath in and out, and quickly enough was able to sense the water moving with her breath. She then began to deepen her breaths, making them longer and more drawn out; she felt herself calming, her mind completely focused on the water skin, which she began to lift and drop with each breath. She smiled, imagining the water to be like waves lapping up against a beach, coming back and forth, the mass of water never moving too far in, or drawing too far back.

She remembered her faulty training session with Azula at the beach, and the golden flames she had produced; she made a small smile, knowing that love was the one thing that she knew could power bending more than anger or hate. Of course, emotions were far more important for firebending, but with waterbending, she needed to be in emotional stability too; she could derive power from anger, the kind that she felt over what happened to her mother, but she could take it from love just the same.

The smiles on the faces of her friends, the goodness that she could see in all of them, even Azula, and the care they held for each other, and the world. They wanted to do what was right, even if the Princess didn't want to call it good; that's what it was, and she was proud of what she was doing. Aang was going to change the world for the better, and they'd be there by his side, helping him every step of the way. Not to hold him up, because he required their help, but because they were stronger together than they were apart.

"Katara." she heard Sokka speak up, breaking her out of her near trance that she had been in; she dropped the water skin, and turned her gaze back toward him, noting that her brother was dressed in his warrior's garbs.

"Where's the face-paint?" she asked, remembering last time he'd put his outfit on, he'd been wearing his wolf-like face-paint.

"Not today." he conceded, "I can't be bothered, and honestly, I'd rather he see my face. I'm Sokka- Sokka is going to kick Pakku's arse, not some random warrior." he added, making her chuckle.

"Well, you will." she acknowledged, her brother gesturing to the door of the igloo, "Are we going to get going or what? I don't mean to say we should interrupt Aang's training, but we ought to get you learning waterbending as quickly as possible." he asked her, the Water Tribe girl glancing around.

"Uh... I need to do my hair." she excused herself, knowing that she actually hadn't put it yet; she could have gone without, but she didn't want messy hair getting all over the place, in case she did need to intervene and help Sokka, if Pakku proved more trouble than expected.

He stepped over to the doorway, narrowing his eyes at her, "Be quick." he simply requested, before he left the igloo, leaving her alone; she needed a few moments just to collect herself- she had to be ready to face Pakku.

She picked up her hairbands, which were in her bag, and began to braid her tresses back; with her fingers weaving around, she let her mind focus on what she was going to, or more accurately, going to witness. She had waited so long to get a waterbending master, and now she was going to see her future master get beaten by her brother, a boy who she considered in the past to be an amateur warrior; Sokka was no longer that, and he had learned more than how to fight while he was with Azula. He had become wiser, and with that wisdom, he could see the clear wrongs that they were facing; once, her brother had been sexist and ignorant, perhaps somewhat like the Northern Water Tribe themselves, though he never denied her her bending.

He was ignorant of bending, perhaps by choice; their mother had died because of bending- her bending, and thus, he probably thought it was the root of all evil. Perhaps that was the other layer to his intended beatdown; he wanted to prove that benders weren't all they were made out to be- that bending was not necessary, even if he wanted her to be taught it. She didn't agree with his argument, though she could understand it; he was a non-bender, and he probably wished he could have been born a bender, if only so he could be more able to fight- he got the crap kicked out of him by Azula, even after he had basically mastered chi-blocking.

Bending however, was her way forward, and she was going to confront Master Pakku so she could gain the skills that she knew she needed. Even though Sokka was going to be the one to fight him, she would be there to watch, and make sure she could see what excuses the waterbending master gave and how he tried to defend his stupid traditions. More than anything, she wanted to see the waterbending master falter, and then watch as he realised his ignorance. The Northern Water Tribe was wrong, and she was going to prove it.

"Come on, Katara, I'm pretty sure they already will have started. You don't want to be late." he stressed, the Water Tribe girl chuckling; her brother was assuming that as soon as he beat Pakku, he would concede and start training Katara- she thought that it would take a few beatings, and if necessary, Azula, to achieve what she wanted.

"Late?" she scoffed, before rising back up to her feet, pacing after her brother, who was already dressed and ready; when she stepped out of the igloo she looked at his attire once more, noting that he was completely unarmed barring his boomerang slung over his back.

"Yeah, late." he narrowed his eyes at her, "You actually want to, you know, go to the lesson, right?"

"Well, you're assuming that he's going to let me join after you beat him up." she acknowledged, her brother letting out a little snicker.

"Katara, I'm going to give this guy a beatdown. A serious beatdown."

"He's old." she noted, "Hopefully you don't hurt him too much."

"Oh, yeah, can I ask for a favour?" his expression became more serious.

"What kind of favour?"

"If he freezes my feet to the ground or something like that, just unfreeze them. I can't waterbend, so it's a little unfair if I'm just stuck there. A water blast to the face I can tolerate, but if I can't move, I won't be able to throw my boomerang, let alone chi-block." he acknowledged, the Water Tribe girl raising her eyebrows, a little confused by what he was suggesting.

"But wouldn't that make it not really fair?" she asked him, "In a duel, it's meant to be equal and fair, so if I help, it's pretty much cheating."

"You think I want to play by the rules?" he snickered at her words, "I just want to get you a waterbending master. That's all that matters. My dignity as a warrior can be sacrificed for that."

"Uh, thanks, Sokka." she smiled at him, glad for his dedication.

He was willing to do anything he could to get Master Pakku to teach her, and seeing that Aang's persuasion had failed, Sokka's option was the only reasonable one left; she was unsure that she could beat the waterbending master herself in a one on one duel, even if she'd gotten a lot better at waterbending over the past few weeks. The siblings began to pace along the path away from their igloo, heading toward the palace, where Aang had gone, and thus, where Pakku would be, training his students. It was rather closeby, and she could already see the staircase once she and Sokka had moved out of the complex of igloos and other houses that dotted the edge of the palace district. The staircase was rather long, but she didn't fret, the two of them making their way up them without any relent.

"So, was there anything else you were going to do today?" she asked her brother, who glanced her way with an unsure face.

"Maybe check out if Zhao's scrolls were right." he considered, "If the Moon and Ocean Spirits really are in material form in some magic pond, then I'll need to make sure I know how to get there. Whenever Azula shows up, we'll need to be ready to apprehend the Admiral."

"Oh, so we're going to capture him?" she mumbled, "Is his firebending any good?"

"Well, Zuko beat him in an Agni Kai, so he's definitely not as good as him... but Zuko beat Azula too. I don't really have a good comparison, but I'm going to guess he can't be the greatest. Enough for Azula to handle. If his men turn on her, though, she'll need some back up, other than Ty Lee, obviously." he theorised, Katara nodding along.

"Uh-huh." she mumbled, before turning her gaze up the staircase, "Are we going to train for that?"

"I don't think we'll need to. The worst case scenario is that his fleet decides to try and avenge him by attacking the North Pole, but I doubt anybody in his forces are stupid enough to try that." he declared, before furrowing a brow, "I think they'd prefer to follow Azula than die in a fight they probably won't win."

"The Fire Nation seems to love their fighting, though." she mumbled, finding it disturbing to consider how much conquering and fighting they'd done, and dressed it all up as 'spreading prosperity', as Azula loved to spout.

"Oh, they do, but they're not stupid... or at least, I hope they aren't." he conceded, before grimacing, "If Azula stuffs up, we may be dealing with something bigger than we can deal with."

"Aang's the Avatar. I'm sure he could beat them if they came here." she guessed; even if she had no evidence to really claim that, after what he'd done to those Fire Nation ships that were fighting each other, she felt confident in saying he could beat an invading fleet, even if it took a lot of time.

"Maybe." he mumbled, "We can only hope that's the case."

"Probably won't happen." she decided, "Azula's really good at scaring people."

"That she is," he acknowledged, before grimacing slightly, "but I have a feeling she doesn't want to be doing that forever. She wants to be a leader- somebody who can inspire the Fire Nation to the future she wants for it."

"The future we all want for it. Peace is... peace is better than what we have right now."

"Even if Ozai's sitting in chains, but still somehow inspiring half a country against his son." he sighed, "If only it would be that easy to get people to support Azula."

"Well, one of them is going to win eventually." she guessed, not really knowing much about the Fire Nation's civil war, but she did know things about war and fighting, "The Fire Nation will become whole, and let's just hope that whole isn't run by the guy who burnt half his son's face off."

"I think even Azula can agree with that." he acknowledged, before grimacing, "Though that's probably only because she doesn't think she could fight her father."

"Did she say that to you?" she asked her brother, who shook his head.

"Not directly, but from how she speaks about him, I know she probably doesn't want to. She doesn't agree with everything the guy has done, but he's still her dad." he acknowledged, before turning his gaze ahead, noting they were near the top of the staircase, "Here we go, Katara."

"Here we go." she smiled at him, hoping to inspire a little bit of confidence into him; when they reached the top, they both made sight of Pakku, who was showing Aang some forms, though the young Air Nomad immediately took note of them as they began to approach.

"Are you really that lazy?" the waterbending master chided his student, throwing some water toward him, which he caught, "What's so distracting?" he questioned the Avatar, who nervously pointed toward his friends.

Pakku eyed them both, and rolled his eyes, "Great, it's the 'beatdown', isn't it?" he asked his new student once more, earning a nod; he turned back to face the siblings as they approached, both of them coming to a halt once they were comfortably close enough, "Well, what are you waiting for, warrior?" he mocked Sokka, "Going to fight me?"

"Fight is the wrong word." he clarified, turning to face Katara for a moment, "A fight would be a fair battle between two people who have comparable strengths, and can defend against each other, like if Katara was to duel you with her waterbending."

"Well, if you're not a bender, you're not going to be a problem." he declared, "Unless you're some kind of strategic genius, but that smug look on your face is more telling of a cocky idiot." he deduced, rather incorrectly; her brother was cocky, but he had a good reason to be.

"Oh, I wouldn't call myself a genius, that's reserved for her royal highness." he conceded, making the master narrow his eyes at him.

"I don't know how someone like you even came to know Princess Azula, but you certainly don't look to be comparable to what I've heard about her." he declared, before creating two water whips from the pond, "So stand still... that way it'll hurt less."

"Sokka, now would be a good time to do something." Katara warned him, the Water Tribe warrior smirking, grasping his boomerang from its holster on his back.

Pakku immediately thrust his arms forward, his water whips moving to strike Sokka; the Water Tribe warrior was faster, and threw his boomerang out into the air, purposefully throwing it right past his head. The water whips ensnared his arms, and then froze, locking his arms in place while he stood there, unable to do much while the waterbending master approached.

"You didn't do anything, you just threw a boomerang." he scoffed, "I shouldn't expect better from some southern drivel." he rolled his eyes, Katara snarling, ready to pull out some water and whack him in the face for saying that; Sokka turned to face her immediately, his eyes stopping her from moving another muscle.

"Katara, patience." he simply warned her, "Patience is a great weapon."

"Okay, so you're pretending to be a strategic genius." Pakku crossed his arms, smugly looking at the two of them, "Go back to your igloo if you want your friend to continue his waterbending training, so, you know, he can-" he began to deride them, before he was struck in the back of the neck by Sokka's boomerang; perfect timing, if you asked her.

"What was that?" the Water Tribe warrior mockingly asked him, "He can what?" he asked for him to finish his sentence, turning his head to act like he couldn't hear.

"You insolent brat." he snarled, rising back up to his feet, rubbing his neck; Sokka, unsurprisingly, began to laugh, "What, you think this is funny?! I'll show you something funny." he growled at him, moving back into a waterbending stance; he motioned his hands forward, only to find that he couldn't waterbend.

"Oh, this is funny." the Water tribe warrior declared, before clearing his throat, "Katara, could you just, you know?" he tilted his head toward his frozen hands, to which she motioned her hands, unfreezing the water and allowing him to shake the liquid off them.

"Ah..." he smiled, turning his gaze to Pakku, who was still utterly confused by what was going on, "So, you were going to show me funny? I'll show you something funny, Master Pack-koo." he purposely mispronounced his name just to piss him off further.

The waterbending master stepped back, once again moving into a bending form, reaching his right hand back toward the pond next to them; he failed to pick up any water, and Sokka jabbed him a number of times in the chest, making him grunt, before his legs fell beneath his feet.

"What in the name of Tui and La is this?" he shouted at him with a snarl; the Water Tribe warrior snickered at his words, before stepping behind him.

Before Pakku could even get his hands underneath himself, so he could get back up to his feet, Sokka had planted a foot firmly on his back, keeping him there while he gave his speech.

"Now, Master Pakku, I'd like you to apologise to my sister for being a sexist arse." he gestured toward Katara, "And teach her waterbending so that one day, she can be the one doing the arse-kicking and not me."

"You bastard." he growled, "You can chi-block." he deduced, Sokka laughing, before he slapped his thigh.

"That I can, buddy." he confirmed, "Congratulations for knowing what chi-blocking is, but I'm not leaving until you submit."

"I won't break my will to the likes of you." he snarled, "Dishonest shits." he narrowed his eyes up at Katara, who glared him down with the same hateful intent.

"Oh, you think just because you're a master and you've spent all your time playing with water that means you're an authority on who should even be able to waterbend?" she scoffed at what his words had already suggested to her, "Because that's not how the world works. I need waterbending, and you need to teach me."

"I won't..." he mumbled, before Sokka pushed his foot down harder on the master's back.

"Sorry, what? You won't?" he pretended like he had trouble hearing him, "Maybe you should speak a little louder."

"I won't teach the likes of you." he spoke up louder, the Water Tribe warrior raising his left hand out to the side.

"Okay, well, Aang, get me my boomerang." he requested of the young Avatar, making Pakku growl, turning his eyes toward Aang.

"If you pick up that boomerang, you aren't my student anymore." he threatened him, the young Air Nomad cringing; he didn't want to do that, obviously enough, so the only other capable person would have to do it.

Katara rolled her eyes, reaching her hand forward, liquifying the ice beneath the boomerang, creating a tentacle of water out of the ice, which reached up toward her brother's hand, allowing him to grab his weapon.

"Thanks, Katara." he grinned at her, before gesturing his weapon down toward Pakku, "You see that, waterbending skills... all that potential, and you can teach her."

"Shut up." he snarled, "I'm not doing anything." he retorted, Sokka kneeling down on his back, making the waterbending master gasp out for air.

"Argh!" he grit his teeth, "Are you trying to kill me?!" he shouted at him, the Water Tribe warrior shaking his head.

"Of course not. This is coercion, not torture." he clarified his intentions, making his sister snicker; given her brother's skills, he probably could torture Pakku, though he was clearly above such heinous things, "Do you want to know why I'm doing this? Because you know, perspective really helps people make intelligent decisions." he asked, the master twisting his neck slightly so he could eye Sokka.

"I have no time for your sob story, boy. I will make you rue the day you treated me like this." he snarled, the Water Tribe warrior raising a finger.

"Now, now, you don't even know half the story. Yeah, you've probably heard about me from all shit Azula and I got up to, but there's more to this than her finding the Avatar."

"Hey, I was there too." Katara argued, her brother eyeing her with a slightly frustrated face.

"I'm telling the story." he raised a finger, before turning to face Pakku.

"It all started... well, I don't know how old Gran-Gran is... uh, but it must have been at least fifty years ago. The Fire Nation decided, for whatever insane reason, that they'd destroy the bending population of the South Pole; unlike here, where you have your big walls and lots of people, we couldn't defend ourselves, and pretty quickly, all the benders were taken away by the Fire Nation or killed. Katara was the first bender in our village for... well, a long time." he acknowledged, eyeing her with a sympathetic face, "First, I didn't like benders or bending, because I only knew about the Fire Nation- the Southern Raiders, who destroyed our tribe, but eventually, I came to understand it better. Azula taught me that." he explained, the waterbending master snarling at him.

"Whatever, why should I care?"

"Because I'm the last one left!" Katara shouted at him, "You think bending's important, right? Why can't you teach me?! Why can't you save our bending?!" she asked Pakku, trying to express the urgency and importance of what she was saying, but it didn't seem to get through his thick skull, because he just shook his head.

"That's not how things work here. You don't just get to learn bending here because nobody else can teach you. That's against our rules." he declared, Sokka putting his knee deeper into his back.

"Okay, another story... related to what I just told you. Our mother was killed by the Southern Raiders for Katara's sake, because they were looking for the last waterbender, and she's been wearing her necklace ever since, because that's how she remembers her. How I remember my mother is by doing what is right, which includes beating up pieces of shit, like yourself. Once I thought it was only the Fire Nation that was evil, but I've got a little perspective now... your ignorance is just as bad as some of the shit they spout."

Pakku looked up at Katara, his expression softening, "Oh... oh, no." he mumbled, the look on his face both fearful and sad, making her raise a brow, confused why Sokka's words had made his opinion change.

"Oh?" the Water Tribe warrior almost smiled upon realising his shift in emotions, "Are you going to cry for 'the sob story', now? I really thought you were a heartless piece of shit."

"He said that was your mother's necklace." he looked up toward the necklace she wore around her neck, making Katara instinctively touch it.

"Yeah, it was." she confirmed, before she narrowed her eyes at him, "Why is it important?"

"Because I made that necklace." he clarified, the Water Tribe girl looking at her brother, who seemed equally confused as she was, "There's only one reason why your mother could have had that necklace."

"And what would that be, Master Pakku?" he asked him, "Why'd you make this necklace?"

"It was the betrothal necklace I made for my beloved, Kanna." he explained, making Katara's eyes widen, and Sokka scoff.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me. No wonder Gran-Gran left the Northern Water Tribe." he shook his head, simply disappointed by the revelation, "Congratulations, your shitheaded nature is the only reason we exist." he raised his hands into the air, as to state the importance of their existence, "So, Aang, thank Master Pakku for being a dick, because of that you're out of that iceberg."

"Uh... thanks, I guess." the young Avatar awkwardly waved toward the master, who sighed, looking back toward Katara.

"So, Kanna is your grandmother?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Yeah." she nodded, before narrowing her eyes at him, "Sokka wasn't joking. It's your fault she left this place."

"It's my biggest regret." he sighed, Sokka letting his knee off of his shoulder, "I just wish I could have been a better man for her."

"Well, good luck at doing that." she scoffed, before narrowing her eyes, "Let me guess, that's what's going to change your mind."

"Y-yes..." he mumbled, "She deserved better." he acknowledged, "I have to make this right."

"Well, you can't bring back the Southern Waterbenders, or fix our tribe... though I guess you could try." she conceded, narrowing her eyes at him, "I'm pretty sure Sokka wouldn't like you to do that. And our Dad, he'd probably have some problems with that too."

"Yeah, Dad would not like you one bit." he warned him, "He's her son, by the way." he added, making Pakku grimace, before he pulled himself up with his arms to a seated position.

"But... I can teach you waterbending." he conceded, looking back up toward Katara with a regretful face, "I'm sorry."

"No." she crossed her arms, "I don't want to hear your apologies." she snarled, "You were going to deny me because of my sex, and you're only going to train me because of what you did to Gran-Gran." she simply observed the situation for what it was, "But I do want to learn waterbending, and I saw what you did yesterday. It was impressive." she conceded, kneeling down in front of him, to reach his level, "Please, teach me."

"I will, Katara." he assured her, "I must."

"Well, ain't this brilliant." Sokka sighed, crossing his arms, "I guess that does solve the problem."

"So what are you going to do now?" Katara asked her brother, who chuckled.

"Did you forget? I'm going to make sure waterbending can't be taken away." he clarified, before turning to face Pakku, "Oh, yeah, if you're wondering, I know how to get rid of waterbending, permanently."

"You weren't-" he looked at him with aghast face, Sokka chuckling.

"Of course not. Half the reason I'm here to make sure somebody can't do that. As much as I don't like bending, I'm not going to let it be taken away." he assured him, before crossing his arms, turning to eye Aang and Katara, "Well, you two enjoy your waterbending training... together."

She smiled at her brother's words, thankful for his assistance, "Thanks, Sokka." she grinned at him, before turning her gaze back to Pakku, who was getting movement in his legs once again, and from the look of the water he had in his right hand, he'd regained control over his bending.

"Uh... so, are we going to start now?" Aang asked, a little nervous after all that was said.

"Yes." their waterbending master clarified, "Just give me a moment. My legs aren't really working yet."

"So... uh, do you believe what I told you?" he asked him, eyeing back over toward Sokka, who was approaching the palace, already some distance away.

"Yes, your friend is very capable of fighting, I see that. Chi-blocking is a rare skill, but it's value cannot be underestimated." he acknowledged, "I would have preferred some warning, but I can see why you didn't. Very tactful of you, young Avatar." he commended him, "But you let this happen. I'm not going to let you off that easy." he warned him, Aang making an awkward smile.

"U-uh, yeah, okay, Master." he bowed toward him, "I'll make sure to be a good student from now on."

"As will I." Katara assured him, "Together, we'll be good students."


	17. Chapter 17

With his face in the snow, Aang grimaced slightly, knowing that he really wasn't as good as Katara when it came to waterbending; they'd only spent a few days with Master Pakku so far, but her bending had improved greatly, and though he did have a talent for waterbending, she had a lot more dedication to perfecting the forms that the waterbending master was teaching them. She was far more in tune with her element than he was; even if he understood it, and could waterbend quite well, at least for a beginner, according to Pakku, his talent was not enough- he needed to apply himself more.

He sighed, pulling himself up and raising his arms up to bend the snow off of his parka, before he turned around to face his friend, "Okay, maybe a rematch?"

Pakku stood between his two pupils, while the other students looked at them with interest and fear; they obviously knew Katara was a great waterbender in the making, and though they had been set up to spar each other, the Water Tribe girl had been beating most of them, though sometimes, she struggled to keep up with some of the more complex forms they knew.

"A rematch?" the waterbending master almost scoffed, "I mean no offence, but you need to take this more seriously, Avatar." he warned him, "Otherwise, Katara will just throw you to the ground."

He nodded, before his eyes met Katara's, noting that she was already in form and had a small smirk on his face; she was clearly a lot more confident in her waterbending, and he was happy for her. He wasn't very happy about the beating he was likely going to receive at her hands, however. She picked up snow from around herself, quickly phasing the snow into water, turning it two two dual water whips, which she aimed at Aang, who spun himself around, picking up the snow around him which he was able to form into a water shield; he blocked the the water whips, before he cut the water shield in half, raising his left foot to kick one portion out around Katara, who was momentarily distracted by it, before he spun the other part around his body, forming a water whip, which was able to grasp her by the ankle, and pull her off her feet.

"Gotcha!" he grinned, before he realised he had spoken too soon; she had bent the snow underneath her as she fell over, giving her a softer landing, before she bounced back up bending a stream of water around her body.

"You got me?" she raised a brow, her mocking tone a little frustrating; a cocky Katara was both amusingly and frustratingly close in temperament to Azula.

She thrust her left hand forward, the water stream firing out with haste toward Aang, who stepped out of the way, raising more snow up, shattering her attack. That didn't stop her from moving closer, bending the snow underneath him, freezing the Avatar's feet to the ground; his eyes widened, realising that he'd have to both unfreeze his feet, and block against her next attack. He grit his teeth, bending backwards to dodge a water whip she sent his way, his frozen feet actually preventing him from falling flat on his back. Reaching his right hand toward the snow behind him, he bent a snowball right into Katara's face, which she obviously didn't expect. Momentarily disoriented, he reached out beside himself, bending the snow into two tentacles of water which grasped the Water Tribe girl by the wrist, holding her in place.

She glanced down at her hands, after shaking the snow from her face, and narrowed her eyes at him, "Uh, are you going to freeze me in place?" she asked him, the Avatar smirking.

"Nope." he corrected her, before pulling both of his hands toward the ground, which pulled the tentacles down simultaneously; the result was his friend being pulled off her feet and face-planting in the snow.

He unfroze his feet, before pulling himself back up to his full height, listening to Katara grumble as she pulled herself off of the ground.

"Did you really have to do that? Everybody was watching." she commented with a clearly annoyed voice, eyeing the students behind them, as well as Pakku, who seemed very amused by their spar.

"Well, you've thrown my face into the snow three times already. It's only fair I get to do it once." he argued, crossing his arms as she slowly rose back up to her feet.

"Ah yes, 'fair' how Azula uses it." she sighed, not appreciating his rationale, before turning to face the other students, glaring them down, "Anybody else want some?"

Pakku glanced back at his students, looking skeptical of whether they would accept Katara's near taunt, "So everyone is too afraid to spar Pupil Katara?" he asked them, "She's a novice, and yet you're all too timid, hm?" he crossed his arms, making Katara chuckle.

"I won't hurt you." she assured them, "At least not intentionally."

Aang decided that he might as well ask if anyone wanted to go against him; he needed to spar more if he wanted to reach his friend's level. When she was winning five out of six spars, he knew that he needed to improve.

"Well, does anyone want to spar me?" he asked, not getting an immediate response, "I promise I won't airbend." he stressed, the pupils looking amongst themselves, as if they were trying to choose somebody amongst themselves to go against Aang.

One of them stepped forward, named Ujarak, "I'll try and spar him, Master." he addressed Pakku, who just gestured toward Aang.

"Go ahead, Pupil Ujarak." he simply told him, the student immediately taking a waterbending form; given how quickly he picked up a water whip, he was sure that he was going to give Aang a good fight.

Katara stepped out of the way, eyeing Aang with interest as he readied his own stance, creating a water shield from the snow behind him, which he held by his side, ready to bend it anywhere he needed it. He felt a little nervous under her gaze, but tried to focus on Ujarak's movements, watching as the other student began by reaching for Aang's arm with his water whip; he immediately pulled the shield in the way of his water whip, and widened the mass of water in front of him, as the student began to pummel him with a second water whip. He thrust the shield out with both hands, smacking the other student right in the face, which made his water whips break apart in the process. When he fell down on the ground, the young Avatar couldn't help but smirk, proud of his quick Pakku looking at him with a moderately impressed face, before turning to Ujarak.

"Congratulations, Pupil Ujarak, you lasted... what? Ten seconds against the Avatar?" he mocked his student, who rose up with a snarl.

"I'm not done, Master." he stressed with a slight snarl, which made Aang feel a little nervous, Ujarak readying himself into a stance once more, creating a ball of water with what was left of the shield he threw his way.

The student threw the mass of water forward, the young Air Nomad forced to dodge the blob as it went for his head, bending the water back around himself, just as he was taught to, and then moved to bend the water toward his opponent. Ujarak threw his arms back, bending the blob of water in half, splashing the students who were watching behind him; Aang reached back behind him to bend the snow that was surrounding him, phasing it into water, which he used to form a ring around himself. That ring provided him with the ability to create two tentacles of water, which he manipulated like second arms to cut through Ujarak's next attack, a pair of water whips. He then moved forward, allowing his tentacles to reach the other student, and grasp his ankles, pulling him off of his feet as he tried to move into a defensive stance. He grunted as he landed square on his butt, and the other students laughed at his defeat.

Pakku shook his head with disappointment, "Okay, that's enough sparring for now. Seeing that it's midday, I will provide you all with a short period to go eat lunch, before you come back to continue your practice. We will be practising the ice trap... on each other." he warned them, Aang grimacing, already imagining what was going to happen then.

He could already see Katara ensnaring him in a block of ice, and embarrassing him again; of course, when they were practising he was meant to get caught, but it didn't make it any less embarrassing- he was an airbending master, and getting stuck in traps was something he found absurd, given what he had learnt during his airbending training.

"So be quick." he warned them, "Whoever returns last will end up as the subject of my demonstration." he clarified, which was a fancy way of him saying that the tardiest student would be put in an ice trap by Pakku; how he said it suggested he wasn't going to free the student, which meant if they weren't good at phasing water, they would likely be stuck there until a generous student unfroze the trap.

As the students began to disperse to go off and have their lunches, Katara grasped him by the wrist, "You heard him. I am not ending up in that ice trap, Aang."

"Me too." he agreed, before glancing around, "Uh, where will we get lunch?"

"I think there's a stall that sells hot seaweed noodles down by the canal. You want some?" she asked him, the young Air Nomad grinning.

"Would I?" he asked rhetorically, before he began to dash off, pulling her along toward the staircase.

"Woah! Not so fast!" she pleaded with him, Aang giggling.

"Well he said he wanted us to be fast!" he reminded her, the Water Tribe girl's eyes widening as she tried to keep up with his pace; he did slow down a bit once they reached the stairs, Katara sighing with relief, and let go of his wrist, following on after him down the stairs.

"You know, you're really good at waterbending, Katara." he acknowledged, making her smirk.

She obviously liked to get her ego stroked, but he wasn't trying to be a bootlicker; she really was a good waterbender, and he knew she'd be a great master once they stopped learning from Pakku, and had to inevitably return to the Earth Kingdom.

"Well, I think Master Pakku has been a good teacher. He's a bit... well he's mean." she conceded, "But he knows what he's doing, and now that he knows I'm good at waterbending, he seems happy to teach me."

"And all the other students are scared of you." he added, chuckling at the memory of all the other students she had beaten, "You're way better than them, even though you only started learning a few days ago."

"I know." she cocked a smirk, before glancing back her way, "But you're good too, Aang. You're getting into the mindset of waterbending; it's pretty different to what you're usually used to."

"It is." he nodded, "But I get it... I mean, all the meditation and practice we did before we got here helped, but Master Pakku has helped me get more in touch with my waterbending."

"I mean... I was kinda making stuff up as I went along, and basing my meditation off of Azula's firebending meditation, but it worked well enough." she noted, before furrowing a brow, "I wonder how much more accurate my waterbending can get."

"You mean what you can make with your waterbending?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl nodding, "Remember when I made a me out of snow?" he asked her, making her chuckle.

"That was just a snowman, Aang." she clarified, making him slump his shoulders over, a little disappointed in realising it wasn't that impressive, "Though, better than the normal kind."

"Uh, yeah." he made a small smile, "I guess you could make stuff out of ice, like... maybe even a weapon. An ice sword." he grinned at her, raising his hands up, making her giggle.

"Are you sure that would work? Ice is hard, but I'm sure Sokka's boomerang could cut through something like that." she noted, the young Air Nomad narrowing his eyes.

"Huh, that's true." he mumbled, "I guess you really just have to make some really big water whips or something."

"Giant waterbending tentacle monster?" she asked him, reminding him of the trick he had tried the first night they were in the Northern Water Tribe.

"You never know, it might actually be useful if I work on it enough. Maybe it needs more tentacles." he scrunched his lips, Katara pointing ahead of them; he realised that they were near the bottom of the stairs, by the canal, where he could see a few stalls, including the one she had spoken of.

"Oh, is that it?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

The pair strode along past some pedestrians, who eyed Aang with interest; even with his hair, he was still rather easy to out as the Avatar with his arrow on his forehead, not to mention he didn't look like he was Water Tribe, with his relatively pale skin and black hair. He tried to ignore their stares, knowing that it made him feel a little nervous, like they were going to start talking to him just because he was the Avatar. He was okay with talking to people, but he knew that he would prefer to just keep his distance, especially when there was really nothing fitting his idea of Avatar duties to do. When people needed help, he'd be there to help them out, but otherwise, he would prefer to just do what he wanted, which was at that moment to enjoy some lunch with Katara; he knew seaweed noodles were good, so he was already looking forward to it, knowing after all the practice they had done, he could use a good meal. He wasn't as food obsessed as Sokka, but he could acknowledge when food was good; he was looking forward to the day when he could get an egg custard tart- he hadn't come across any yet, but he'd get one when he found it, no matter what stupid things Azula said about money.

As the pair approached the stall, his friend cleared her throat to address the owner, "Excuse me, could we get two bowls of seaweed noodles?" she asked him, the man smiling at them.

"Ah, that'd be twelve pieces." he explained, the Water Tribe girl reaching into her pocket, taking out the money he asked for.

Once it was in his hand, he quickly turned to the pot of noodles that he had already hot, waiting to be scooped out; he filled two bowls up with a big spoon, before he handed them each a bowl and a pair of chopsticks. Aang immediately dug into the noodles, slurping some up and grinning at Katara; they were fresh and tasted like vegetables, but were in the shape of noodles- a perfect combination, if you asked him.

"These are great." he told her, before turning to face the man who had sold them the noodles, "Thanks!" he grinned at him with a wave, the man almost laughing at his reaction to the food.

"No problem." he assured him, before the pair turned around and began to walk back along the canal toward the stairs.

Katara turned to face him, slurping up some of her own noodles, "So, uh..." she mumbled, chewing down on food in her mouth, "are you feeling like you're on top of your training?"

"Uh, yeah." he nodded, "I mean, I know you're going better than me, but that's good. You can teach me once we end up leaving this place." he acknowledged, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"I have a feeling Azula's going to want to go back to the Earth Kingdom quickly. With the whole Dai Li thing." she noted, Aang's eyes widening as he remembered that specific argument she'd made.

They could gain the respect and friendship of the various Earth Kingdom rebels by getting rid of the 'bad guys' running Ba Sing Se, and give the Earth Kingdom an opportunity to run itself. He knew from the monks that Ba Sing Se was not a very nice place, and he could only guess the isolation brought about by a hundred years of war would have only made that worse.

"She knows what she's doing." he simply admitted; he was not well-versed in understanding politics or government, but Azula certainly was, and he could trust her to make the right judgements when it came to that area.

"She's also perfectly fine with betraying her subordinates because she doesn't like them." she added, just to warn him of what they were getting into with the Princes; he knew that she had done, and continued to do some questionable things, but she seemed to do so with the best intentions, "Though, given what Zhao wants to do, I don't blame her at all for doing it."

"That guy just sounds crazy." he mumbled, slurping up more noodles into his mouth.

"A lot of people in the Fire Nation must be crazy like him if they were going around trying to conquer the world." she noted, knowing that Azula's change of views when it came to the other nations was probably the exception and not the norm.

A lot of people in the Fire Nation probably held very flawed views about the other nations, leading them to insane conclusions like it being perfectly justified to try and destroy the other bending arts; they had destroyed the Air Nomads and the Southern Waterbenders, and he was guessing the Northern Waterbenders would go the same way if Zhao had any say in the matter.

"I just hope the Fire Nation can change. That people can see that destroying the other nations is just... well, it's stupid." he put it as simply as he could.

"Yeah, it is." she agreed with him, "If Azula can change, maybe they can all change."

"And maybe the Northern Water Tribe might start teaching girls how to fight with waterbending." he added, knowing that Katara had been an exception, which was frustrating to say the least; he knew it was completely unfair how she'd been treated, and that the only reason Pakku had decided to teach her was his relationship with her grandmother, and not because he actually thought he was wrong.

"I can only hope." she mumbled, "One day, Aang, one day."

The pair continued to eat their lunches as they made their way up the stairs, back toward the training area; Aang tried to keep his pace up not wanting to be the last one there- getting ensnared in Pakku's ice trap would just be an utter embarrassment.

He slurped down some noodles, before he turned his gaze back to Katara, thinking to what they were about to be doing, "This ice trap sounds like it'd be a useful thing."

"Yeah, it does." she nodded, before pursing her lips, raising her hands up to emphasise, "Anybody tries to mess with us when we're around water, and we can just get them stuck in a wall of ice."

"Waterbending is really... uh... I'm trying to think of the word... it can be used for a lot of stuff."

"Versatile?" she asked, Aang nodding; that was what he was thinking of.

"Yeah, yeah, versatile. Water has all these different ways it can be- steam, liquid, ice, and you can bend it to be useful it well... any situation." he acknowledged the merit of the element he was learning; airbending was very useful for evasion and getting around potential opponents, as well as pushing them around and getting them out of the way, unlike waterbending, which one could use to defend, attack and ensnare one's enemies.

"It can be." she nodded, "That's why I want to become a master." she clarified, "With enough training, I'll be able to help out a lot more if we end up in danger- waterbending can be used as long as you have water, and it's everywhere."

"Except the desert." Aang noted a rather obvious place that would put a waterbender at a disadvantage.

"Uh, yeah. Maybe we should avoid deserts if we can." she noted, making him chuckle.

"That's easy. It's not like there's anything in the Si Wong Desert. I've flown past it a few times, but it's just sand and sandbenders." he acknowledged, Katara nodding, slurping up some of her own noodles.

"Well," she mumbled, chewing down on the noodles before she spoke up again, "that's good. I'd prefer to stay in places where we can get water."

The pair continued up along the stairs, and Aang continued to chew down on his noodles; he had already emptied the bowl of its contents by the time they reached the top, where he could see Pakku waiting off in the distance, though not all of the students had returned yet. He sighed with relief, before he glanced down at the bowl in his hands, realising that he didn't know what to do with it."

"What do I do with the bowl?" he asked Katara, who cracked hers it two and took a bite out of it.

"It's dried seaweed. Everything but the chopsticks is seaweed." she clarified, as if it were completely obvious, Aang's eyes widening; he had thought from the texture that the bowl itself was made out of some kind of plant, but he didn't think it'd be seaweed too.

"Huh..." he mumbled, before he did what she had done, and broke off a portion of the bowl, and took a bite; it was a little saltier and tougher than the noodles, but it still tasted good, and he was able to quickly chew down the seaweed bowl.

Aang glanced up ahead toward Pakku, and noted that he was seemingly chiding his other students, some of which seemed to have questions about their next forms; he was just going to watch and learn, not wanting to earn his master's ire for asking a bad question. He also hoped that he would not be amongst those who would be getting ensnared in the ice traps first. He and Katara approached the rest of the students, and their master turned to face them, noting their appearance.

"Oh, lucky for you two, there's still some more to come." he acknowledged, the young Avatar awkwardly smiling at the master, who gestured for them to sit with the other students, most of whom were eating food at that very moment; they must have had some things with them, unlike Aang and Katara.

The pair sat down beside them, and he noticed the idle glares that they received from the other students; they were obviously jealous of Katara's bending ability, and perhaps a little annoyed that she had joined them, especially because she was a girl. Being reminded of the sexist ways of the Northern Water Tribe annoyed Aang, knowing that it was unfair how she had been treated. His attention was drawn toward their master, who was rather impatiently waiting for the other students. He was paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and turned to look down the stairs after a few moments of eyeing the students present.

"Three left." he grumbled, "They better have some good excuses."

The pair looked at each other, both with nervous looks on their faces; they could only guess what was going to happen to the other students, but the young Air Nomad was sure that it would be a pleasant experience. Soon enough, three students appeared at the top of the staircase, the looks on their faces suggesting that they had just run up the stairs; they paced over toward Master Pakku and his students, the waterbending master stepping forward with his arms crossed.

"Why are you three late?" he questioned them, his tone accusing; his three pupils leaned back in fear, one of them, Tarkik, looking like he was about to run away.

"Uh... Panuk fell in the canal when we were trying to practice some waterbending." one of the students, Kallik explained to his master, who scoffed.

"You wanted to do some practice?" Pakku asked, the three boys looking amongst each other, Tarkik flat out bolting back, not wanting to partake in what was to come next; he didn't have a chance to get away as their master thrust his hands forward, and all three of them were held in place by spires of ice that rose out from the ground.

The spires pushed them up into the air, and the three were left flailing, trying to get themselves out of the traps, which held their limbs in place, and thus, prevented them from bending.

"This, my pupils, is the ice trap." their master gestured toward his three students, "You must move quickly to ensnare your opponent, otherwise, they might be able to escape. Most important is catching their arms; if they can move, they can bend." he acknowledged, making Aang scrunch up his lips; he had learned that equating bending with moving ones arms was a little over simplistic, especially given firebending and airbending could be achieved with ones breathing alone.

"But what if they can bend out of their mouth?" he asked his master, who looked over at him with a slightly offended glance; he obviously didn't want him speaking up, but the Avatar would stick by his point- his ice trap was good, but an airbender could get out of it if they blew hard enough.

"Oh, would you like to give us a demonstration, Aang?" he asked him with a derisive tone, the young Avatar grimacing as he realised everyone's eyes were looking his way.

"U-uh... no, Master." he assured him, Pakku turning around and raising his hands to melt the ice traps, his students falling down to the ground.

Aang winced as he saw them hit the ground, before their master turned back to face them, "Choose a partner. You'll take turns trying this move against each other." he explained, before he stood in form, "It is relatively simple. Focus ahead at a certain point ahead of you, and bend the ice up beneath your target. If you make the spikes too concentrated, you'll just knock your target back, instead of trapping them." he acknowledged, before gesturing his hand up, "You may begin."

The young Avatar turned to face Katara, who narrowed her eyes at him, "Which of us are going first?"

"I'll go first." she decided, "Let's see if you can break yourself out." she cocked a smirk, which unnerved Aang; though he thought bending oneself out of the trap with one's mouth and breathing was possible, he didn't want to try it if it didn't work.

"Uh... okay." he mumbled, before pacing off, moving to find a spot for them to practice.

Once he found a place far away enough from the other students, who had already teamed up and were beginning to practice the technique, he turned around to face Katara, and took a fighting stance; even if he wasn't going to react and let her ensnare him, he ought to at least pretend he was an enemy. She took a deep breath, before she stared him down; he tensed up, and a moment later, she flicked her hands upward, creating pillars of ice which came up from underneath Aang. He gasped out for air as one of the pillars jabbed him in the gut, and another held him in place by holding his back; his arms were held in pace by two pillars each, which she partially melted to allow them to grasp his hands.

The young Air Nomad cringed from the awkward position he had found himself in, and cleared his throat, "Uh, good job, Katara." he congratulated her, before he tilted his head down, trying to gesture to the trap she'd made, "You can let me go now." he requested, the Water Tribe girl's eyes widening as she realised she had just left him there.

"Oh... sorry." she apologised, before waving her hand up, liquefying the trap, which allowed Aang to move, and thus, bend the water away; he flicked his arms around to get the water off, before he turned his gaze toward Katara.

"Okay, so now I'll try it." he narrowed his eyes, taking the stance he'd seen Pakku use earlier; he took a breath before thrusting his arms forward, pushing up pillars of ice around his friend to hold her in place.

To Aang's chagrin, she had actually decided to react, and threw her hands down, which liquefied his pillars, though she ended up slipping over on the water and fell on her butt; she looked a little pained from having fallen over so suddenly, but her attention was drawn by the young Avatar, who approached her with a suspicious glare, pointing at her accusingly.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked her, frustrated that she'd gone against what Pakku had told them; she was meant to just let him try the technique, not fight back like it was a spar.

"Because I could." she cocked a smirk, the young Avatar narrowing his eyes at her.

"Because you could?" he mumbled, "Huh, well, I guess I can do this." he thrust his hand down, liquefying the ice beneath her feet, making her fall into a pool of freezing cold water, before he froze it solid, leaving her there, grunting and groaning as she only had her head and half-frozen arms above the ground, unable to move.

"Hey!" she growled at him, "I can't get out of this!" she shouted at the Avatar, who just raised his hands up; he'd made an ice trap, even if it didn't go with what they'd been shown.

His friend's reaction had caught Pakku's attention; he approached the pair, looking a little amused by the state she had found herself in, "What are you doing, Pupil Aang?" he asked him, the young Avatar gesturing toward Katara.

"Uh, she tried to get out your ice-trap, so I made a different one." he admitted, making the master chuckle.

"Ah..." he turned his gaze toward the Water Tribe girl, raising his hand up to pull her out of the ice, bending the ice up before liquefying it, "I'll say that was a smart move." he conceded, "But Katara, you ought to follow my instructions. This is for both of you to practice, not for you to show off your great waterbending skills."

She looked a little annoyed, but their master's compliment clearly improved her mood, "My great skills?" she raised a brow, "Well, I hope I've improved."

"You have, Katara." he assured her with a smile, looking to be genuinely approving of her progress, "But, you need to treat your fellow pupils as equals. You can't just try and show off when practising just because you can. You want to teach Aang once you leave the North Pole, don't you?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl nodding, turning to face her friend.

"I'm sorry for trying to dodge your ice trap." she apologised, the young Avatar stepping forward.

"And I'm sorry for sinking you into the ground." he acknowledged his overreaction; he was just a little annoyed, but from the look on Pakku's face, he seemed to approve of his ingenuity.

"I'll have no more of that while we're practising techniques, Aang." he warned him, before smirking, "But, try that during sparring, and we'll see if the students can learn a few things."

"I will, Master." he bowed toward him, the waterbending master turning around, before he sighed, looking at some other students who had left one of their friends trapped.

"Who left Kallik in the ice trap?" he asked the students accusingly, making Katara snicker.

Aang turned back to face her, and made a small smile, "Do you want to try that again?"

"Your trap or his trap?" she asked, the young Avatar, scrunching his lips up.

"I don't want to annoy our master by being a smarter waterbender than him." he joked, before taking form once more, "His trap."

Without any warning, she raised both her hands up, and once more ensnared him in the ice-trap, quite quickly at that; unlike last time, it didn't hurt, and he was simply stuck; he could tolerate getting stuck in that a few more times, as long as he got a chance to trap her back. He twisted his hands, allowing him to melt the water around them, giving him the chance to move them even more, completely eroding the ice trap, bending the ice into water. Katara looked at him with an impressed look, and wasn't ready when he thrust his hands up, ensnaring her the same way she had just done to him; she tried to move herself, but failed, making an awkward smile.

"Good job, Aang."

* * *

"Princess Azula, please, let us take your things."

Azula raised a brow, realising that there were servants waiting right in front of her room, ready to take her possessions over to the ship for her; she was a little surprised for a few moments, though she felt like chiding herself, as servants doing her every whim was something she ought to expect- she was Princess Azula, not a Water Tribe peasant.

She gestured into the room, and let out a small smile, glad to be reminded that she wouldn't be doing everything herself, "Go ahead." she simply gestured toward the bag she had packed; it didn't have much inside, and she honestly thought it was a little stupid to have a servant carry it for her, but she was more than happy to walk to the ship without having to worry about it.

"We will have your things brought to your quarters on the ship, your highness." the servant assured her, the Princess nodding, before she stepped out of the room.

She did need to get to the ship, given that was her current priority, as well as ensuring that Ty Lee and her guards got there in a timely manner; it was only about midday, given how strong her inner fire felt, but that was when Zhao had decided they ought to leave to conduct the test flight. They were timing their departure so that the test flight would occur during the polar day, which made some sense; nobody would want to be flying around and landing in the tundra during the middle of the night, even if that would be more stealthy. They might attempt that for their actual operation, where they'd be flying to the Northern Water Tribe's capital, where the spirits were refuted to be located, and where she assumed that her friends were. She paced down the hallway outside of her room, and knocked on Ty Lee's door, knowing that she ought to make sure she was ready; she was quite lazy and tardy in comparison to Azula, who prided herself on her punctuality. The acrobat opened the door a few moments later, and was wearing her new outfit; it was similar in terms of appearance to her usual attire, but with more layers, and no showing skin, designed to better protect her from the cold at the North Pole.

"Hi, Zula." she addressed her, peering her head out the doorway to note the servant carrying her bag, "Oh, are we going now?"

"We are." she confirmed, eyeing into her friend's room, noting she had her bag packed, "Oh, good, you're ready to leave." she noted, Ty Lee smiling.

"That I am." she confirmed, before she picked her bag off of her bed, "We'll be coming back here, right?"

"Eventually. We have things to deal with before we'll be back." she conceded, before stepping back into the hallway, "I need to make sure the guards are ready, and then we'll get on the boat."

"It's a battleship, right?" she asked, the Princess nodding.

"Yes, we'll be using the Admiral's ship." she acknowledged, "And tomorrow morning, we'll set off in the airship to fly to the tundra." she added, her friend stepping out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

"Yeah, I know. You've told me the plan a few times now." she reminded her, before she tilted her head down the hallway, "Guards?"

She nodded, before she walked on down the hallway, moving to each of the dormitories and opening the doors; she eyed the guards inside, and simply gestured for them to get up and out, which they easily understood. She had already warned everyone the night prior about their departure, so they were already packed and ready to go. Continuing along, she opened more doors, and got the same response; the guards were ready to go, and had been waiting for her order. That was what she would expect of them after all. When she reached the final room, which belonged to the Captain alone, she opened it up, and saw him sitting by his bed, looking through a scroll which she had given him; it was detailing the operation, and thus what he would need to be doing.

"Captain." she addressed him, Renshu rising up to his feet, and he saluted her.

"Your highness. Are we moving out?" he asked her, the Princess nodding.

"That we are." she confirmed, "Get your bags, and get to the ship." she commanded him, Azula glancing back into the hallway, noting that some of the guards were already moving down the hallway, heading toward the exit.

She turned to face Ty Lee, who had followed her, and then the pair began to stride down the hallway; she narrowed her eyes, thinking about what they were getting themselves into, "Are you ready, Ty Lee?"

"For which part?" she asked, a little confused by her general question; she liked to keep things general, not wanting to arouse suspicion about their intentions.

"I think I don't need to answer that question." she warned her, the acrobat nervously turning her gaze ahead.

"I know what we're getting into, Zula. You don't need to remind me." she assured her, the Princess raising a brow.

"What are we going to do all day if we're stuck in a ship?" she asked her friend, who scrunched her lips up.

"They won't have a spa on board, will they?" she asked, the Princess shaking her head.

"The quality of service is not as good as my Royal Barge, sadly." she conceded, the acrobat pouting.

"Oh well." she mumbled, "I finished my book, so I don't have anything to do." she acknowledged, the Princess letting out a light snicker; her friend was obsessed with that book, and now she had nothing else to do.

"Perhaps you ought to get a hobby." she acknowledged, Ty Lee narrowing her eyes at her.

"I do have a hobby. Acrobatics." she reminded her, "It was my job for nearly three years."

"So, did it become a chore?" she asked her, a little curious if after all that time her favourite thing had become mundane.

"Uh, yeah, at times. My sisters didn't help there. We were always competing against each other, even before the circus; everything became a fight and an argument. It could be acrobatics, boys, or just who had to do the cleaning." she acknowledged, making Azula laugh; she and Sokka argued all the time, though she did actually enjoy it, as usually it was about trivial things, which made it even more amusing to see her boyfriend go on a tirade, usually about food, given he loved it so much.

"Sounds like you just don't like arguments." she acknowledged, "They can be fun."

"If that's what you call fun, then you clearly haven't been to a festival." she crossed her arms, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"Well, I haven't." she conceded, "There's fun wherever you can find amusement, Lee." she suggested, making her friend furrow a brow, obviously interested by her argument; that proved to her that she was making a good point.

"So, what's funny on a ship?" she asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders, pushing the doors open, "Sailors acting stupid." she acknowledged, "They tried to avoid doing such things in my presence when I had my own ship, but I caught them from time to time. Playing games, getting drunk, crying about losing games. It was all quite amusing, as long as I was observing and not partaking in it."

"Yeah, you don't seem like the kind of person who would want to get drunk." she conceded, the Princess raising a brow; she hadn't gotten drunk herself, mostly due to a lack of access and time to do so- being drunk was usually a waste of time, and even when it wouldn't have been, she didn't have any alcohol at the South Pole.

"I never said that." she warned her, the acrobat looking at her with surprise.

"So you do want to get drunk?" she asked, the Princess shaking her head.

"I never said that either. Though... I would find it amusing to see others get drunk."

"Do you wanna get Sokka drunk whenever we see him again?"

"Do I?" she rhetorically asked her friend, cocking a smirk, "Oh, it'd be hilarious."

"Last time he got drunk, you didn't react well, Princess." the Captain spoke up behind her, making her realise that he'd been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"He was also in Ba Sing Se, which is probably one of the most dangerous places in the world to act stupid." she acknowledged, "Anywhere else, I'd just laugh at him for acting like an idiot." she clarified her opinion, before she turned to narrow her eyes at him, "Also, stop eavesdropping."

"Apologies, your highness." he bowed down, the Princess turning to her gaze ahead, noting that they were heading for the rear exit of the compound, which would lead them out to the dock.

"So... do you want to get drunk?" Ty Lee asked her, the Princess scoffing.

"No, I do not." she stressed, not wanting to do anything of the likes; she needed to focus on their operation, even if she wasn't going to be doing much until the following morning, when they'd be setting off in the airship.

She followed her guards through the doors, noting the other soldiers present, who bowed towards her in respect; Azula didn't have much care for their deference, and turned her focus toward the long pier ahead of them. At the end of said pier, she could see Zhao's battleship, and on top of it, sat her airship; the engineers had already got it flying, and set it down on the deck of the battleship, where they'd leave it until they needed to fly off to the North Pole. She was quite impressed with how quickly they had constructed the airship, which was a fair bit bigger than the original design; however, it wasn't that large, and had been designed to only house about a dozen people inside, excluding the engineers who would be maintaining the engine of the craft, which was to run on coal instead of firebending, making it more efficient to fly. Heating the large balloon with firebending alone would be exhausting for whoever had to produce the flames. Another knowledgeable difference was that the balloon and gondola had been painted white; a camouflage that would only make sense with there they were going.

"That's a big craft." Ty Lee observed, "And an even bigger ship." she acknowledged, before turning to face her, whispering her next words, "Do we get to use it for ourselves once we're done with Zhao?"

"No." she clarified, "We don't need it. We have Appa, who is far faster than even a massive battleship, despite how useful such a vessel is."

"But we could have a spa installed." she tried to argue with the Princess who groaned, frustrated by her friends rather shortsighted idea.

"So, did you want to be getting a spa when we have to sneak into Ba Sing Se?" she asked her, making her sigh.

"Okay, I see what you mean." she mumbled, "A big ship is a little too noticeable." she acknowledged, the Princess nodding.

"That it is." she confirmed, "That's why we're taking an airship to the North Pole, and not the ship."

"Yeah, they'd notice a big black metal ship coming toward them."

"And sink it." she added, warning Ty Lee of the threat that'd pose to their lives, and the lives of everyone on board, "We can't have them doing that when we need every ship we can get our hands on. That's just a waste of lives and resources"

"I was never going to argue that." she assured her, "Your airship plan is smart." she noted, "It's like a big metal Appa."

"Precisely." she smirked, "I didn't realise until I started riding on that sky-bison that flight is extremely advantageous; it makes you both harder to chase and gives you more stealth advantages."

"Maybe you could..." she began before her eyes widened, "Could you invade the homeland with a fleet of airships?"

"Could I?" she raised a brow, before chuckling, "Well, if I had the factories to produce airships big enough, then perhaps. At the moment, however, I think it's better for smaller operations."

"Like..." she began, before turning her eyes toward Azula, "Okay, I don't mean to give you horrible ideas, but you could defeat Zuko if you flew in on an airship and just landed in the palace with a bunch of elite fighters." she acknowledged, "And before he can call in the army, he's already been overthrown."

"Well, that'd be nice, but I have no idea how I could get the airship close enough to the capital without it being found and shot out of the sky." the Princess conceded, "It doesn't seem that fast, at least from what I saw of that first flight onto the ship." she added, not thinking that it was going to be a very effective weapon against the Fire Navy, which could just as easily shoot it out of the sky with their ranged weaponry.

"Huh..." Ty Lee scratched her chin, "So, it might just get hit by a catapult." she guessed, Azula nodding, before she turned her gaze up the pier they were walking up, noting that the ship they were boarding was still being stocked up with supplies via the lowest and widest plank, which allowed for larger things, such as komodo rhinos, or carts of goods, to be put inside.

"I assume it might be some time before the ship sets off for the North Pole." she noted, before turning to face the Captain, "Will you be training the men later today?"

"I could do that, your highness." he confirmed, "Do we have to book out the deck to use it for training?" he asked her, the Princess scrunching her lips up.

"I wouldn't say so. As long as the crew onboard are aware, I'm sure it won't be much of an issue." she guessed, "And I am Princess Azula. I need only ask, and they'll vacate the deck for you."

"Will you be joining us?" he asked her, the Princess turning her gaze to Ty Lee.

"Will we do some training this afternoon, Ty Lee?"

She narrowed her eyes at her, probably confused why she had deferred authority over the decision to her; she wanted to see what her reaction would be- testing the waters to see if she was still as averse to training as she had been before.

"I guess you want to, and I don't think I'll have anything else to do." she conceded, before turning her gaze toward the ship, "We need to find something to do together."

"Oh, so you want to do an activity?" she asked her friend, who didn't seem to understand her joke; that was the way her boyfriend referred to doing something together, ostensibly for romantic reasons, though any other person would just assume it meant to go and have some fun together.

"An activity, uh, yeah, I guess." she mumbled, "But what do you want to do, Zula?"

"I have no preference. As long as the activity isn't stupid and a complete waste of time, I'll tolerate it." she gave her conditions, the acrobat left there with her mouth slightly agape, thinking over her words for a few moments before she turned back to face the Captain.

"Uh, Captain, what did Azula like to do on the ship before it was sunk?" she asked Renshu, who raised a brow, surprised that she was questioning him.

"Well..." he trailed off, his eyes meeting Azula's, and after that, he gulped, obviously considering what he ought to say, "The Princess mostly stayed to herself. Reading, I believe, looking over things associated with her mission, and any educational material Lo and Li gave her."

"Ah, yes... homework." she rolled her eyes, not having enjoyed doing that; it was intellectually stimulating, at least in some areas, but for the most part, it had been frustrating to do, given that really, without them to watch over and check up on her progress, she had no reason to do it, other than her father suggesting her to- his suggestions usually were threats, so she complied.

"So, nothing fun?" she asked her, the Princess cocking a smirk.

"My firebending training was fun." she argued, "And then it got even better when I got to beat up Sokka instead of my guards." she added, "He was always so unpredictable, so I found him to be a good opponent." she acknowledged, before turning her gaze to Renshu, who seemed a little offended, perhaps, because of what she had suggested; her guards were not bad sparring partners, but they were rather predictable, "You and the men a completely capable, Captain." she stressed, "Although, your forms have gotten sloppier since Yu Dao."

"Oh..." he mumbled, "Sorry about that, Princess. We weren't being whipped into shape."

"I know." she narrowed her eyes at him, "That's changed now. I hope that you can all achieve your peak potential with your firebending, now that I'm here to train you."

"And what about me, Zula? Are you going to make me a better chi-blocker?" she asked her, the Princess trying to hold back a laugh.

"No, you're going to make Sokka a better one, when we see him again. You're far better at it than him, and I know you'd be a good master." she explained, the acrobat smiling brightly, obviously appreciating her words.

"Thanks! I think I could do that." she confirmed, "Though, for now, I'm stuck doing painful workouts with you."

"If they're painful, that means you're testing your limits." she argued, before turning her gaze toward the battleship, which towered before them; she could see her guards already climbing the long staircase up to the deck of the ship, which towered above the pier.

"This ship is huge." Ty Lee almost gasped, "How was this even made?"

"Probably in a shipyard near the capital. The Fire Nation has many ships, and produces them with great speed." she rehearsed a fact she had learned during her education, though it was a rather obvious one that her friend probably understood already.

"I know that, but I mean... that's a lot of steel." she simply observed, gesturing toward the hull.

"And that's why we have steelworks making all the steel our nation could ever need." she told her what she knew, "It's in no short supply."

Ty Lee furrowed a brow, and glanced back over toward the compound for a few moments, "So, is that why you need to conquer the colonies? For all the steel?" she asked, the Princess chuckling at her friend's conclusion; that was quite close to the truth, though it did oversimplify the situation greatly.

"It is part of the reason. I don't have a nation to rule, as you can probably see. An army and a fleet is useful, but it is a means to an end. The Fire Nation is what I seek to rule, and its citizens are who I want to serve." she explained, her friend looking at her blankly.

"Did you just say serve?" she asked her, slightly confused by her phrasing; of course, Azula was not a servant, but the Fire Lord was meant to rule in the interests of their subjects.

"I want to do what is best for the people of the Fire Nation. That's what I am saying." she stressed with a slightly annoyed voice; she thought Ty Lee would get what she meant, but she was too caught up on her wording.

"And I'm guessing that's prosperity and peace." her friend raised a finger toward the Princess, who nodded, agreeing with that assumption.

"Precisely, Ty Lee." she confirmed, before turning her attention up the stairs they had been climbing; they were near the top, and she assumed that Zhao would be waiting for her on the deck of the ship.

Her assumption was confirmed as the last of her guards that were in front of her got out of her way, revealing the Admiral, who was flanked by War Minister Qin, who had come to oversee the operation of the aircraft, and a number of other officers, who she assumed to be his direct subordinates.

"Princess Azula, I welcome you onto my ship." the Admiral bowed toward her, Azula stepping closer and gesturing for him to straighten his posture; once he did that, she eyed him and the men beside him, before turning her gaze up along the deck of the ship, toward the airship, which had been deflated, but still sat ready to be used.

"The pleasure is all mine, Admiral." she acknowledged, "We are ready to enact an operation that will greatly benefit our nation and the war-effort." she acknowledged, her words not a lie in the slightest; it was simply what the men before her believed that meant was different to what she intended.

"That we are, Princess." War Minister Qin spoke up, "The craft is ready, and once we are close enough to the target, we can set off on the test-flight immediately."

"Good." she pursed her lips upward, "Admiral, are we having lunch?"

"Oh, that we are." he acknowledged with a smirk.

Lunch was a relatively informal gathering where he could freely discuss and boast both his achievements and plans, while ignoring all his failings; it would be impolite for even his most critical subordinates to bring those up. She gestured toward the superstructure of the ship, inside of which she assumed she would be going for lunch. She remembered where she had done so with Zhao last time, although that was on another battleship, which she assumed still sitting at the bottom of the bay outside of Yu Dao; she hadn't remembered exactly what happened to his attacking party of ships personally, but Sokka told her that it had not been very pretty. The Admiral and his subordinates paced along toward the doorway, and the Princess turned to face Ty Lee, knowing that she likely wouldn't be attending lunch, as she had to go put her things down in her room, wherever that would be.

"This is where I say goodbye." she acknowledged, "I'll come around to your room after lunch. If you've gotten a tolerable idea by that point, perhaps we'll do something."

Her friend nodded, her glare surprisingly confident, "I'll do that, Zula. I'll find something you'll like." she assured her, before turning to face the Captain.

"Uh, where are we staying?" she asked, Renshu looking back her way, obviously surprised that she was asking him specifically.

"I believe it's on the eighth deck, so down two flights of stairs." he clarified, before gesturing toward Azula's other guards, who were already making their way to the stairs that led down from the centre of the deck, "Just follow them."

"Gotcha." she nodded, before pacing on after the other guards; Azula and the Captain looked at each other for a few moments, both of them silently acknowledging the roles they had to play- they would make sure everything went to plan, and that Zhao did not suspect a thing.

The Princess turned her heels, and followed after the Admiral and the others, making her way through the door that led her into the superstructure of the ship; she made her way along, sailors bowing toward her in respect as she filed in after the rest of the group. Following them through the hallway, she eyed ahead, noting that the Admiral was quietly talking with one of his subordinates, though he wasn't close enough to hear their voices. They filed up the staircase in the centre of the superstructure, the Admiral leading the group up a floor, where she guessed his dining room would be located. When they reached the next floor, she eyed around the hallways, wondering where the Admiral would have his office; she didn't think she'd need to steal anything from him again, but rather, wanted to organise exactly what they'd be doing when they set off to infiltrate the Northern Water Tribe.

As they made their way down a narrow hallway, he noticed a pair of guards standing by a rather ornate doorway; when they approached the two men opened up the doors, revealing a large table which sat in the centre of the room, well lit by sunlight that came through the wide windows. They looked out over the water, toward the other side of the bay, past which she could see some hills in the distance; she was reminded once again that their base was quite isolated, surrounded by wilderness, barring the few villages that remained- she assumed that there might have been more villages that were destroyed because of the war-effort. She moved to sit down at the table, sitting herself down beside the Admiral himself, the rest of the men sitting down on the table with them; there were a few moments of awkward silence before she decided to break it.

"What will we be having for lunch today, Admiral?" she asked Zhao, who cocked a smirk.

"Only the finest roast komodo rhino and spiced pig-chicken rice." he explained, before raising a finger, "With sides of course. Dumplings, spiced buns, and vegetable cakes." he clarified, the Princess nodding; that sounded like a fine lunch, a far cry from the dishes Katara usually made- she wasn't a bad cook, it was just that the Princess preferred Fire Nation cuisine, and a little variety to her food.

"Brilliant." she smiled, before placing her hands on the table, "Was there anything related to our operation that needed to be discussed, Admiral?"

"Everything has gone to plan; our patrol boats haven't encountered any Water Tribe forces around the location we intend to take the test flight." he explained, "Within a day, we will have feet planted on the icy tundra, and with that, proof that it will be possible to reach our goal."

"The Northern Water Tribe Capital will be heavily defended." she observed a simple fact, "Though I am sure the men you picked out for the operation will do quite well. They reacted quite well to the training, and I believe they'll be more than capable of surviving the harsh conditions we will be facing."

"That is good to hear, your highness. We don't know what those savages will throw our way." he acknowledged, "I am comforted by the fact you will be leading this operation."

"And I am confident in my ability. I understand the environment, and who we will be facing." she explained her advantages, though they were half a bluff.

She had never been to the North Pole, and she didn't know what actually trained waterbenders would fight like; Katara could waterbend, but she was a poor substitute for the kind of elite waterbenders she'd be expecting to protect the North Pole, and the location itself could be more treacherous than the South Pole, given the intricate defences they might have in place. Azula, however, was not overly concerned about these problems, given that she was not intending to invade the North Pole and disrupt the spirits; that was what she was making Zhao believe their intentions to be, when it fact, she was offering him up to bargain peace and an alliance with between her and the Northern Water Tribe.

"That's why we ought to be celebrating this great day. We are one step closer to defeating our enemies, and with it, putting you, the rightful Fire Lord, on the throne." Zhao assured her, the Princess pursing her lips.

"We are." she agreed with him; in her eyes, he was completely right in what he had just said, though he misunderstood who Azula's enemies were.

Her opponents were those who would stand in the way of her victory; thus, her opponents were not the Earth Kingdom, or the Water Tribes, or even Zuko. It was those who stood in her way; her brother could be dealt with indirectly, given the whole conspiracy webbed around her father, but the Admiral, she had to deal with him herself, given his power over what had been her loyalist forces. Her father was another threat, even if he was in prison, though at that very moment, it was reasonable that she could sway his supporters to her side. She thought that under the pretence of reuniting the Fire Nation, those loyal to Ozai might see her as a preferable candidate for the throne, even though ultimately, she desired reestablish peace amongst the nations, something they mightn't approve of.

"Ahem, but, we ought to have lunch first." he acknowledged, "Before anybody cracks out the drinks." he joked, the subordinate officers snickering at his words, though Azula and War Minister Qin remained straight-faced; the former didn't care for humour, and the latter probably just didn't like Zhao that much, from what she could tell.

The Admiral raised his hand up, and with that, some servants were called into the room, bringing out some pots of tea, and jugs of water for them to drink; they were placed around the table. She waited for everything to be placed down, before she flipped over the cup in front of her and poured herself some tea; she knew that it would probably distract her from whatever bullshit Zhao was bound to spout while they had lunch together.

Once she had the tea in the cup, she sniffed it, and made a small smile, thinking it actually didn't smell half-bad, though she straightened her expression at once; she did not want to be compared to her Uncle Iroh, who was obsessed with tea- making it and drinking it, and that was before he had left with Zuko on his failed quest to find the Avatar. She almost laughed, remembering that it was her who found him in the end, not her brother, despite all the effort he had put into finding Aang. She wondered what might have happened if he had found him, or if he had been broken out of that iceberg earlier; how things could have gone, before her brother betrayed their father.

"This is fine tea." the Admiral spoke up, "Don't you agree, Princess?"

"It is good." she acknowledged, "You must have the finest tea-leaves around here." she acknowledged, Zhao raising a brow, a little perplexed by her words.

"Well, I wouldn't say the finest. We haven't been able to get any Fire Nation tea, so these colonial imports will have to substitute for the best our country has to offer." he played down his efforts, something that didn't surprise her; he always wanted to seem humble, without actually being so- only the vain would ever act so conceitedly.

Azula knew that she lied frequently, which she would concede was similar in nature to the way the Admiral loved to play people, but she didn't do so to please people and make herself seem more likeable, she did so to ensure victory wherever she saw her goals. She would lie to Zhao not to make him like her, but to make him believe that he himself was victorious; she was stroking his ego, not trying to inflate her own.

She then turned to face the servants who had brought the tea in, "Was this the best tea that could be procured?" she asked them, the servants looking at her nervously.

"Y-yes, your highness." they assured her, the Princess nodding, before turning her gaze back to Zhao.

"What kind of tea is it, Admiral?"

"Ginseng, your highness." he explained, making her purse her lips upward; even the Admiral might understand the humour in the choice of tea- her uncle's favourite tea being served to her by a man who probably thought she was the next Dragon of the West.

"Ironic." she acknowledged, before sipping from the teacup.

"What is?" he asked her, obviously missing the relationship; she decided that she'd simply inform him.

"I will surpass my uncle." she simply acknowledged, "That was something you desired to do yourself, wasn't it Admiral? The North Pole is historically just as formidable as Ba Sing Se." she acknowledged, the Admiral's eyes widening; he nervously looked at her.

Her words were not a veiled threat, but they could be interpreted as such; she wanted to gain glory, well-earned at that, and she knew that in the process, she would upstage the Admiral's own victory, even if he still assumed that she was going to let him conquer the North.

"And what does that make you, your highness?" he asked her, the Princess pursing her lips upward, remembering the graffiti she and Aang had seen; some people believed in her, and she would prove their beliefs right.

"The Blue Dragon, but not yet. I have yet to take what is rightfully mine."

* * *

Sokka felt a little nervous about going to a meeting with important individuals from the Northern Water Tribe, but he knew it was necessary; Pakku was not shitting around when he said he wanted to help fix their tribe because of what he had done to his grandmother, and he had assembled a number of people, which consisted of the Chief, a number of elders who had shown interest in his proposal, which the Water tribe warrior had yet to hear, and some intellectual types, business people, entrepreneurs and technical experts. The kind of people that would actually be doing the groundwork in such a situation.

"Master Pakku." Arnook addressed the master waterbender, "I see you have gathered everyone who has interest in your idea."

"Thank you, but it was not really my idea." he conceded, before he gestured toward Sokka, who felt a little confused by it being suggested he was the one who had wanted the North's help rebuilding his tribe; he didn't, honestly, and only really wanted the Northern Water Tribe's help in ensuring that there was peace in a post-war world, where the nations would be in precarious positions, especially in the case of the Earth Kingdom.

"It was your idea." he narrowed his eyes at him, crossing his arms, "I just came here to listen to your proposal."

"And how else do you suppose the Southern Water Tribe will rebuild?" Pakku asked him, obviously a little confused by the seeming lack of power they had; he was rather assuming of what the Southern Water Tribe was capable of.

"Oh... we have our means." he pursed his lips upward; even without Azula's help, he was sure that the warriors were going to dismantle the Southern Raiders and use their resources to benefit the tribe.

"Anyway." the Master rolled his eyes, obviously not appreciating Sokka's retort against his whole idea, before he placed his hands on the table upon which they were sitting, "I believe the Southern Water Tribe could be greatly assisted by our own tribe. With a lack of waterbenders, they lack the same capability to build structures such as walls, igloos and any other structures, like the canals we have here in our city." he explained, "I propose that we send some waterbenders south to help the South rebuild, so they can be reinvigorated as a tribe. We can work together, as we always had, before the war."

Sokka didn't really see issue with what the Master was proposing, and turned his gaze toward the others on the table; one of them, an elder man, raised a brow with interest, "So you want to send people south, to settle there and help return the South back to its former state, or perhaps, even greater."

"Yes, Elder Tulimaq, that is the idea." Pakku assured him, "We will have a great future for our nation, together."

"Together, huh?" Sokka mumbled, "And I assume that together means that we'd have a united government, would that be right, Chief Arnook?" he asked him, the Chief's eyes widening; he obviously hadn't come up with the idea, but as somebody who ruled a nation, or at least a part of one, he ought to know how such a situation would work.

"I- uh, well, I don't know. The Chief here in the North has always held the position of paramount power over the Water Tribes, though, since the Hundred Year War, that has not worked in practice. I am unsure if your fellow tribesmen would be amenable to a combined government, especially given the distance."

"You would be right assuming that. Countless waterbenders and warriors died or have been captured fighting for our tribe. They will not give up the independence they have fought for." he acknowledged, before narrowing his eyes, "though I hold no real grudge against your tribe, if you were to enstate rule over the South, or try to intervene in its affairs, then some people would get very angry. They'd see you like another Fire Nation, except you look the same and act like you're the same."

"We are one people, Sokka." Arnook acknowledged what he must have thought to be a fact, when Sokka knew that it certainly wasn't.

"No, we are not." he retorted, narrowing his eyes at the faces he saw on the table, "Have you lost loved ones to the Fire Nation? Have you gone hungry for weeks on end because there were no adult men to help feed your village? No, you haven't. None of you have, and if you had, maybe you'd consider what you want to do, and why you want to do it."

"We want a greater future for our nation." one of the people spoke up, a woman, "Don't you want to see your tribe be greater than it is?" she asked him.

Sokka was surprised, given the whole waterbending fiasco, that a woman was at the table, though he guessed that it may have had something to do with her knowledge; she was young, or at least a lot younger than the elders and Pakku. 

"Oh, I do." he assured her, narrowing her eyes into a cold glare, "But I intend to do it on our own terms. The Southern Water Tribe will not fall after all that has happened to us. That would be... well, I guess it'd be a grievous dishonour to the lives of our kin who have perished."

"We aren't seeking to conquer your tribe, Sokka." Pakku stressed, "I want to... we all want to see it grow."

The Water Tribe teen raised a hand, "Again, I understand that, but I first believe I ought to set out some ground-rules here."

"Such as?" Pakku asked him, obviously a little annoyed that he was taking charge of their discussion.

"The Southern Water Tribe will always remain self-governing. We will not pay taxes to the Northern Water Tribe, nor will we swear allegiance to your Chief." he explained, before turning to face Arnook, "I mean no offence, Chief Arnook."

"None taken." he assured him, before the Water Tribe warrior continued.

"But what motivation can we give our people to invest in your tribe?" one of the people on the table, another elder, spoke up.

"Oh, I don't know, your goodwill as human beings?" he asked him rhetorically, not holding back a snide glare; if they wanted things in return for helping his people then they would not seek out their help- the Southern Water Tribe was not looking for a debt they could never repay, but a future for themselves.

"Well, you want our investment, don't you?" another voice spoke up, Sokka turning to face the source; it was a man, probably about ten years older than himself, who wore spectacles and had a look of sophistication to himself- not in the sense of nobility, but of knowledge and intellect, "Businesses from this tribe could buy land from yours, and build industries in the South. They'd be able to employ people there, and bring more money and trade to the South Pole."

"And who would own all those businesses?" he narrowed his eyes, questioning him; the man looked at him, a little concerned, and tried to think of an answer, but Sokka cut him off, "Who would benefit from the ownership of all those resources?"

"Well, it would be those investors who-" he began to answer, Sokka rising up to the table.

"No." he snarled, "No they wouldn't. You cannot suggest that either. That is just conquest, but of a far more sinister kind. You- you want to take our resources and sell them for your benefit. Not your tribe... you." he pointed at him accusingly, "What's your name?"

"Maliq." he almost whispered, the Water Tribe warrior scoffing.

"Maliq, you do realise that my tribe isn't full of idiots, right?" he asked him rhetorically, "Just because we don't have palaces and fancy canals doesn't mean that we are incapable of seeing swindling when we come across it."

"Swindling? I merely want to try and-"

"Benefit yourself." he finished his sentence, before turning to face Master Pakku, "Some nice supporters your found yourself here, Pakku." he sarcastically acknowledged his efforts, and how little help they had been, "I know you might have good intentions, but please, for the sake of what is good and right, don't let a bunch of uppity shitheads, like this guy ruin what little of a tribe we have left."

The waterbending master was left speechless, and he narrowed his eyes at him, "But Sokka..." he spoke his name with a dark tone, which didn't improve his mood; if he wanted an argument, he'd give him a fight- he was in no mood to deal with his elitist, sexist bullshit that moment, "You're just as bad."

"I'm what?" he scoffed, Arnook raising a hand.

"Master Pakku, there is no need to start an argument." he stressed, Pakku rolling his eyes.

"He told you about the Princess, didn't he? He just wants to do what these people want to, but with the Fire Nation instead?"

"Do you get the concept of charity, old man?!" he snarled, hammering his boomerang down onto the table, "They'll give us reparations for all the heinous crimes they committed. That isn't a debt on their terms but ours, and if they dared to try the kind of shit that some of the people on this table want to, I'd assemble an army of warriors to kick them out of the South Pole." he declared, Arnook standing up.

"Sokka, please." he stressed, placing a hand on his shoulder, "There is no need to shout."

"There is no need for this meeting, but it has been called, hasn't it?" he retorted, narrowing his eyes at those who sat on the table, "You can help my tribe, and I guess, you can try some shady shit. Buy us or try to make us your lessers, but that won't work. I don't want to have to fight that battle, if it was what it came to. And you might say you'd win, because you have waterbenders, but you know what you don't have? The Avatar." he reminded them, "And Aang knows bullshit when he sees it." he assured them, before turning his heels, walking down the through the hall that would lead him out of the Chief's Palace, "Enjoy your meeting." he waved to them sarcastically, before he turned toward the doors.

He approached the guards that were stationed there, and they looked at him with surprise, "You sure know how to argue, kid." one of them acknowledged, making him laugh.

"I know when to call out people." he clarified his actions; he did not come with the intent to argue, but with the intent to make sure the interests of his tribe were represented.

The doors were opened for Sokka, and once they were, he walked out, and began to pace through the courtyard outside. He looked around, and all he saw was ice, moulded into some kind of imitation of a place without it; canals, yards and bridges. He was unsure whether the Northern Water Tribe truly more sophisticated, or just better at imitating the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. He didn't care about whether he lived in an igloo or in a fancy palace; what he cared about was whether he and his people were safe, well fed and had long and happy lives. He didn't want his people just to become like the North, who lived the lie, acting as if the war had never really happened.

"What is this place?" he mumbled to himself, "They dress the same and eat the same... but these people aren't my people." he sighed, knowing that he had already held the same beliefs before he had even seen the Northern Water Tribe; he thought he was just being judgemental, and angry that his tribe had suffered while theirs had not, but now he knew that he was right- perhaps he wasn't always right, but Sokka knew he was right about them.

"They treat Katara like she's less because she's a girl, and then they treat us all like we're incapable, like we should be shepherded around like arctic chickens, because we never got the privilege of escaping the Fire Nation's grasp." he grumbled looking up to the sky above him, before he kicked some snow nearby, realising that it wasn't snow, but flat, slippery ice; he then swiftly fell on his butt, and groaned with pain.

"That was stupid of me." he mumbled to himself, before he saw a shadow peering behind him blocking out the light of the sun; he turned around, noting that a girl was standing before him.

He blushed, realising it was the Chief's pretty daughter, Princess Yue; he didn't know why she was there or why she was looking at him with an intrigued look.

"Uh, sorry, did you want me to get up?" he asked her, unsure why she was just standing there.

"I heard what you were saying." she acknowledged, the Water tribe teen cringing.

"Uh, which part?" he asked her, hoping it wasn't the part where he was calling the Northern Water Tribe as alien to himself as the Fire Nation was.

"The part where you called out those... uh, entrepreneurial folks." she acknowledged, the Water Tribe teen rising up to his feet.

"I apologise if I offended you." he conceded, "You are the Chief's daughter, so I guess anything bad I say about the Northern Water Tribe is against you and your family."

She shook her head, "Uh, you didn't offend me." she assured him, "You're actually... well, you're respectable, Sokka." she acknowledged, the Water Tribe teen almost laughing; he didn't know what was very respectable about him going on a rant at a bunch of people who were a fair bit older than himself.

"Respectable, me?" he tried to laugh off her words; her eyes kept focused on him, as if she were inspecting him- not physically, but in the sense that she wanted to understand his intentions.

"You are." she assured him, "You stood up for the interests of your people. You spoke there to serve them, not yourself." she acknowledged, making a small smile, "I just hope that I can do the same for my own people, some day."

"Uh, I assume that you won't be becoming the Chief-tess or something. You guys don't like girls waterbending so I guess-" he began to explain his reasoning, before she spoke up over him.

"I won't." she clarified, "But my husband, Hahn, will."

"Your husband?" he raised a brow, surprised by the fact that girl before him, who couldn't be any older than himself, was married.

"Yes." she nodded, "Hahn and I have been married for a year now. He's... well, he's not chief material, at least not yet. I hope that by the time my father is old and gray, I can help him become more respectable... like yourself."

"Uh, thanks, I guess." he scratched the back of his scalp, finding her suggestions to be a little unnerving; the girl before him did seem to acknowledge him, at least a bit more than the others inside did- perhaps it was because she understood the pressures of duty, and the similarity in their ages, "I didn't see him at the feast the other day."

"My husband?" she raised a brow, Sokka nodding, "Well, he's off on a hunt. I assume you do a lot of that down at the South Pole."

"Uh, that we do." he confirmed, "It's a little better hunting than fishing, because the animals at the South Pole are a lot less slippery than the fish."

She giggled a little, "Fish are slippery." she agreed with him, before she glanced around, "So, your friend, the Avatar, is learning from Master Pakku?"

He nodded, "Yeah, he is." he confirmed, "And my sister too. He made an exception for her because he was a dick to my Gran-Gran when they were young." he explained, making her look at him with surprise.

"Oh, okay." she looked at him with surprise, "I heard Master Pakku got beat by you, but I didn't think it was for your sister."

"No, I don't just beat up grumpy old men to teach them a lesson for the sake of it." he assured her, "I did it for Katara." he stressed, the Princess making a small smile, before he glanced down through the courtyard; he needed an excuse to stop speaking to the girl before him- her being pretty was only half of the story, "Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure she's making lunch."

"Oh, well, I wish you luck with that. Is she a good cook?"

"Not as good as Gran-Gran, but she's good." he acknowledged, "Since you're a Princess, do you do any cooking?"

"Uh, I do." she confirmed, seeming a little confused by his question.

"Oh, okay." he nodded, just noting that as difference between Yue and Azula; the Fire Nation Princess, though having learned to cook, had only started doing so when they got shipwrecked, and even after that, she only started doing it on a regular basis after they left Yu Dao, "Have a nice day, Princess Yue."

"You too, Sokka." she bowed toward him with a smile, the Water Tribe teen turning his heels.

She was so nice to him that he made him uncomfortable, and not in a kind of lascivious way, but because of his relationship with Azula; he couldn't dare think that there were other girls out there, perhaps nicer and with less problems, that he could see treating him kindly. The kinds of girls that he'd want to be in a relationship with; he knew he couldn't think that- despite the Princess's flaws, some more impeding and frustrating than others, he knew he was set on loving her and her alone.

"No matter if you make Ty Lee stupidly beat me up for your stupid reasons..." he mumbled to himself, before turning to eye Yue, who was returning to the doors of the palace, "I love you, Azula."

He realised it was a little weird to be talking to Azula when she really wasn't there; he just wanted to assure himself that he wasn't going to be disloyal- he didn't want to like any other girls, even if they were kind and pretty. He turned his heels, and began to walk down the stairs that led down from the palace, knowing he ought to head back to their igloo. He wasn't just making an excuse about lunch; he really did want to get back and eat it- that would easily distract him from his frustrations over the meeting.

Making his way down the stairs, he eyed out across the city, and saw its massive size; he knew that there might be many people in the Northern Water Tribe who might want to immigrate south, and join the ranks of his tribe, as his grandmother had, but he hadn't really met anyone interested in 'helping' his tribe other than those at the meeting. They were the kind of people he didn't want helping his tribe, knowing that they were doing it for selfish reasons; he could trust Azula, and to a lesser extent, Pakku, to do it for more altruistic reasons, given that they both were indebted to the Southern Water Tribe, or in the waterbending master's case, his grandmother specifically.

The Water Tribesman eyed the people who looked his way; he wondered if they knew who he was, or what they thought of him if they did. He wasn't Sokka to them, he was just the Water Tribe boy who became a Princess's servant, serving her and the Fire Nation; they probably didn't understand why he did it, and perhaps they didn't want to know. He was somebody they could be in awe of, but they didn't want to see that he was right; the Water Tribes were not a perfect utopia, and the North was not the peak of civilisation- they were a mockery of it, and he disdained them for it.

He wished that they were as good and righteous as they made themselves out to be; he wished for a utopia, and all he got was empty, conceited promises. He sighed, knowing that he couldn't do anything of merit, at least not yet. He had to destroy the Southern Raiders, kill Yon Rha, and make sure his mother's death was not for nothing; Katara learning waterbending was only the first step of respecting her memory. He would build a great nation out of the shattered remains of his own, and he would wield his fellow tribesmen as his strength, not the charity of those more fortunate than them. Sokka had no need for fancy-looking bending, or for opulent palaces and extravagant walls; he only wanted full stomachs and complete families for his people.

As he turned down the street that would lead him to the igloo they were staying in, he pulled his parka closer to his neck; maybe he wasn't as used to the cold as he once was after months crossing the world, once again. That idea frustrated him, that he couldn't feel at home in the kind of environment he was born and raised in; he knew the North Pole wasn't his home, but he wanted to feel comfortable. Maybe he never could- maybe their lies were colder than his parka could keep him warm. He eyed the igloo, and he saw Momo jumping around outside, chasing after some kind of rodent; he raised a brow, and let out a little chuckle- the flying-lemur was going to get himself sick if he kept rolling around in the snow.

"Momo! Get out of the snow!" he warned the lemur, who perked his head up, realising that Sokka was back.

He chittered, before scratching his face with one of his hind paws, before he could reach him, Momo raced back off inside the igloo, the Water Tribe warrior shaking his head; maybe he really didn't like him after all the times he'd tried to keep his food from him. He thought that he'd fed him well on their final leg to the North Pole, but now he and the lemur were back to their same old avoidance of each other, keeping each other's food to themselves.

"Well then, you can be that way, Momo." he crossed his arms, before taking a few more steps toward the doorway; he pushed the canvas curtains out of the way, allowing him to walk inside, where he could see Aang and Katara, sitting by the pot of food his sister was cooking.

"Oh, hi Sokka." the young Avatar addressed him first, "You're back earlier than expected? Is the meeting already over?"

His sister eyed him for a few moments, before she sighed, "Oh, you walked out, didn't you?"

"Wow, you know me too well." he snickered, before he approached the pair, pulling his parka off and sitting himself down next to the pot, "Yeah, the meeting... it could have gone better."

"So, were they being stupid or were you getting angry?" Katara asked him, the two propositions not contrary in his eyes, but complementing each other; he chuckled, and her mouth fell slightly ajar, "So it was both."

"Yeah, it was both." he confirmed, "Chief Arnook didn't really try and mediate between us, though I guess he didn't want to act too authoritative in front of some elders. They're the ones who ensure that he remains chief, after all." he clarified that rather irrelevant point, though he thought it was important in explaining why he left to begin with, "And the people there... oh, they were asking for a boomerang to the head- acting like I couldn't see their greed and conceited little grins for what they were. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe is no idiot." he added, his voice growing more agitated.

"You're not dumb, Sokka." Aang assured him, "You're the smartest one in the group." he argued, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow, turning her eyes to her brother.

"Wait, is that counting or not counting Azula?" she asked him, sounding a little confused; whether she thought Azula was smarter than Sokka wasn't really his concern, though he was a little surprised that their friend might have thought he was the smarter of the pair.

"Well, Azula's smart, but she's... well, she's kinda full of herself." he admitted, "She's not a bad person... definitely compared to what she must have been like before she and Sokka met, but you know, she's not really thinking about whether she's wrong." he added with a nervous voice, obviously not wanting to make the Water Tribe teen think he disliked his girlfriend, "You know what we all need to do, Sokka. That's why you're leading us."

"Uh, thanks, Aang." he made a small smile at him, before turning his eyes to his sister, "So do you think she's smarter than me?"

"Less prone to make stupid decisions." she clarified, the Water Tribe warrior chuckling; he agreed with that wholeheartedly.

"True." he nodded, before sniffing the pot of food between them; it was some kind of seaweed and sea prune stew, "Hmph, lunch smells good."

"Thanks, Sokka." his sister pursed her lips upward, obviously appreciating the compliment on her work, "It's nearly ready, so you came here a pretty good time."

"Good that they pissed me off quickly then. I wouldn't have had been angry, stormed out, and missed out a warm lunch and an insightful chat with Princess Yue."

"Chat?" Katara raised a brow, looking at him skeptically, "You don't mean you were flirting with her, do you, Sokka?"

"Uh, no, if anything, she was flirting with me." he acknowledged, before he covered his mouth, realising that he really shouldn't have said that.

"The Water Tribe Princess was flirting with you?" Aang's eyes widening, "How come you get all the princess's liking you?"

"Two isn't all of them, Aang." he argued, before scrunching his lips up, "Though I haven't heard of any other princesses." he clarified, before shaking his head, realising that he ought to be arguing against the whole idea of Yue flirting with him, "And it wasn't flirting. What I meant to say was that if it was flirting, it was her, not me. I wouldn't ever flirt with a girl. Azula would prevent our future children from existing if she found out about that." he argued, making the young Avatar look at him with a perplexed face.

"What?" he mumbled, Katara placing a hand on his shoulder; he obviously hadn't had 'the talk', yet, so it made sense that he was confused by what he had just said.

"Don't listen to him." she assured him, "He's just joking around."

"That wasn't a joke though." he argued, "Azula would get really angry with me if I flirted with anyone. Especially Ty Lee... though I did when I met her, kind of, but that was just as a joke." he acknowledged, before shaking his head, "I didn't flirt with Yue."

"But she did flirt with you." Katara prodded him; she didn't know what she was talking about, but she obviously wanted to get him flustered.

"N-no! No she didn't." he stressed the point, "She just told me how she thought that I was a respectable representative of my tribe because I was fighting for their interests."

"Yeah, that just sounds like Princess-flirting to me." his sister crossed her arms, making him groan, covering his face to mask his embarrassment.

"Urgh! Why? I shouldn't have mentioned anything!" he lamented, making Aang snicker.

"Yeah, you really shouldn't've." he agreed with him, though he really hadn't asked for his opinion.

"It's okay, Sokka." Katara stressed, "If girls flirt with you, that means that Azula can't be the crazy one in your relationship. You're obviously prince material." she told him, though he could tell from her tone that she was making fun of him and not really thinking he could be suitable for marrying royalty.

"Are you calling me crazy for liking her?" he retorted, a little offended by the suggestion, to which his sister cocked her chin up, smugly winking at Aang, who giggled.

"Yes, yes I am." she declared, making Sokka face-palm.

"Can we just eat lunch instead of you making fun of me?" he requested, the other two looking at each other before nodding.

"Okay, sour-pants, we'll do that." his sister agreed with his idea, picking up a spoon to pour some of the stew into a bowl for him; the Water Tribesman nodded in thanks, and accepted it into his hands.

"You know, your food might be nice, but sometimes, you're pretty mean, Katara." he narrowed his eyes at her, to which she shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, I guess there's no seconds for you then." she offhandedly decided, making him roll his eyes.

"Why?" he whispered under his breath, "Why did I have you end up with such an annoying sister?"

"You know, usually I'd hit you with a water-whip for saying that, but since you beat up Pakku for me, I'm going to let that slide." she conceded, making him chuckle.

"You know, I was pretty close to repeating that beat-down today. Pakku's just lucky I barely trust him, and want you to continue your training. Otherwise he would have met Mister Boomerang once again for bringing those people to that meeting." he explained his thoughts on the matter of Pakku's 'Southern Reconstruction Project'.

In his mind, it was starting to sound a whole lot more like a 'Southern Colonisation Project', which was pretty much as bad as what Fire Lord Sozin did, except if Sozin was screwing over his own countrymen for 'prosperity' instead of the rest of the world.

"Oh..." Katara cringed, "Was it that bad?"

"I think they just don't know any better." he admitted, "Doesn't make it right, but they're just blinded by their belief in the superiority of their ways."

"So like Azula before you schooled her?" Aang asked him, making him snicker; he guessed it was a little like that, though he was unsure if he could persuade the whole Northern Water Tribe as well as he did a single Fire Nation girl.

"Uh... I guess so." he mumbled, before taking a bite from the stew; it tasted good, and anything that tasted good was a fine distraction from the events of the meeting.

"What are we going to do about them if they decide to go ahead with their plans?" Katara asked him, the Water Tribe warrior chuckling.

"Oh, I'm sure Azula will have some great advice about that." he acknowledged, before narrowing her eyes, "Whenever she shows up."

"I'm sure she won't be that much longer. She knows what she's doing, Sokka." Katara assured him, the Water Tribe warrior sighing; she had known what she was doing at Yu Dao too, but even then, she had failed.

"She's not impervious to failure. You do remember how she ended up in our tribe to begin with, right?" he asked her, Aang clearing his throat.

"If things go bad, we can... we can try and help her out." he assured Sokka, who raised a brow; he was saying he was willing to give up his training to go help Azula, if she really needed it.

"How would we even know?" he came back with the most glaring question; they had no idea of knowing what was going on at Zhao's base.

It wasn't like Azula or Ty Lee were giving them a steady stream of messenger hawks; he had no idea if they'd even reached the base safely, and Sokka was basing everything on a hunch that she had it under control.

"I-" Aang began, before he turned his eyes down, dejected and clearly worried, "We don't." he mumbled, "I guess we just have to hope everything goes okay."

Katara placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, although her eyes were on Sokka, knowing the unease he still felt over Azula leaving without him, "That's all we can ever do, Aang."

"She's alright." the Water Tribe warrior spoke up.

"How can you be so sure?" Katara raised a brow, sounding a little bit surprised by his words.

"Azula is the most paranoid person I know. Trust me, she'd jump off of Zhao's ship and swim back to the Earth Kingdom at the first sign of danger."

"Wouldn't she drown from that? She's not a waterbender." Aang observed a rather obvious face; Sokka rolled his eyes, deciding to think of a more accurate idea of what his girlfriend might do to escape danger.

"Urgh, okay, steal a steamer and disable the ship's engine so nobody could come after her, Ty Lee and the guards." he came up with on the spot, making the young Avatar raise a brow with surprise.

"Maybe he really is the mastermind of all this." he mumbled, making the Water tribe teen chuckle; he'd gladly prescribe to such a view of himself.

"I never said I wasn't."

* * *

There was one thing that Ty Lee quickly learned as they travelled north, which was that she really did need the thick new clothes she was wearing; it was freezing cold, even on the ship, and inside, only certain rooms were well heated, unless one was around the engine, in which case it was sweltering. The lack of a mild temperature out of a few select areas on the ship hampered her efforts to enjoy herself. However, as she sat on the brand new airship, she knew that space was even more of a problem. She had decided to sit down by the front of the gondola, next to Azula, who was rather impatiently waiting their arrival at their destination; it was only a test flight, so they weren't getting any closer to Sokka, Aang and Katara, but they were, in fact, going to be setting foot on the northern tundra. The Princess had joked that it was the closest thing Ty Lee was going to get to the Water Tribe siblings' home, given the isolation and climate, even if they were on the opposite side of the world from the South Pole.

The Princess was wearing a thick cloak over her armour, which itself had extra padding on underneath to increase her warmth. The gondola itself wasn't very warm, though being so close to the engine of the craft, which was just in the room behind them, meant that it was warm enough that she wasn't shivering or worse, having her fingers fall off. She decided that if she was going to sit in that gondola for another minute, she would need to start talking; talking was the one great distracting tool she had from the cold, and the relatively cramped conditions in the airship.

It was only big enough for about two dozen people, and currently, it had no designated space for sleeping or eating. They had enough supplies to last them the round trip, most of it stored under the deck beneath them, kept away from the heat of the engine to ensure the preservation of any food; that was the purpose, according to Azula, who had guided her through the various aspects of the airship and how it worked. She was rather eager to use it, and had given it a fair comparison to Appa, though she did concede that it would not be as fast as the sky-bison, even if it could store far more things onboard.

"Could have this thing been a little bigger?" she asked the Princess, who scoffed.

"Urgh, I have no need to hear your complaints. You knew what you were getting into." she retorted, her words not wrong, but skewing the facts.

"I didn't come aboard when we had twenty smelly men onboard with us." she argued before cringing, "Sorry. I know it's not your fault." she spoke to the guards nearby, who didn't really seem to care for her words.

"Don't insult my men, Ty Lee." Azula chided her, "That's my job, and mine alone." she raised a finger, before crossing her arms once more, turning her gaze over to the window.

"We have to be getting close now." the acrobat acknowledged; she had evidence to back up her words, too, or at least, the pilot's word.

He had explained that it should only take them six hours to cross between the battleship and the southern shore of the icy landmass; Zhao's ship had supposedly gotten as close as it possibly could without rousing attention from the Water Tribe patrols that would constantly move around the littoral, hiding behind or inside icebergs, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting Fire Nation scout ships.

"The Northern Water Tribe can't be as desolate as the south, even if they are concentrated in terms of population in a single city. They must have settlements spread around." the Princess spoke up, though her tone was low, suggesting she was just speaking to herself.

"What?" she asked her friend, "What does that mean? That we're going to fly into some random village?"

"Maybe not a village, but we could accidentally alert the Northern Water Tribe of both our presence and our new technology." she argued, "This should be a quick stop before we fly back."

"But we have nowhere to sleep. Couldn't we just camp there?" she asked her, the question being a request; she really didn't want to have to sleep on the airship, as unlike on Appa, there were a lot more people, and not much space for them to share.

"Trust me, Ty Lee. You're going to prefer being by the warmth of this craft engine in the air than sleeping out in the ice and snow." the Princess warned her, "The Poles are not a kind place to camp in. I've gone out hunting with Sokka, and without his expertise in surviving in the environment, I would have been afraid for my life." she argued, "I'm more tolerant and prepared now, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go out of my way to camp out there. That's just foolish."

"Well, it's going to smell in here." she crossed her arms, sticking to her argument.

"And what, do you want me to open the windows?"

"But then it'll be cold." she deduced, the Princess scoffing, obviously wanting to hear that answer.

"So what is it, cold or smell?" she asked Ty Lee, who dejectedly slumped her shoulders over.

"Smell." she conceded, before turning her gaze to the window as well, "I just wonder what it's like there."

"At the Northern Capital?" Azula asked her friend, who nodded.

"Yeah. I've heard that... well, they kinda act like the war never even happened there. Nothing's different except Earth Kingdom people never go there anymore."

'Now do you know this?" she furrowed a brow, obviously a little confused how a circus acrobat like herself found out about things in the Northern Water Tribe, far away from where she had travelled.

"Uh, I met a traveller from there once." she explained, "You meet some weird people in the circus, Zula." she added an excuse, trying to not make it sound like she was wilfully associating with people from the other nations; she did want to find out about distant places, and she had a long and interesting conversation with that traveller.

"Well, it's probably just going to be a bigger, more stuck-up version of the Southern Water Tribe. A nice palate cleanser to make me remember how kind those villagers were... well, most of them."

"Did people give you a hard time for... well, being you?" she asked, knowing that her friend was obviously a relatively well known figure; people's preconceptions would have been rather hard to overcome.

"Some of them, but Sokka told them off, and assured them that I wasn't going to hurt anybody, at least not without reason. After I beat the shit out of the- uh, you know who, they were far more approving of me, even those who mistrusted me before." she noted, smirking at the thought of gaining respect from people who probably would have feared or hated her before having met her, given her position as Crown Princess of the Fire Nation.

"So, what do you think these people will think of you?"

"Probably worse, given they're even more ignorant of me. And being a female combative bender, I'd be mocking their traditions if I did end up fighting any of them." she smirked, "Though, if Sokka is any good at scaring people, he'll have already intimidated a master into teaching his sister, thus breaking that stupid sexist tradition they have."

"That's what we're hoping for." Ty Lee nodded, "Katara should learn how to fight. I- well, I think she might need to at some point."

"I would like to see her go off against the Dai Li. Perhaps she'd deal with them better than I did." she smirked, obviously just liking the idea of seeing Katara beat the crap out of people she despised; she'd probably get giddy at the thought of the Water Tribe girl beating her brother, above that.

"You'd like to see Katara beat anybody up, just because she couldn't bend any good a few months ago." she argued, the Princess cocking a smirk.

"You know, you're right, Lee. I really would like to see that girl beat anybody up." she conceded, "But, first thing's first, she's actually got to master her element."

"Well, she's probably doing that right now. She might be kicking somebody's butt as we speak."

"I hope so. I hope it's some sexist pricks, and she's showing them their place." she crossed her arms, "The Water Tribes can learn equality, one tough woman at a time." she argued, the acrobat raising her chin up.

"You made sure Sokka got that, and now he's going to make sure everybody else gets the message." she noted, "Sometimes, you can be a great force for good, without even realising it."

The Princess rolled her eyes, "Urgh, don't go there. You'll start sounding like Katara."

"I'm not talking about hope or anything like that, I'm just talking about what you did. Taught a Water Tribesman chi-blocking, and now look where we are."

"On an airship, looking to be the first Fire Nation people to step foot on the North Pole in over eighty years." she noted a fact that she had remembered her mentioning earlier.

The Fire Nation's last attempted invasion of the North Pole was about eighty years prior, back when Azula's grandfather had just become the Fire Lord. Because it failed, she assumed that was why the dreaded Southern Raiders came into existence some time later; the North couldn't be defeated, so the South was to be annihilated to compensate- that was a disturbing thought, but it sounded like something the old Azula would have agreed with. 

"Well, I guess that's a little weird." she mumbled, "But you know what's going to be weirder?"

"I'd prefer if you didn't answer that rhetorical question, Lee." she warned her, the acrobat clearing her throat, realising that she might have just said something that would indicate their intentions to betray Zhao.

"Sorry." she almost whispered, her friend raising a brow, seeming a little annoyed by her muffled response.

"Well, you didn't say anything, did you?" she retorted, Ty Lee nodding.

"Uh, yeah, I didn't." she mumbled, before turning her head up, leaning her head back on the window behind her, "How useful do you think this thing will be after we're done with this mission?"

"Very useful." she declared, "Once I have the resources of the colonies to mass-produce these crafts, the Fire Nation will be mine." she raised a fist; she might have been avoiding to talk about the true intentions she had for the Admiral, but those words were the truth, and Ty Lee could only think about what would happen when her friend inevitably invaded the homeland.

"You think you could make them bigger, and with better heating?"

"I think that could be arranged." Azula confirmed, "We might add in some weapons too. Given the nature of our operation, we won't be needing much offensive capabilities on this craft, but for future missions, perhaps some bombs and positions to firebend from might be useful. Flying in this thing is useful, but the true use of this craft will be to enforce my authority."

"And what if they shoot it out of the sky?" Ty Lee asked her, the Princess chuckling.

"Well, that's why we're going to make lots of them, with weapons on them. It'll be a lot harder to defeat them otherwise." she quipped, making her friend scrunch her lips up; she wasn't skeptical of Azula's strategic genius, but rather she just didn't know how the technology would really work in practice.

"Uh, I guess it's good we're testing this thing out then. You wouldn't want to make a bunch and then get them destroyed."

"Precisely, Ty Lee." she smirked, "That's just one of the reasons we're trying this craft out before we head to the Northern Water Tribe's capital."

She nodded, glad that her friend had come to that conclusion as well; she could trust in the Princess to get the job done, and do it right. She had only grown wiser since they last saw each other, when Ty Lee left the capital at the age of thirteen, three years prior; the Princess had both grown from her experiences with Sokka, but generally just had become smarter as a person. She was no less bold than she had been when she was thirteen, though she was clearly more patient and conserved; she would not go into something with a rapid plan in mind- she would go step by step.

Getting rid of Zhao was just one example of her patience, but her long march to the throne was another; she could have, in theory, gone to the Fire Nation Capital on Appa, armed with the knowledge of her brother's lightning redirection, and challenged him to an Agni Kai once more. Of course, she assumed that Azula had discounted that idea, given that it was quite likely that her brother would arrest her on the spot rather than dare to fight her in another duel. Ty Lee could see that as soon as she heard the story from the Princess; her brother believed himself certain in victory when he'd shot her lightning back at her, and was likely not going to change his mind about arresting her, purely as a precaution to protect his authority, rather than because he maliciously desired to have his sister in prison. Azula wanted the throne, and would do everything in her power to get it.

"I can see it." she spoke up, catching Ty Lee's attention; she turned her gaze back toward the window, and realised that in the distance, she could spot out some white and gray on the horizon, just above the dark blue of the ocean water.

"Well, that's it." she mumbled under her breath, "Is there much we're going to do here?"

"Look around, check for signs of Water Tribe patrols. That kind of thing." Azula clarified, the acrobat nodding along.

"Well, that's... simple, I guess." she spoke with a quiet voice, unsure what to talk about; her thoughts about the Princess both inspired fear and hope- she knew that she would do great things, but that wasn't particularly descriptive of whether they would be good or bad things.

"You seem troubled, Ty Lee." she observed, "Are you getting nervous?"

"Me, nervous?" she tried to play off her words, "I'm never nervous."

"Says the person who gets worried whenever she tries on a new outfit." she retorted, making the acrobat cringe.

"I didn't know if this was going to be very flattering. It's comfy, though." she gestured down to her rather thick coat, pants and boots, which were designed in traditional Fire Nation style, meaning that it had lots of layers of wool and cloth, which substituted for the usual water-proof animal skins that Water Tribe people would use in the cold environment of the poles.

"It looks fine, Lee." she assured her, "If it looked ugly, then I would have told you. The Fire Nation Army wears clothing that both coordinates and is practical. We aren't as blind to aesthetics as a bunch of peasants."

"Wait... are you talking about the Water Tribes or the Earth Kingdom?"

"Both." she clarified, "The former, they have fine clothes, and they are well-fitting and practical, but everyone's wearing the same drab monotone blue. The latter, still drab but without any of the colour, so worse."

"Wow, to think you could critique fashion just as well as warfare." she smugly noted her friend's wide breadth of opinions and knowledge, though she mostly had the former; Azula had to be one of the most opinionated people she knew, though Katara was certainly a close second, despite having known her for far less long- she understood quickly enough why the two of them didn't get along that well.

"I can critique anything I have knowledge on, Ty Lee. Of course, I'm not as well versed in some matters as others, so I'll leave those to them."

"Things like tea?" she furrowed a brow, the Princess laughing, obviously getting that she knew of her uncle's love and curiosity about the subject.

"Uh, yes, that's my uncle's area of expertise... and strategy, firebending, useful proverbs and... I can't really think of anything else he's good at. Perhaps treason." she listed off her uncle's areas of expertise; he seemed to be a rather interesting guy, though Ty Lee hadn't seen him in many years- she hoped that she could, just interested to see if he was as funny and weird as he was when she had last seen him.

"Didn't you say treason was all about perspective once?" she asked her, the Princess scoffing, before she straightened her face; her friend was right, she quickly seemed to realise.

"Uh... well, technically, yes." she confirmed, knowing that her actions against Zuko had technically been treason, at least from the perspective that he was the legitimate Fire Lord who had won a duel against their father, just as from her perspective, he had initially committed treason and to the best of her knowledge at the time, had killed Ozai, and thus, she was the legitimate Fire Lord.

The Fire Nation was ruled by a boy who had committed treason, and had lied about his father's death; of course, Ty Lee didn't really care about what Zuko did, and she believed that the siblings father was a pretty bad guy, and was definitely asking for what came his way. The Prince hadn't deserved the treatment he had received at the hands of his father, and Azula hadn't really treated him fairly, and that was before any of the things about him going to overthrow their father. She didn't dare bring those thoughts up, knowing that she wanted the Princess to trust her; she did not intend to betray her, but instead, wanted to make the siblings reconcile, somehow. She knew that with her friend going after the throne, it was unlikely, but she hoped for it nonetheless.

"Everyone, get ready to land!" the Princess spoke up, commanding the men on the airship, who immediately got to work on preparing their things.

She was essentially ignoring what she and Ty Lee had been discussing, which annoyed her slightly, but it was understandable that she did so; she must have been uncomfortable with thinking she was wrong to go after her brother. It really wasn't an argument about right and wrong, but the Princess would likely drill it down to that to try and make it seem like everything was fine going after Zuko and taking the crown right off of him.

"Ty Lee." she turned her gaze toward the acrobat, who straightened her posture, sure the Princess was going to ask something of her, "We are about to leave the gondola. I recommend you put your gloves on; the ice will be very cold." she warned her, Ty Lee glancing down to her bag, which she had sitting beside her, and pulled out the gloves.

She didn't like wearing them, given that it was a lot harder to do acrobatics without the contact of her fingers on the ground. She didn't expect to be doing any acrobatics at that moment, she guessed she ought to get used to it; she'd probably have beat up Zhao and his men when they went to find the spirits, and it would be cold. They wanted to reach their destination under the cover of darkness, and given the polar night was rather long around that time of the year; that wasn't going to be a challenge timing wise, but rather, it would be very cold, even colder than she assumed it would be out on the tundra at that very moment. Pulling the gloves up, she made sure they tightly fit down past her wrists, before she tightened the bands around the ends, holding them in place.

"Well, is there anything you want to tell me about the North Pole before we step outside?" she asked her friend, knowing that she was knowledgeable when it came to the environment they'd be facing.

"Well, watch your step. Ice isn't as safe as land, especially by the coastlines. It might be hollow, or filled with water underneath." she warned her, the acrobat shivering with fear; she didn't like the thought of falling through a hole in the ice, and unintentionally freezing to death- that sounded like a horrific way to go, though she was sure that people had died that way before.

She glanced back over to the window, watching as they began to approach the coastline; she could see smokestacks off to their left, which suggested that a Water Tribe village, or at the very least, some hunting camp, was nearby. She didn't know what to expect, but she was sure they would want to avoid people if they could help it.

"Maybe there's people nearby." she mumbled, the Princess grimacing as she rose up to her feet.

"We should hope not. I'm not poised to walk into a Water Tribe village at the very moment, given my attire." she acknowledged, "Let alone encounter some stray warriors or hunters."

She narrowed her eyes, realising something rather interesting from her words, "What, are you saying you could make them believe you were one of them?" she asked, skeptical of such a suggestion, "You don't look Water Tribe at all."

"I could trick them, and say that I was adopted in the South by Water Tribe parents. I know enough about their customs and practices that I could play it pretty convincingly." she argued, the acrobat scrunching up her lips.

"Huh, I guess you could." she conceded, before she rose up to her feet as well, moving to approach the rear of the airship, where the boarding ramp was located.

The guards and the men Azula had recruited were already prepped to go outside, wearing their thick cloaks and boots, not to mention their thicker robes, more suited for the climate than the usual ones they wore in the Earth Kingdom. She and Azula filed along with the men, moving toward the boarding ramp, which had yet to drop; the airship was still up in the air, but the pilot was slowly lowering the craft down. If they dropped too fast, they might crash into the ice; given what her friend had just told her about the dangers that lay with traversing it, she was sure that it would be near death sentence if their craft fell into an icy crevasse. When she saw the ground approaching below them, Ty Lee tensed up, and glanced over to the guards who were standing beside her, looking down through the windows just the same.

"Are we moving too fast?" he asked her, the acrobat cringing, before one of his comrades slapped him over the back of the head.

"Don't be a wuss, Liang." he mocked his fellow guard, who cringed back, obviously still worried about their landing; it was going to be a first, in the end- the first airship to land at the North Pole.

She waited patiently, and the crunching noise the metal made as it softly landed on the snow below them was relieving to hear; no cracks or crashes, it seemed, which improved her feelings immensely.

"Ah..." she smiled, turning her eyes to Azula, who seemed more approving that they were finally there.

"Ah, finally, a chance to stretch my legs." she smirked, before whistling, "Get moving! We're not just going to stand around on the airship!"

The guards and soldiers moved closer to the boarding ramp, which was mechanically lowered with the use of two handheld levers; they obviously hadn't had the time to put in an automatic door, which would have just lowered by itself with the push of a button. The wind blew into the airship, and Ty Lee immediately shivered; it had sometimes been cold on top of Appa, but that was nothing compared to what she could feel as she and the others stepped out onto the icy plain. Snow was everywhere, gleaming bright and almost blinding; the sun's relatively low position in the sky was the only thing making the glare anywhere near tolerable, though she still looked down to avoid it.

"This is it." Azula declared, before planting her feet down on the snow, "Ah, that's a little too familiar." she almost whispered, "I can almost hear the crying children."

"Crying children?" Ty Lee raised a brow; that sounded rather disturbing with no context.

"Despite all the shit they go through, the damn Southern Water Tribesmen still find time to keep having babies. And they love to cry." she explained, which was a lot less morbid than she was expected, "I mean, I prefer crying children over sleeping next to a literal engine, which is what we're going to be doing tonight."

"Fun." the acrobat sarcastically commented, before she stepped out onto the snow, feeling the snow, squishy texture under her feet, "Huh, a bit like sand... but not really."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too." she agreed with her, before glancing around, "Well, this is it. We're here."

"And what next, your highness?" The Captain asked his superior, who chuckled.

"Well, we're going to make quite the impression." she acknowledged, before eyeing around. You can all walk around for a bit if you like, given we're going to be stuck in that damn airship for few hours again." she suggested, the guards and the men they had recruited deciding to go along with her words, stepping out onto the snow-covered plains, some of them pacing off, obviously intrigued by the environment they'd found themselves in.

Ty Lee turned to face her friend, wondering what she herself was going to do; the Princess strode forward out onto the icy plain, and she followed after her, glancing around at the few ice formations that dotted the landscape, as well as the hills in the distance, which were indicative of where solid ground began. She scrunched her lips up, wondering where the locals were; she assumed they were nearby, but she couldn't be certain of anything but that there were smokestacks off to their left.

"How far away are we from them?" she asked her friend, who turned her eyes toward her, obviously understanding what she was asking without having to clarify who 'they' were.

"Probably a few days' walk." she explained, gesturing to their right, "That way." she clarified, before sighing, "Don't even think about it." she preempted her, knowing that Ty Lee was considering the possibility of them just upping and leaving their plans behind to join their friends at the Northern Water Tribe.

"We could go, couldn't we?" she asked her, the Princess turning to glare her way.

"If Zhao got this airship, he'd use it for his plans, and without us... well, you know what would happen." she warned her, the acrobat grimacing; they had to stay with Zhao, for his plans were far too dangerous.

Of course, Azula could have tried to work against him in a different way, but for some reason, she decided that trying to earn the Northern Water Tribe's trust and getting rid of her most problematic subordinate at the same time was the right course of action.

"Y-yeah..." she almost whispered, feeling a little nervous about what he might do, or try to do, given that her friend was essentially giving him a free ticket to get to his goal by planning out their operation.

The two Fire Nation teens stood there awkwardly for a few moments, before Ty Lee brought her hands together, rubbing them as she hoped to garner a little more warmth; despite the layers, she was still feeling a little cold, especially by her extremities. Azula shook her head, seemingly annoyed by her action, and sparked a flame in her left hand, which she raised between them.

"Thanks." she smiled at her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"You should have just asked." she chided her, Ty Lee smiling at her, seeing past the tough exterior she liked to put up; she could be nice at times, even if she covered it up with varying levels of hostility.

She and Sokka having their first kiss after sparring actually made a whole lot of sense when she thought about it; all the fighting was a way of expressing closeness while still being visibly hostile. The acrobat chuckled at the thought of it, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?" she raised a brow, almost seeming concerned by Ty Lee's amusement.

"Oh, I'm just wondering how much sparring used to be a substitute for intimacy between you and your boyfriend." she clarified, making the Princess turn her face away, though she could see her cheeks flushing red.

"That's not why we sparred each other." she retorted, the acrobat furrowing a brow.

"No, it isn't." she agreed with her, "But it's why you kept doing it." she presumed, Azula sighing; she obviously didn't want to talk about her relationship with Sokka, but she really never did seem to- that moment was not better a time than any other.

"Urgh... why do you have to analyse my relationship like it's a precious artefact?"

"Because it is a precious artefact to me." she declared with a smile, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Oh, really? And who hit on my boyfriend the moment she met him?" she questioned her rhetorically, almost sounding like she was demanding the truth, even if she knew it already.

"Hey, it's not my fault he's a cutie." she defended her actions, Azula shaking her head, though her distant look and blush suggested she thought the same thing.

"Wait." she mumbled, the Princess extinguishing the flame in her hand, gesturing her left hand ahead of them, down across the tundra, "We're being watched."

"You must have great eyesight, Zula." she noted, before turning her eyes to where her friend had pointed, "I can't see anything."

"The sunlight is reflecting off a spyglass... or something else made of metal." she explained, before dropping her hand, "And now I've pointed at them... shit." she mumbled under her breath.

Clearing her throat, Azula spoke up louder so the men could hear here, "Everyone, don't panic!" she warned them, "Water Tribe warriors... I presume, are looking at us. Don't look their way. Just act like nothing's wrong, and everyone, head back into the craft, slowly." she explained, the men nodding along, before continuing to move about, as if nothing were wrong, though a few of them began to move back toward the airship.

After a few moments of silence, Ty Lee turned back to face her friend, "What if they're waterbenders?" she asked her, the Princess grimacing.

"That's exactly what I'm worrying about." she simply told her, before she crossed her arms, "I won't go in until everyone else is back inside. That includes you, Lee."

"But... I can't just let you stand there. What if they attack?" she asked, the Princess raising her chin up.

"That's why it's better me here than a foot-soldier or even one of my guards. I've fought Katara, and even if her waterbending isn't the best, I have a better understanding of that element than anyone else here." she argued, before cocking a smirk, "Not to mention I'm the most powerful firebender alive." she added.

Ty Lee looked back toward where the onlookers had to be, before turning back to face her friend, "okay, I trust you, Zula. But I'll wait for the rest of them to get in." she decided, the Princess turning around to face Renshu, who was standing nearby, obviously waiting for the rest of his guards to go inside the craft before he too joined them.

"Captain, I know you'd prefer to wait, but I need you to tell the pilot to warm up the engine again. We need to be ready to lift up as soon as I'm on that ramp." she ordered him, the Captain nodding.

"I understand, your highness." he acknowledged, before he paced on up the ramp behind them, ready to tell the pilot what needed to be done.

As the others began to make their way onto the ramp, slowly but surely, Azula decided to pace on ahead, which in Ty Lee's eyes wasn't a very good idea, especially given that for all they knew, any the waterbenders amongst the group of scouts would just attack her if she indicated she knew of their presence. She followed after her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping that she wasn't going to do anything extreme; calling her stupid wouldn't be the right word, given that out of all people, she probably had the right skills to beat whoever was watching them.

"Azula, don't go too far ahead. If they really do have waterbenders, they could trap you." she warned her, the Princess nodding.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. My firebending is hot enough that I can stop them from holding me down for long, unlike yourself. You need to step back, Ty Lee; I don't want to be protecting you from them." she warned her; she dropped her head down, knowing that her friend was just looking out for her.

"I get it." she confirmed, eyeing the remaining soldiers who moved back onto the airship; she then slowly strode back, keeping a keen eye on her friend as she did so.

When she reached the ramp, she looked back to see some of Azula's guards, patiently watching her, just as she herself was; they understood the danger they could be in, and the Princess just standing there wasn't going to make herself any safer. Suddenly, she felt a shaking underneath her; the only thing she could say it reminded her of was earthbending, though she'd only encountered it a few times in her travels.

The ice itself was shaking, and Azula immediately moved into form, turning around to send a massive stream of fire out, melting the ice around their craft, which would likely prevent the waterbenders from easily trapping it, before she turned her attention to the enemy themselves. They sent out waves through the ice, cracking the surface, obviously intending to ensnare her; she was able to avoid that by launching herself up into the air with the help of two jets of blue fire, before she spun around, creating a powerful fire-blast with said jets, which was fired off toward their enemies.

The momentary distraction gave the Princess the time she needed to get to the ramp, and with that, the pilot began to raise the craft up; they immediately began to rise up, and Azula leapt up onto the ramp, Ty Lee moving forward to make sure she didn't slip, helping her up to her feet, as they continued to rise into the air. Her guards sent out fire streams to distract the enemy as they rose up further into the sky, the pair moving back to the top of the ramp, which was slowly levered up by the guards. Once it was up, she turned to face her friend, who had a relieved look on her face, though that expression quickly shifted to one of suspicion.

"They waited until I was alone to attack me." she deduced, before stepping down through the gondola, her friend following after her.

"What does it mean?" she asked, unsure what their opportunistic attack meant.

"That they might have known who I was, already." she acknowledged, the acrobat's eyes widening; there was a few ways that they could have learned about Azula, but one immediately came to mind as being rather plausible.

"You don't think Sokka told them, do you?" she asked her, the Princess chuckling.

"Well, I think he might have warned them. Whether they knew we were coming how we were is another question." she noted, before crossing her arms, "This proves how dangerous our mission will be." she declared, eyeing some of the soldiers who they'd be taking along with them, "You all understand that, don't you?"

They nodded along, and Ty Lee placed a hand on a nearby window, looking back toward the people who had just attacked them, who looked like little more than specks on the snow from the distance they were at.

"Will they be ready?" she asked the Princess, who scoffed at her idea.

"They're a bunch of conservative old fools. They mightn't even believe what those warriors tell them."

* * *

Katara was starting to like their new igloo; it was bigger than their one at home, and gave them plenty of space to sleep and sit around. She could comfortably sit in her corner of the room and sew, if she so pleased, though she had been mostly focused on her waterbending as of late. Another thing she'd been considering was what would be happening after they left the North Pole. Pakku wanted to help their tribe, and eventually, she and Sokka would see their father again, along with the other warriors, who had to have sailed north to meet Bumi and his rebels by that point. She knew that those two things were interrelated, given that she'd have to talk with her father about whatever the waterbending master decided upon when he eventually did go south to help them. She didn't know when that would be, but she guessed that as soon as the Northern Water Tribe was able to spare the resources, they'd sent a few ships south; perhaps they could meet up with her father and the other warriors, and work with them for a bit before they actually went to the South Pole itself.

Her thoughts were complicated, though she knew what was likely to be more complicated was whatever Azula intended to pull of with Zhao; she had no idea what the Princess would actually end up doing in practice, other than tricking her subordinate into becoming a prisoner of the Water Tribes, which given what she'd heard about his actions, she was actually looking forward to. He sounded like a terrible person, and was likely deserving of what came his way. She knew, however, that Azula and Sokka were likely going to have some issues when they came back together. Even though she didn't have the most positive view on her brother's girlfriend, she could be sure that her brother wasn't just going to accept her back with wide open arms. He was so worried about her, and what she intended to do, that he'd obviously hold it against her, even if he understood why she was doing what she was.

Sokka was sitting across from her, looking at some scroll he'd picked out from the Chief's library; she hadn't been told what it was, but she guessed it might have something to do with the plans to help the south. He seemed like he was rather concentrated on what he was doing, though his eyes turned up to meet her own. He glanced around the igloo for a few moments, before he sighed.

"So, are you just going to sit there and look at me, Katara?" he asked, "I thought you had some waterbending forms to go work on."

"I was... going to mend your pants." she made up an excuse on the spot; he had complained about it, and she had explicitly said she was annoyed about doing it, so she realised in hindsight that it was a stupid sounding excuse.

"Oh, the pants you said you weren't going to mend." he feigned surprise, obviously being sarcastic in that regard, "I thought you said you weren't gonna do that. Did learning waterbending from Master Pakku somehow make you nicer?" he asked her, before furrowing a brow, realising that his own question made little sense if they both agreed that Pakku was a mean man, even if he was a good master, "Wait, no, that makes no sense. He's a dick."

"Yeah, it doesn't." she nodded, before making a cringed face, knowing that she had to be honest, "Okay, I won't lie, I'm not actually mending your pants."

"Oh." he mumbled, the Water Tribe warrior making a dejected face, "Aw man, I actually have to figure it out." he grumbled, before he picked up his pants, which had torn at the bottom end of the right pant leg.

"I can show you, Sokka, if you'd like." she offered, knowing that if she taught him properly, he'd stop complaining about it and just do it himself.

"Okay." he nodded, making a small smile of appreciation, "Sounds easier for you than mending them every time they tear."

"It will be, if you can learn." she quipped, her brother crossing his arms, annoyed by her suggestion.

"I'm a fast learner, Katara, you know that." he argued, the Water Tribe girl chuckling.

"Well, I'd hope so. You're my brother." she argued, making him roll his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, waterbending prodigy." he mumbled under his breath as he scooched over toward her, sitting himself across from her with the torn pants in hand, "So, how is this going to work?"

"First you need to get a sinew thread and a needle, but luckily for you, I already have those." she explained, reaching over to her personal bag, and pulled out the sinew and needle, giving her brother both of them.

He looked at them for a few moments, before glancing up at her, "So, uh, how does the thread get into the pants?" he asked Katara, who simply gestured toward the end of the bone needle.

"You need to tie the end of the thread to the needle; that's how you get the thread into the pants." she gave him a simple answer; he nodded, and picked up the thread and needle, tying the former into the latter with a small loop through the hole at the end of the needle.

He then eyed the tear in the seam of the pants, and scrunched his lips up, "So where do I start?"

"So it's easier to cut the thread, I'd say start at the top." she clarified, her brother doing just that.

He pulled the torn seams together, before he narrowed his eyes, reaching his right hand into the pant leg with the needle while he held the seams together with his left hand. He pushed it through the seam, which she could hear as the thread ran through the seams, and Katara smiled at his quick work, and pointed down at the pant leg.

"And now, all you have to do is go back and forth." she clarified, Sokka nodding and beginning to go back and forth, his right hand awkwardly manoeuvring through the inside of the pants.

"Simple enough." he noted, before turning his eyes up to meet her own, "Thanks."

"No problem, Sokka." she assured him, before sitting herself back up against the wall of the igloo; she remained silent for a few moments, watching him work away, before she decided to ask him about what she'd been too nervous to before, "What were you reading?"

"Just a scroll on Northern Water Tribe building techniques. I'm assuming they're going to be using these if they do end up sending people south to rebuild our tribe." he explained, before sighing, "If they do it." he stressed.

"They might feel a little altruistic and charitable." she considered, "Maybe they won't do everything they might have if they'd got to own our entire country, but they might still help. People still might want to leave this place... and given the rules, I can understand why. Then maybe we'll have some new people to help out. Maybe even some waterbenders." she suggested, Sokka making a small smile.

"That'd be helpful... but maybe they'd just bring what they've got down here there. I don't want their stupid culture to ruin our own. Imagine if you had kids and then your new waterbending friends don't want your daughters to learn how to bend for fighting. How do you think that'd make you feel?" he suggested, making her eyes widen; of all the things that could happen to her tribe, that would be the worst.

To have the power of one's bending taken away from them because of their sex would be grossly unfair, especially given that it was their tribe; they allowed it, back when they had more waterbenders, from what she understood, so anyone new shouldn't force their stupid rules on their tribe.

"I won't let that happen, Sokka. I'll make sure of it." she assured her brother, who looked back up at her, stopping his sewing for a moment.

"It's not that simple, Katara. We have no idea how many will come south. They could outnumber us, drown out our voices." he explained, "Some of them might really dislike the way they treat people around here, and really would want to be part of our culture, but others, they might just want a quick coin and a new Northern Water Tribe."

"Those people won't be welcome." she crossed her arms, "I'm sure Dad wouldn't want anybody like that coming to our tribe."

"Dad isn't the head chieftain, at least not yet. Even if he was, those people might just act like any other until there's enough of them in our tribe that they can just force our way." he warned her, narrowing his eyes, "Like, Pakku, for example, might tolerate teaching girls waterbending, if we found any more waterbenders around our tribe, but if there were enough men like him, they'd start to think they were right just because nobody would be there to argue against them."

"So, what, we have to educate any Northerners or how to be nice people?" she asked him, the Water Tribe warrior smirking.

"That's precisely what I'm saying." he nodded, "The problem is, I don't think a lot of them want to learn. When somebody thinks they're right without doubt then it takes a lot to change their opinion."

"You changed Azula's." she suggested, knowing that he had succeeded at doing something that must have seemed absurd to anybody who knew Azula before she had become 'the new Azula'.

"That took a lot of effort and... well, trauma on her behalf." he acknowledged with an uneasy face, "Zuko broke something in her when he won that duel, and no time is going to fix it. Even if... she's better than she was, that doesn't mean it was right for that to happen to her. To anyone."

"Y-yeah." she turned her eyes down; it wasn't right what had happened to her, even if she wasn't the best person in the past.

She hadn't really done that much bad, especially compared to other people in the Fire Nation, which Katara had come to realise over time. She genuinely felt bad for how she had treated the Princess, given how kind she was relative to the people who were running the Fire Nation; even if she wasn't the most altruistic or nice person, she was someone with heart, the same kind that she thought she had, that her brother did, and Aang did, though it took a little to get it out of the young Avatar. They all wanted to do good, for themselves, and for the world; they had different reasons, but they all had that same heart, and that was what assured her that Azula was good, even if she denied it herself.

Sokka cleared his throat, "Uh, I think I'm done." he told his sister, whose eyes turned to examine the pant leg; he had successfully sown it up, and now, all that needed to be done was the thread to be cut, and perhaps the bottom of the pants to be sewn a little tighter.

"Hand it to me. I'll finish it." she requested of him, her brother giving her the pants.

She sewed up the bottom of the seam and the cuff of the pant leg, making sure that the thread wouldn't just get pulled out if he snagged his pants on something; she then pulled out a small bone knife, and cut the thread at the upper end of the sewn seam. Once that was done, she could untie the needle, and take back her thread; the pants were done, and it seemed like her brother had gotten a hang of it. She put her things back in the bag, and Sokka raised his pants up to examine them, smirking at them with a giddy grin.

"Hey, they're good." he commented, before turning back to face her, "Well, thanks, Katara."

"Don't mention it." she assured him, before narrowing her eyes, thinking back to their previous discussion, "Are you looking forward to getting out of here?"

"I might miss sleeping in an igloo, but I won't miss this place. One bit." he stressed, making her chuckle.

"Not even Princess Yue?" she prodded her brother, who turned away, embarrassed by her suggestion.

"I never said I liked her." he stressed, "I'm waiting for my girlfriend to get back so you can stop prodding me about this."

"Nah, then I can just make fun of you for Ty Lee thinking you're cute." she retorted, making him groan with frustration.

"Can I ever win?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl crossing her arms, thinking of a situation where her brother would certainly be winning.

"If you count Aang mastering the elements as winning, then yes." she decided, Sokka scrunching his lips up.

"You're mean sometimes." he snidely commented, "Can't you be the nice one?"

"I never said I was." she argued, the Water Tribe warrior shaking his head with a disappointed look in his eyes.

"Hypocrite." he simply called her, before he shuffled back over to his old spot, and picked up the scroll he'd been reading.

"Hey, just because I want people to be nice, that doesn't mean that I'm going to be nice all the time." she argued, Sokka nodding.

"Yeah no, I got that, but that doesn't make you not a hypocrite." he argued, the Water Tribe girl narrowing her eyes.

"Okay, grumpy pants." she narrowed her eyes at him, "You stay there and read your scroll. Maybe think of plans for the ice palace you want to build for Azula."

"Wh-what?" he looked at her with a perplexed face, his jaw dropping slightly ajar, "Since when was I doing that?"

"I dunno." she shrugged her shoulders, "You just don't seem big on directly showing your affection. That's an easier way to do it than kissing her."

"And how's building a palace easier than kissing?" he asked her, clearly skeptical of her argument.

"Well, you won't be embarrassed building a palace, would you? You'd feel all high and mighty, Fire Consort Sokka." she suggested, her prodding getting a good reaction; he covered his face, clearly imagining what she'd suggested, though he covered it up with an annoyed voice.

"Please don't call me that. It's weird coming from you." he asked of Katara, who scoffed at his decision; somehow it was okay for Aang to say it, but not her.

"Oh, so it's only acceptable when other people say it?" she asked her brother; he looked at her blankly for a few moments before sighing.

"Uh, well, you're my sister. If you called me anything but Sokka or 'stupid', I'd feel weird. You don't need to call me anything else."

"What do you expect me to call you Sokka when you're Chief of the Southern Water Tribe?" she asked him, making him snicker.

"Oh, yeah, I do. If the Fire Lord himself gets called a nickname that sounds like it was made up by a two year old by his sister, then you can call me by my name. That's way less embarrassing." he argued, making her smirk.

"What was it, Zuzu?" she asked Sokka, who almost cackled at the mention of it.

"Yep, and despite using it, Azula could still scare him shitless." he slapped his thigh, before scrunching up his lips, "Well, at least, I think he was scared. Maybe he was really just that cocky after beating his dad."

"Zuko sounds a bit like his sister." she observed, making her brother cringe.

"Ooh... don't let her hear that." he warned her, raising a finger up to stress, "If you think calling her 'good' is going to piss her off, being compared to Zuko is going to make her go absolutely nuts."

She giggled at his suggestion, and her brother raised a finger to warn her, "I'm not joking, Katara. She's a prideful woman, you know that."

"Yeah, I know." she grinned at him, "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see her reaction."

"Do you have a death-wish or something?" he quipped, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head, smugly raising her chin up as she leaned back onto the wall of the igloo.

"No, no, I don't. Plus, remember I'll be better at waterbending the next time I see her. If she wants to fight me, I'll gladly accept." she declared, her brother rolling his eyes, obviously not approving of her idea.

"Yeah, as I said: death-wish." he simply told her, before he turned around; she was confused why he did so, and he turned back around, eyes narrowed, "Huh, I thought I heard somebody run by."

"Run?" she almost scoffed, "What do they want to slip over and hit their head right into the ice?" she asked, making him snicker.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking." he agreed, before raising a brow, "Maybe it was Momo. He's been playing around outside lately."

"Wouldn't he be cold?" she asked Sokka, who raised a finger to his chin.

"I think his fur might help with the cold, but you're probably right. This isn't the best environment for a flying lemur." he conceded, before he glanced around, noting that one of the members of trio was missing, "Where did Aang go, anyway?"

"I think he was going to feed and brush Appa." she narrowed her eyes, remembering the young Air Nomad had offhandedly mentioned that before he left, "But I think he just went out to get some food."

"What, does he not like your traditional Water Tribe cooking?" he raised a brow, sounding offended by the suggestion.

"I wouldn't expect him to love it. He's probably used to very different food. I don't know what the Air Nomads ate, but I'd guess it was mostly fruit, pastries and vegetables." she explained her thoughts on the matter; she didn't blame him for his distaste, but unlike Azula, he at least didn't show it openly.

"Oh, well I remember you getting antsy with Azula over her not liking it." he recalled, before smirking, "Ah, yes, hypocrite." he pointed at her, "You just really don't like her."

"It's not my fault she's so snarky about things." she crossed her arms, trying to think that the girl's grating personality was a reasonable excuse for her response.

"Well, that's just part of the package. You get the snarkiness and arrogance, but you also get the good advice." he explained, the Water Tribe girl scrunching her lips up.

"Well... she gave me decent advice about how to meditate and get in sync with my element." she acknowledged the worth of Azula's advice, though it was usually few and far between her snarky comments or complaints.

"She's helpful, Katara." he stressed, "And she helped out around the village every single day. Even if she didn't like it." he added, making her cringe.

"Well, that must have been why she was so willing to let out all that anger sparring with you." she concluded, the Water Tribe warrior narrowing his eyes in thought.

"I am her punching bag." he declared, as if it were an unavoidable fact of life.

"You really shouldn't have to be, Sokka." she assured her brother, who seemed indifferent, shrugging his shoulders and turning his eyes back to the scroll he had in front of him.

"I am, but that's not an issue. I can trust her not to actually hurt me. You know, she could have beaten me up to stop me from following after her and Ty Lee, but instead, she had me chi-blocked. If she really wanted to stop me, she would have just suckerpunched me in the head when-" he cut himself off, raising a hand, "Actually, no, I'm not going to finish that sentence."

"When you..." she began, before her eyes widened, realising what he was talking to; she didn't consider what her brother and Azula had been doing before he got chi-blocked- that made a whole lot more sense, given that she and Aang were away nonpracticing their waterbending, "Ew, Sokka."

"It's only 'ew' because you don't have a boyfriend, Katara." he retorted, raising a hand, "If I was in your position I would think it was gross too."

"So you agree with me?" she asked Sokka, who shook his head.

"No, I don't. I'm saying you don't get it because you don't have a boyfriend." he clarified, "You'd be canoodling all the time." he suggested, which made Katara blush; she had not thought of the possibility of getting a boyfriend, but she really didn't know how that would work- they were always travelling, after all.

"Well... you don't know that." she crossed her arms, refusing to agree with him, which made her brother scoff.

"Ahahaha!" he pointed at her mockingly, "You're just jealous."

"I'm not." she narrowed her eyes at him, "I really can't be jealous of you with her." she added, the Water Tribe warrior grinning at her smugly.

"Oh, really? Not even a little bit?" he prodded her, the Water Tribe girl sighing; she immediately regretted making fun of him about Yue.

"Shut up, Sokka." she growled, making him laugh.

"Serves you right." he crossed his arms, "Now, don't make fun of me because girls give me attention."

"You want some attention?" she asked him, her cold tone making him tense up, raising a hand.

"Please, no snowballs. I simply speak the truth." he argued, the Water Tribe girl's mouth falling ajar as she tried to comprehend what he was saying.

"The truth?" she almost whispered, "Well, if that's what you're going to call it, fine, but I don't think it's true." she crossed her arms.

'That girls don't give me attention, or that you can't get a boyfriend?" he asked her, Katara clenching her fists, annoyed by his suggestion.

"I never said that!" she snarled at him, making the Water Tribe warrior break down laughing, obviously amused by her reaction.

Suddenly she heard the flaps of the igloo being opened, and she looked over to see Aang, who had a perplexed look on his face, "Uh... did I just- uh- walk into something?"

"No, you didn't." she assured him, "Sokka just likes being annoying."

"And you love to scream at me." he smirked, "Well, Aang, she was making fun of me, so I decided to give her a taste of her own medicine." he suggested, the young Avatar nodding, though Katara clearly noticed the unease in his eyes; something had happened outside, when he was off getting food or whatever he had been doing.

"Uh, yeah, okay." he nodded, nervously fumbling around with his hands, before he sat down by their unlit cooking fire, "I've been hearing things."

"Like spirits?" Sokka raised a brow, the young Avatar looking at him with a confused face.

"Wait, what? No!" he raised his hands to assure him, before he looked at the Water Tribe girl, "Am I meant to be able to hear spirits or something?"

"I don't know. That's the kind of question only Azula or some sages could answer for you." she explained, before furrowing a brow, "What did you hear?"

"People are talking about her." he simply told them, the Water tribe warrior pulling himself up, obviously deducing who 'she' was.

"Azula?" he asked, the young Avatar nodding, "Why?"

"I don't know." he admitted, "I heard some things about her being dangerous, and not dead. You know, the usual things people say about her." he clarified, the Water Tribe siblings nodding along.

"Yeah, so, why now?" Sokka asked him, before turning his gaze to Katara, "You don't think Pakku spilled the soup?"

"I don't think he's stupid enough to do that, Sokka. If he did, then he knows you'd go up there and beat his butt again." she assured him; Master Pakku was a smart man- getting into another fight with her brother was something he clearly would want to avoid, and telling his tribe all about how bad Azula was would not be good.

"Well, let's go speak with Chief Arnook, or- I don't know, Pakku, about this." the Water Tribesman decided, rising up to his feet, "We don't really have anything better to do." he acknowledged, "She might have already begun her plans with Zhao."

"That won't be good." Aang grimaced, "If they know, then... maybe they'll try and capture her." he came to the worst possible, but rather reasonable conclusion.

"They could try." Katara noted, climbing up to her own feet, "I doubt they'd succeed. She's a master firebender. They'd need somebody like Pakku to beat her in the first place, let alone capture her." she suggested, her brother grimacing.

"You've seen these people. They might actually try it, if they think it'd help them out."

"Help them lose our trust." Aang argued, "What do they think they'd get out of capturing her? Friendship with Zuko?" he asked them, his question rhetorical, though Katara thought that was actually plausible.

"You know, given his authority, that wouldn't be out of the question, Aang." she warned, making his eyes widen.

"Wh-what?" his jaw dropped, "Why are we staying here then? If she ends up captured then I'm not just a bad Avatar, I'm a bad friend."

"Nobody said you were a bad Avatar, Aang." Sokka assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder; he shrunk back slightly, an uneasy, nervous look in his eyes.

"Does a good Avatar get frozen for a hundred years while the world goes to war?" he asked him, clearly rhetorically, and the Water Tribesman sighed.

"You didn't choose to do that, Aang." he assured him, the young Avatar shaking his head.

"I know that... but I ran away. That's on me." he pointed at his chest, before running his hands through his short black hair, "I don't... I don't want things to get worse. Azula's my friend, and I know she can help us fix the world."

"She will." Katara spoke up, which surprised her brother, "Azula's going to help us, and if the Northern Water Tribe captures her, I'm pretty sure that together, we could break her out of whatever prison they stick her in."

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Katara." her brother warned her, "We have no idea what's going on. Let's just go find out what's happening before we do anything drastic. I want a reason to kick some stuck-up waterbenders in the butt, though I already have a few." he noted, striding toward the opening of their igloo, picking up his parka, throwing it over his torso.

The Water Tribe girl picked up her own, and slung it over her shoulders, running her arms through the sleeves until it snuggly fell over her body; she turned her eyes to Aang, who still looked nervous, "Don't worry." she assured him, stepping closer, "We can make sure she's alright."

He nodded, and followed after her and her brother as they strode out of the igloo; Sokka immediately raised his hands up to his mouth, and called out, "Momo! Get over here! We're going!"

The flying lemur actually heeded his call, and raced over toward them, flying over and landing up on Aang's shoulder; he looked around and the young Avatar chuckled, patting him on the head, "Sorry, buddy, I don't have any food at the moment."

The group then began to make their way up along the path that would take them to the staircase; they needed to get to the Chief's Palace, where they could speak to Aarnook about all the talk of Azula. They needed to get to the bottom of the rumours, because if they didn't they'd be in the dark; the Princess was their friend, and they needed to make sure she was alright. If she wasn't Sokka would set into overdrive, and she was sure that he'd go do something drastic; she imagined something a little bit more extreme than breaking her out of prison. Suddenly, something caught her eye, and she looked up above them; she could see a bird flying across, not that far from the ground, moving south, away from the centre of the city and the Chief's Palace. It didn't make much sense to her, but Sokka immediately turned around, with a nervous look on his face.

"That's a messenger hawk." he noted what exactly they'd seen, Katara stepping forward, not thinking that to be that important an issue- people probably sent out messages all the time, so it didn't make much sense to immediately draw that it had something to do with Azula.

"And?" she asked her brother, who narrowed his eyes at her.

"Messenger hawks are from the Fire Nation, Katara. Why would somebody be using a bird from the Fire Nation in the Northern Water Tribe?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl narrowing her eyes.

"To communicate with the Fire Nation?" she asked him, unsure exactly what he was trying to point out, "They might have diplomacy now, given that Azula's brother was supposed to be not as big of a fan of the war as the previous few Fire Lords." she suggested, Sokka's gaze turning away.

"Maybe." he mumbled, "But communicating with the Fire Nation probably has to do with Azula. Why else would they talk with them? Why now?"

"I think Sokka's right." Aang nodded, "It has something to do with her."

"Well, let's get to the palace and figure out what's going on." Sokka spoke up, pacing on ahead of them; the other two followed on after him, following him up the staircase.

Katara felt nervous about what they'd just learned; the kind of danger that Azula was putting herself in couldn't be underestimated, and even if they could break her out of a Northern Water Tribe prison without much issue, she knew that would get in the way of their waterbending training. Pakku wouldn't like them breaking his nation's laws, and would be far less likely to tolerate training them; they might become fugitives in that worst-case scenario, though at least, they'd only be fugitives in the North Pole and not the entire world.

Part of the Fire Nation wanted them in prison, and the other half was hostile toward them because of their association with Azula. The Earth Kingdom didn't really exist, and the parts of it that weren't under Fire Nation rule were likely dangerous places to hang around due to bandits and deserters, both of whom might try to capture them for the bounties on Aang and Azula's heads. She knew that adding another place to the list of ones that didn't like them was something none of them wanted to do; if they didn't have a choice, they would do what had to be done. As they made their way up the stairs, she turned her gaze to the young Avatar, who seemed a little nervous about the whole situation; he noticed she was looking his way, and turned his eyes away.

"It's alright, Aang." she assured him, turning her eyes up toward her brother, "You shouldn't worry."

"Aren't you worrying?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl sighing.

"A little bit, but that can't be helped. We should just wait to see what's going on before we jump to conclusions, Aang." she suggested, his nervous expression softening somewhat.

"Yeah, you're right." he nodded, the two of them turning their gazes upward, eyeing Sokka as he paced up the staircase.

They followed on after him, and Katara felt a sense of sympathy for her brother; he was probably internally panicking about whatever had happened- he wanted the best, but he was preparing for the worst. The trio made their way up the staircase, and she glanced back, seeing the messenger hawk nothing more than a smudge in the distance; it was gone, and there was no way of them knowing what message it was sending, unless they figured out who sent it. The staircase was long, and though she usually found it annoying because she might be late to her waterbending classes with Pakku, but at that very moment, she knew that the frustrating part was the growing anticipation she felt; she didn't know what they'd find out, but she knew there'd have to be something. Messages being sent, people talking about Azula; they weren't just being paranoid. Katara knew they had good reason to think she could catch the Northern Water Tribe's attention; everyone knew about Sokka and her escapade in Yu Dao, or at least, everybody she talked to about her brother with. When they reached the exterior of the palace, they crossed over the small bridge that went over the moat, approaching the front doors of the Chief's Palace, where four guards stood, a little confused by their arrival.

"Is something wrong?" one of them asked them, the Water Tribe warrior stepping forward, clearing his throat.

"Okay, this might sound like a weird question, but does Chief Arnook have a messenger hawk?" he asked them, the guards looking at each other with confused faces.

"Arnook?" one of them asked, shaking their head, "I haven't heard about him having a messenger hawk."

"Did you guys see it?" Aang asked them, "A messenger hawk flew from around just before."

"Uh... yeah, a bird." a guard mumbled, stepping forward with a perplexed face, "So that was a messenger hawk?"

"Yeah, it was." Sokka confirmed, "Can we go speak to the Chief?"

"About it?" the same guard asked, to which he shook his head.

"No, not that. We need to know why everybody's talking about Azula." he clarified, the guards nervously looking amongst each other.

"Oh, so you haven't heard?" one of them asked, Katara snarling, having had enough of their conversation; they needed to get to the bottom of what was going on.

"What is it?!" she demanded of them, "Tell us!"

"She attacked some hunters out west of here. Supposedly she and these Fire Nation soldiers had some flying machine." one of the guards explained, their timid but serious expression telling her that he wasn't beating around the bush- that was what he knew.

A flying machine wasn't out of the question; she had wanted to get to the Northern Water Tribe with the intention of getting Zhao caught, not starting an invasion of the North Pole. Though she hadn't heard of such things, she could guess they were possible to create, given that the Fire Nation had built their massive ships and factories in the first place- if anybody was going to figure it out, it'd be them.

"That's... interesting." her brother mumbled with an intrigued voice before shaking his head, his tone shifting to a more serious, calm one, "Well, we still need to talk with Arnook." her brother spoke up, "And we need to find out where that messenger hawk came from."

"Uh, well, go on in." one of them allowed them, opening up the doors for them, "Just don't scream at anybody again."

"I did that with good reason." he retorted, before stepping into the palace, Katara and Aang going in right after him.

They made their way into the rather expansive throne room, and approached the throne where Chief Arnook ought to be sitting; to their frustration, he didn't seem to be there, though Sokka immediately turned his heels and headed for the closest hallway. The Chief had to be close by, and as they made their way down the hallway, her brother looked like he was listening out for voices. Eventually, they reached what looked like a bedroom door, behind which they could hear something; Katara was sure there were two voices in there, but they were muffled. He knocked on the door, and a few moments later it was opened; they were surprised to see that it wasn't the Chief, but his daughter, Yue, who had an uneasy, confused look on her face.

"What..." she mumbled, glancing around, "What are you all doing here?"

"We need to speak with your father." the Water Tribe teen simply told her, his stern voice stressing the urgency they had; she nodded, and glanced back into her bedroom.

The Water Tribe girl leaned a little closer, and realised that Arnook was in her bedroom, though obviously he was a little confused to see them; they must have been having a private conversation before Sokka interrupted them.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked them, "I understand you are the Avatar, Aang, but I'd prefer a little notice when you want to speak with me. I have things to do." he explained with a serious, matter of fact tone.

"No, we know that, Chief Arnook, but we heard rumours about Azula, and we had to come see you." he explained, the Chief's eyes widening.

"Oh, yes, that." he mumbled, his change in tone suggesting that he didn't feel very good about the news, "She attacked some hunters from a village near here." he clarified, crossing his arms as he stepped past his daughter, "I believe that is not what you intended when you said she would be stopping this 'Admiral Zhao'." he noted, Sokka cringing at his words.

"Maybe she didn't actually attack them." he suggested, "You know, the hunters could have attacked her first. I don't know why she would have shown up in the middle of nowhere. That has nothing to do with her plans." he explained, the Chief raising a brow, looking at the Water Tribe warrior skeptically, all while his daughter stood them awkwardly observing the conversation.

"And what are her plans, Sokka?" he asked him, "I haven't seen anything to suggest she isn't planning to harm our tribe."

"She's trying to do the opposite." Aang assured him, "Sokka, tell him."

"We-" he began, before cringing, "I can't unsay it, Aang."

"No, Sokka, we need the Chief's trust. Tell him what you know." she requested, knowing it was easier to do that than continue to lie; they could not keep Azula's plans, or more actually Zhao's plans, a secret any longer.

"Admiral Zhao wants to get rid of waterbending." he put it bluntly, the Chief looking at him with a skeptical face.

"Sorry, what?" Arnook asked him, "Get rid of waterbending?"

"He wants to kill the Moon Spirit, and remove its influence from the world." he explained, narrowing his eyes in thought, "And I assume that will get rid of the moon, which waterbenders rely on for their bending." he noted, the Chief stepping back, looking at them with confused faces.

"How... how can he even understand how to achieve such a thing? Does he know where the Moon Spirit even is?" he asked him, the Water Tribe teen cringing.

"He does." he confirmed, "I do too. The spirit pond, around the back of this palace. It was a pain to find, but last week, I found them. The Moon and Ocean spirits live in the form of two fish, swimming in that pond."

Arnook's eyes widened, turning to face his daughter, 'That's why... oh." he mumbled, Yue stepping forward.

"The Moon Spirit gave me life." she explained, "I was... well, there were complications with my birth, and my father took me to the pond to ask the spirits to save me. I believe... if what you're saying is true, the Moon Spirit is the reason I'm alive." she explained, "It was in there, and that's why my hair turned white."

"Oh, so it's not..." Sokka mumbled, before shaking his head, "The point is, Zhao knows they're there, and Azula's going to take him there."

"That's insanely dangerous." the Chief argued, "I can't let her do that."

"No, no, you see, because you know where she's going to take him, you can have as many warriors as you want ready to pounce on him. He'll be your prisoner, and the knowledge of the spirits will lay safe with us."

"I see." he narrowed his eyes, "Do you know how long it will be until they arrive?" he asked the warrior, who turned his eyes down, looking unsure of himself.

"Well, if Azula's just come by on that aircraft, which is how she intends to reach the oasis, then she'll be here soon. Maybe tomorrow. I'm unsure. You'll just have to have your warriors ready." he explained, the Chief nodding.

"Of course." he agreed, "I'll have to speak with the head of our military forces. We cannot let him succeed." he stressed, Aang stepping forward.

"If you really want an assurance, I can go wait there for them." he suggested, "I know that I might not be that good at fighting, but in case he tricks us, I think I'll be able to protect the spirits. I have my Avatar State... I don't know if it will activate, but if it does, that'll definitely stop him." he assured the Chief, who made a small smile.

"Thank you, young Avatar." he bowed toward him, "I'm sorry for getting... so antsy." he acknowledged, "I know you are trying to stop this menace and allow us to bring him to justice. If we remain careful and have a watchful eye on the skies, we will be ready for their arrival."

"That we will." Sokka spoke up, before clearing his throat, "Just one question, Chief Arnook."

"Uh, what is it?"

"Who owns a messenger hawk around here?" he asked him, the Chief narrowing his eyes.

"A messenger hawk?" he mumbled, "I believe Master Pakku has a bird. I was just speaking to him actually, before I came to see Yue."

Sokka's eyes widened, and he placed a hand on his shoulder, "Chief, I don't mean to be forward, but could you tell us what you were talking about with him?"

"Uh, we discussed the Princess actually, and the danger she might pose." he clarified, the Water Tribe warrior turning his gaze to meet that of his sister; he spoke up, still addressing Arnook while he looked her way.

"And what was his angle on it? Does he want her... captured?" he asked him, Katara's eyes widening as she realised what her brother was suggesting; it might be possible that like Bumi, Pakku was a member of the Order of the White Lotus, the organisation who had tried to have Azula captured in the first place, all those months prior.

"Captured?" the Chief raised a brow, "No, he was talking about how she posed a threat to the peace our tribe has with the Fire Nation... not Zhao, of course, just more generally."

"Oh... yeah. This smells of Iroh." he deduced, "Where is he?" he asked, Arnook gesturing down the hallway.

"He left not long before you must have arrived." he explained, "I don't know how you could have missed him."

"Well, Pakku isn't just as stubborn as a rock, he's also a snitch." Sokka deduced, "If we come back to the north coast of the Earth Kingdom and some of Zuko's forces are standing there waiting for us, I won't be surprised." he acknowledged, before he strode on down the hallway; he took a few steps before turning to face Katara and Aang, "What are you two waiting for? We need to get to your 'waterbending lesson'."

She awkwardly nodded at her brothers words, knowing that he likely intended to interrogate Pakku, which made sense, but might have been a bit of an overreaction; if the waterbending master was simply seeking to inform the Order of the White Lotus what Azula was doing, then it wasn't really that bad. Of course, it wasn't good for them, given that if they wanted to capture the Princess still, it would give them an advantage to achieve that goal; it was not something she hoped would happen, and her knowledge, albeit secondarily via the recountings by both her brother and his girlfriend, suggested that the Order mightn't desire that anymore. Her brother's story and Iroh's lack of intervention in their escape all those months ago suggested the organisation mightn't actually want to capture her.

Her brother led them along down the hallway, and she turned to face Aang; he understood what Sokka would do if they didn't intervene, though he didn't seem very inclined to stop him. Resigning their master to another beating was not in their interests, but then again, he was asking for it by doing what he had; Azula was their friend, and she was certain he understood that she didn't have malicious intentions, even if it looked like that at first glance. She was going to get rid of the greatest threat to his tribe, and she knew that he must know about that, given that Chief Arnook and he seemed to talk regularly.

When they reached the front door of the palace, the guards turned back to face them, "Oh, did you find out what you were looking for?" one of them asked, Sokka shaking his head with frustration.

"Uh, yeah, I need to go scream at somebody." he recalled the warning he had been given; her brother was more emotional and antsy than usual, and she could understand it probably had to do with underlying fears about Azula's situation, and now, they were addressing those fears directly- he was going to start throwing punches, if he had reason.

Aang looked her way with a cringed expression, "Should we... try and get him to calm down?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl eyeing her brother, who continued to walk along into the courtyard, heading toward Master Pakku, who was standing by, practising his waterbending by a pond in the distance.

"Just let him cool off. It's better he get angry for a... good reason, than just going crazy with all those feelings stuck inside of him."

"You say it like he's gonna explode like that engine on the Southern Raider ship." he acknowledged with a nervous voice, making her chuckle.

"Well, figuratively, yeah, that's what I'm saying." she confirmed, before turning her attention to her brother, who whistled to get Pakku's attention; the waterbending master, who had been doing a for, moved to toss the water back into the pond he had been bending the water from, turning his gaze to the Water Tribe boy who approached him.

"You're not here to fight me again, are you?" he asked him, almost amused by the suggestion; he obviously didn't realise how aware they were about the Order of the White Lotus, though there was a chance he didn't belong to the organisation.

"Nope." he shook his head, "Just one question, Master Pakku, were you ever going to tell us you were part of the Order of the White Lotus?" he asked him, the waterbending master's eyes widening as his form tensed up; Katara cringed, realising that her hope had been for nothing.

He definitely either knew about the organisation, or was part of it; those two things must usually be mutually inclusive, given it was some kind of secret organisation to begin with.

"How do you know-" he began, before his eyes widened, "Oh shit." he mumbled, Sokka immediately drawing out his boomerang.

"You've got five seconds to tell me what you sent on that messenger hawk or Katara and Aang are going to freeze your sorry butt." he demanded, pointing at the master accusingly.

He scoffed at the Water Tribe warrior's attempt at coercing him, but as his two pupils took form, he realised that weren't joking around; they needed to be ready for whatever was coming their way, whether it be the Dai Li, the Order of the White Lotus, or Zuko himself.

"You've got to be-" he began, the anger growing in his voice, before he raised a hand to his forehead, "Fine! I'll tell you!" he submitted to his demand.

"Good." the Water Tribe teen cocked a smirk, raising his left hand, on which he had three raised fingers, "I'm still counting." he warned him, dropping one of the fingers down.

"I informed the Order that she was posing a danger to my tribe, and that she had arrived at the North Pole properly." he explained, the waterbending master dropping his hands down to indicate his passivity, "I didn't intend to have them go after her, if that's what you thought."

"That's exactly what I thought, old man." Sokka snarled, "Don't play around with me. I know you don't trust her, and yeah, you have a pretty good reason not to, but also, she's literally friends with the Avatar. You know, the guy Fire Lord Sozin wanted dead?" he gestured back to Aang, who awkwardly scratched the back of his scalp.

"And how can you trust her intentions?" he asked him, his eyes narrowing at him suspiciously, "I know you think the best of her... of course you would, blinded by love." he noted, the Water Tribe warrior's hands tensing.

His sister only had a few moments to realise how much Pakku had just pissed him off before he threw his boomerang right into his chest; the waterbending master had tried to pull out a water stream to knock him over, but it was sent off in the wrong direction as he lost his balance and was flung down to the ground. The hit was obviously made with no intention to chi-block; it was just Sokka trying to hurt him, and the cry of pain he made suggested he did just that.

"Sokka!" Katara cried out, thinking that he might have seriously wounded her waterbending master, "Why would you do that?"

"Because he's an arsehole, Katara." he snarled, the Water Tribe girl moving over to her master, kneeling over beside him, seeing as he painfully clenched at his chest; he looked at her with a cringed face and groaned, telling her that it hurt a lot more than the kind of hit Sokka's boomerang usually made.

"That flew faster than I expected." he almost whispered, before raising his hand to the pond beside him, "Take the water."

"What do you mean?" she looked at him with confusion, Pakku grasping her left hand, and making her gesture it toward the pond; she picked up a small blob of water and carried it over toward her, and he pointed to his chest.

"Pupil Katara, here's your latest lesson... heal me." he simply requested, making her raise a brow.

"I thought you didn't teach healing." she narrowed her eyes at him, remembering the sexist system that had caused her brother's first fight with the waterbending master.

"I don't, but you'll figure it out." he simply told her; she took a deep breath, and looked back towards her brother, who was turned away, still clearly infuriated by the master's comment, while Aang looked on with a concerned face.

The master groaned as he pulled at the end of his parka, pulling it off so she could see his chest; though she couldn't see his skin; she could see from the way he moved that his chest was clearly hurt. Maybe Sokka had broken some of his ribs, but she couldn't be sure. She placed the blob of water over the top of Master Pakku's tunic, and flattened it out, the water making contact with the fabric, seeping through the layers; he shivered, and tensed his face up.

"Just kept a hold of it. I want to be healed, not have a wet tunic." he warned her, "Now, move your hands, circularly, and focus on my chi-paths." he explained the next step; she nodded, and slowly moved her hands around his covered chest.

She could feel an unusual tingling in her hands as she motioned them around, and he groaned slightly, but nodded, to assure her that it was alright to continue; her waterbending wasn't just affecting the water in her hands, but must have been affecting his body as well. She moved her hands around, and the water began to glow, which was a surprising turn of events; it must have been normal, because Pakku didn't seem surprised in the slightest, and slowly but surely, the water did what it was supposed to. He gestured toward the pond, and she threw the water back in, the waterbending master cringing with pain.

Sokka turned around, eyeing him with suspicion, "I don't think I have to tell you what I think." he warned him, "She's not a threat to your tribe, as long as you are friendly toward us." he added, the master cringing; he was obviously annoyed, and in pain, but he made an effort not to snarkily comment in return.

"And what if I still think otherwise?" he asked him, the Water Tribe warrior stepping closer, kneeling over to pick up his boomerang.

"Oh, you would best keep those thoughts in your head and not act on them." he warned him forebodingly; Katara realised that he was literally imitating his girlfriend, though it seemed to work, as the master nodded, though he didn't seem any less annoyed.

"The Fire Nation Princess will come here, and if she threatens our tribe, we will kick you out." he warned him, "That's in our interests, and I'm sure you can understand that."

"I do." he confirmed, turning his gaze to his sister, "Do you still want this man to come to our tribe?"

She looked back at her master; he was a dickhead, she knew that for certain, but he had a good heart. Funnily enough, he was a bit like Azula in that regard, although the relationship between the two of them was quite different.

"I trust you, Master Pakku, but please... don't do something that would create needless conflict. I mistrusted that girl for a whole six months." she admitted honestly, "And I was wrong to do that. She's not as bad as you think she is."

"Yeah, Katara was a bit of a bitch about it." her brother honestly admitted, and she shot him a glare; she took a deep breath, frustrated by his offensive words, but she knew he was right.

She had misjudged Azula to begin with, and it had cost them six months that they could have spent getting to know each other. She really wasn't that bad, in the end, and she had wished that could have been the case instead of what had actually happened.

"Urgh." she rolled her eyes, before rising to her feet, "Did you send it to her uncle?"

"He will receive the message in due course." he clarified, narrowing his eyes at her, "Grand Lotus Iroh is not a bad man. I heard that he let your brother and Azula escape all those months ago." he acknowledged, "He must have done it for a reason, though I doubt he could have predicted she'd find the Avatar." he turned his gaze to Aang, "Do you trust her, Aang?"

"I do." he confirmed, "She's not... that nice, but she knows what she's doing, and she wants to change the world... for the better."

"So did Fire Lord Sozin." he retorted, the Water Tribe warrior shaking his head with frustration.

"Well, Fire Lord Sozin was both a genocidal maniac and an idiot." he retorted, "I know she's much smarter and less inclined to murder as that man was."

"She tried to kill her brother with a lightning bolt, didn't she?" the master asked him, Sokka turning away; Katara turned her gaze to her master, unsure what to say to that.

"Azula thought he killed her father." she told him what she knew to be true, "And she was probably feeling conflicted." she added, the waterbending master raising a brow with confusion.

"Why?" he asked, Katara making a small smile; there was at least one good thing that had come out of that whole situation in Yu Dao.

"Because she'd fallen in love." she argued, her master's eyes turning away; he looked a little pained in his expression, and she had a feeling that it wasn't because of his injuries, he picked up his parka and climbed back up to his feet.

"I can't trust her myself." he admitted honestly, "But I trust you all... even Sokka. You're a straightforward man." he conceded, with a slightly annoyed voice; a lot less annoyed than she would have expected, given what her brother had done, "I don't want any more war and conflict, especially it coming here. She'll get rid of Zhao, and that's good."

"I feel like there's a 'but' at the end of that." Sokka turned around, looking at him with a suspicious glare.

"I have a single request." he asked them, Aang stepping forward, now obviously finding himself relevant.

"What do we need to do, Master?" he asked him, as if he were simply asking about a new waterbending form; the topic suggested that it would be a far more serious request, the kind that would affect the future of the world.

"If you can... persuade her against fighting Zuko again. If there's anything I know, it's that the only ones who win from needless conflict are the ruthless."

"Ozai." the young Avatar spoke the name of the man they had known so little about, other than the fact he was clearly a bad man, with bad intentions for the world, "We'll stop him getting back into power, Master. I think even Azula and Zuko can agree on that."

"I sure hope so." he admitted with a nervous tone, "I don't think you'd like to see the outcome if they don't."


	18. Chapter 18

The first thing Ty Lee noticed when she woke up was the coldness on the left side of her body; it immediately confused her, and when she opened her eyes, she realised that she wasn't in her bed, but instead she was lying on a cold, metal floor. For a few moments, she thought that she might have accidentally rolled off of her bed, but she noticed she had no blanket over her body. She glanced around, and noticed that the room she was in was far different to her room, and was some kind of cell; she hadn't been into the prison hold on the ship, but she knew that was all it could be. It made no sense to her that she was in a prison cell, when she hadn't done anything wrong. Rising up to her feet, she noted that her left arm felt a little numb, though she guessed that was because she had been lying on top of it.

She her gaze to the door of the cell, which she could see through and noted that through the bars she could see another person, also lying on the floor; though it took her a few moments to realise, but it was Azula, with her long black hair down, splayed across the floor, covering her face. She didn't look to be hurt, but her hands were bound with thick metal shackles, which themselves were bound to a chain which lay behind her, connected to the wall; the acrobat's hands were free, however, and she whacked them on the bars of her cell which made a loud ringing noise- she just hoped that her friend would wake from it, and not continue to sleep in her cell.

"Azula!" she called out to her friend, "Azula, wake up!" she pleaded, hoping that her voice would rouse her from her sleep; she groaned, and blinked a few times, shaking her head to get her hair out of her eyes.

"What the..." she mumbled, glancing around, noting that Ty Lee was in a prison cell, right across from her, "What the fuck is going on?"

"That's exactly what I wanna know." she agreed with her line of questioning, turning her head, trying to look down along through the prison hold, unable to see any guards standing around, "How- what happened?"

"I..." the Princess mumbled and narrowed her eyes, "I don't know." she admitted the honest truth, "I went to bed last night in my bed, and I was going to sleep and..."

"And?" she asked her friend, whose eyes narrowed as she glanced around, trying to look into the other cells.

"I smelt smoke. I didn't think much of it, and then I fell asleep." she explained her memories, which sounded rather vague; that wasn't a good thing- if they didn't know why or how they'd ended up in prison cells, then they wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on.

"This isn't like the kind of smoke from an engine, is it?" she asked her, the Princess shaking her head, turning her gaze away, looking almost confused by her own thoughts.

"No, a different kind. Pungent, almost like burning refuse." she described it, before she rose up, "There's no time to waste sitting here. Whatever happened... it had to be Zhao. He's the only one with the authority to throw us in these cells to begin with."

"And now... now he's got a working airship, and all those men." Ty Lee realised, a shiver going down her spine as she understood what might happen.

"He's going to do it... and we can't stop him." she noted with a growing tone of fear, the Princess snarling.

"No, Ty Lee, we can stop him, I've just gotta get out of these damn shackles." she declared, before pursing her lips upward, "The airship might be a safer, more discreet way to reach his goal, but this battleship is no joke."

"What... are you saying we should sail it to the Northern Water Tribe's Capital?" she asked her friend, who nodded.

"We have no other option, Ty." she confirmed, before glancing around, "Are any of you down there?!" she shouted out, a few mumbles and murmurs being made out; that assured them that the guards were in nearby cells, and thus, could be broken out when they themselves found a way out of their cells.

"It's still dark in here." the acrobat observed an obvious fact; the only light in the prison was coming from what must have been some lanterns down the hallway, though she couldn't see them from inside her cell, "Maybe the sun hasn't even risen yet." she noted, before smirking, "Zhao might still be asleep."

"No, I doubt he'd be foolish enough to waste his time. He'll be heading out soon, or already in the air." she noted, "Firebenders wake with the sun... so I'm inclined to believe you're right. I only woke up because of your shouting." she clarified, pursing her lips upward, "We still have time."

"What can I do?" she asked her friend, who turned her head around, eyeing the chains that bound her hands, which had tied around her lower back.

"I can't see what I'm doing." she noted, before eyeing the door in front of her, "I might be able to melt the door open, but it'll take some effort, and I need to break these chains so I can reach them." she observed the steps she'd need to take to get out of her cell.

Once she did that, she could melt and break her own door open, and then Ty Lee could hopefully deal with whatever guards were around; whether they'd even dare to oppose the Princess was a question in and of itself, but she assumed that many of the men aboard were personally loyal to the Admiral.

"Well, I guess you better start, Azula." she warned her friend, "We can't let him get too far ahead, right?" she asked her; her steely glare of determination assured her that she was going to do everything it took to win, despite her dishevelled appearance.

She could hear the sound of a flame being lit on her finger tip, and a few grumblings as she tried to reorient her hands around so she could melt the chain. The Princess took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, before she breathed out, the blue flame behind her growing more intense and brighter; though Ty Lee couldn't see exactly what she was doing, she could tell that the flame was hot, given the fact that the glow was so bright, lighting up the entire hallway a dim blue.

She grit her teeth, the heat from the flames obviously quite close to her hands, and the shackles that were binding them; the acrobat looked sympathetically at her friend, knowing that she might inadvertently hurt herself by melting the chain. She continued to tug and pull on the shackles, and eventually, there was a metallic thump as the chain broke and part of it fell down to the ground.

"You got it!" she grinned at her friend, placing her hands on the bars of her cell, "Now, you just need to turn around and melt the lock."

"I know that." she snarled, before taking a deep breath; she obviously didn't want to get angry at her friend- there was somebody else who was far more deserving of her anger, "Tell me when I've got the right spot and I'll make a new flame." she requested, the acrobat nodding, watching as her friend turned around, standing up to her full height and raised her arms up behind her, pointing her hands toward the door.

"Okay, move a little to... your right." she clarified, remembering that their rights and lefts were the same, given she was facing away from her; she stepped to the right, and then pushed herself closer to the door, grasping out to try and touch the lock.

She tapped on it, and Ty Lee smirked, "Yep, that's it." she confirmed, her friend taking another deep, audible breath through her mouth, before she lit four torches on the ends of the fingers on her right hand.

With each breath she took, the flames grew more intense, and they began to heat up the metal lock; the lock was large, and looked to be relatively intricate, but that didn't stop her from digging her torches into the gap between the lock and the doorway, which allowed her to melt what must have been the metal bar that would have held the door in place. She kept her fingers there for a good half a minute, before stepping back, charging a fire blast in her hands.

"Look away." she demanded of her friend, who did just that, not wanting to get blinded by the fire blast she was about to send into the door.

She covered her face, and she felt the heat of the fire blast, as well as the creaking and cracking noise of the door being blown open. She turned her eyes back toward the door, seeing as her friend turned around, looking at her through the open doorway.

"What in the name of the spirits was that?!" she heard a man shout out, pacing down the hallway; the Princess immediately turned to face the origin of the voice, and grit her teeth.

"Stand down! I am your Fire Lord!" she demanded of him, through the fact that her posture only grew more tense suggested otherwise; her feet were bound, so she was unsure what Azula was going to do.

"Get back in the cell! I won't say it twice!" the guard demanded; she couldn't see him, but she assumed that he was taking a firebending form.

She snarled and began a somersault, before disappearing from Ty Lee's field of view; she was confused by what her friend was doing, but as she saw the light of blue flames, she realised what she had actually tried to do- orient herself best to shoot the guard in the chest with her flames. The grunt she heard in the distance, and the banging noise of his body hitting the floor suggested her bending did the trick. Azula groaned, before pulling herself back up to her feet. She seemed to struggle because of her bound hands and feet, but slowly rose up, and turned back to look her friend's way.

She hobbled over toward her friend, and narrowed her eyes, "That hurt my back." she simply commented, before tilting her chin up, "Get out of the way, Ty." she warned her, the acrobat stepping back as moving to the corner of the room, wanting to be as far away from the door as she could be when the Princess blew it open.

She took a few deep breaths, and then moved her hands into position, creating her jets of fire once more, carving her fingertips into the metal; they seemed to be even hotter and brighter than before, though she assumed that was because her friend was getting angrier- or perhaps it was more afraid. She sounded like she was struggling to keep her breath steady as the metal grew hotter, to the point at which she could see a red hot glow. The Princess then let out a deep breath, and she turned her head; she looked like she had heard something, though the acrobat hadn't noticed anything herself.

"Somebody heard him hit the floor." she observed, "Shit." she snarled, before charging a fireball in her hands; it grew larger with each following breath she took, now shorter and more erratic, which definitely had to do with the fact she was panicking.

She fired the blast into Ty Lee's door, and once again, she heard a cracking noise; the door moved open, and she grinned, realising that she could leave her cell; she moved forward, waiting for the door to move out of the way, not wanting to touch the bars, which had been inadvertently heated up by her friend's intense firebending.

"Get the keys, now!" Azula demanded, rather abruptly, and she immediately looked down the hallway, noting that there were three guards, ready to fight them; her friend had been right- they had heard them, and if she didn't beat them, they'd just throw Azula back in her cell, and presumably, knock her out as well.

She charged forward, racing toward the unconscious guard, while the other three moved toward her, drawing out flames into their hands. She had two options- either to hope Azula could unlock herself and quickly deal with their enemies if she threw her the keys, or to immediately try and chi-block the guards and hope they didn't burn or overpower her. She decided that she'd go with the latter, and ran at them with her hands at the ready; she was tired, and a little out of it, but she knew that she could do it- she had to.

When the closest guard moved to punch her, she grasped his wrist, and jabbed him in the gut; to her frustration, her chi-blocking didn't go through his armour, which meant she'd need to jab his uncovered chi-paths, which consisted solely of his neck and and arms. She didn't have much time to think as his right hand hammered her right in the side of the face. She grasped at the metal bars to her left, ensuring that she didn't slam her head into them, before she was forced to weave down, lest she receive a fireball to the head. She jabbed the guard in his left arm, paralysing it before she jabbed him right in the jugular; that didn't block his chi, but he did stumble back, wheezing for air.

She kicked him square in the chest, facing off the next guard, who tried to hit her in the head with his flame covered right fist; she whacked his hand, blocking his chi and preventing him from bending with it. He obviously realised it was going to occur, as he tripped her over with his left leg before aiming to send a charged fire blast from his left hand. She then rolled out of the way, before kicking him in the shin. He grunted in pain, but didn't fall over; that didn't matter to her, as she then got up, and punched him as hard she could in the head. He was too slow, and was hit square in the chin, and knocked out cold. She smirked, turning her gaze to the final guard, who realised he'd be better off running and getting back up.

"Don't even think about it." she warned him, before jumping up and kicking him the chest, throwing him back.

When she landed back on her feet, she jabbed him in both of his arms, blocking his chi-paths which prevented him from bending, before she grasped him by the neck and threw him into a nearby metal bar, knocking him out cold. She smirked, and turned back to face Azula, who seemed to approve of her quick work of the guards.

"Now, for the love of your country, get the damn keys, Lee!" she demanded, the acrobat doing just that; she knelt over, reaching to the belt of one of the guards, and pulled out his key chain.

She eyed it, understanding that she would need to try a few before she'd unlock her friend's bindings, before moving back to Azula; she turned around, showing off her bound hands, which she immediately got to work on untying. She tried each key, and it began to frustrate her with each that didn't fit in the lock. Eventually, she found the right one, and the metal shackles fell down to the ground, the Princess sighing with relief; she then took a deep breath and charged up two jets of fire on her fingertips, which she used to cut the shackles binding her feet. Without any more restraints, the Princess stretched her arms up, her hands filling with flames, which lit up the prison hold, as well as her face, an ominous blue hue.

"Finally." she grinned, the look on her face one of devious desire; she wanted to get back at Zhao, that was what she could be sure of, "Unlock the guards' cells, and get their shackles off."

"What are you going to do?" she asked the Princess, who punched her open palm; the cold look on her face suggested she was ready to do anything to stop the Admiral.

"I'm going to get this ship moving in the right direction."

"You can't beat everyone on board." she argued, "Even you can't do that. You'll need some help." she argued, the Princess nodding.

"Oh, I won't need to. I just need to find the toughest men here, beat their arses, and the rest of them will fall in line." she declared, before striding down the hallway, "Be quick, Ty Lee. We need to take control of this ship if we want a chance of getting after the Admiral."

She immediately turned her heels, and made her way down the hallway, moving to the first occupied cell she could find; she struggled to find which key was the right one, but eventually, she did find it. She unlocked the door to the cell, and the guard rose up, unable to get to his full height with his hands bound, just as Azula's had been.

"That was quick." he commented, tilting his head up so he could look her in the eyes, "Could you unlock my hands?"

"That's what I'm here to do." she nodded, stepping around him so she could crouch down to unlock the bindings; she had figured out which kind of key was for bindings and which was for doors, so that cut down the time it took her to get the correct key- only four tries.

Once the shackles were off, the soldier turned his eyes to face her, "I can go get some other keys and help you unlock the other cells." he explained, before eyeing down to his feet, "Oh, can you unlock those too?" he asked, the acrobat nodding, kneeling over to check through the keys once more.

She hadn't unlocked feet bindings before, but she assumed they used the same keys as the hand bindings. She was correct, and the shackles fell off with just one try; she smirked approvingly, rising up to her feet, the guard pulling a similar face at her own.

"Let's break everyone else out." he told her simply what they had to do.

She immediately moved to the next cell, and suddenly heard what had to be the sound of Azula generating lightning on the floor above them; she cringed upon feeling the explosion, which rocked the ship. She immediately moved to the next cell, and unlocked the door within five tries; stepping inside, she knelt over beside the guard, who seemed relieved to be next.

"The Princess is going to destroy them." he mumbled, Ty Lee making an affirmative humming in agreement.

She got his feet shackles unlocked in three tries, and again, the same key was used to unlock the hand shackles; he stepped on out of the doorway, and turned to face the other guard, "Zheng!" he called out to him, "Give me some keys!" he asked of the other guard, who was presently rummaging through the belts of the unconscious prison-guards, picking up some keys for himself.

He tossed some keys to the guard, who then immediately moved to unlock one of his comrades' cells; the acrobat went to the other side of the hallway, and noted that the Captain was the one sitting in the cell before her.

"It's not daybreak yet." he spoke up, turning his gaze up; his hair was dishevelled, just like Azula's was, but that didn't take away from the serious expression he had on his face, "There's a chance he hasn't even left yet."

Four tries, and the door was open, "And we'll take it, Captain." she assured him, "Just stay still so I can get these bindings off quickly." she asked, Renshu nodding, staying still as requested; it took her three tries to get the shackles off of his hands, and immediately moved to get his hand bindings off.

He rose up to his feet, and instead of moving to get some keys, like the other guards had he immediately moved to a locked door, charging an jet of bright flames on his fingertips, the heat radiating brightly, and used it to slash right through the lock of the door, and kicked the door open. Ty Lee smiled, glad that he had a quicker way to deal with the locked doors, though she still moved along the hallway, moving to the closest locked down and getting to work. She pulled out the keys once more, memorising which she had already used for the doors, and was able to get the door open in five tries; the guard looked up at her with a relieved expression, and she knelt over to first unlock his feet shackles. It took four tries, and she then did the same for his hand shackles.

Suddenly she heard a shout down the hallway, and immediately got up, along with the guard she had just freed, noticing that there four men standing by the end of the hallway, ready to attack them. They got into firebending stances, but she wasn't surprised to see them knocked back by two simultaneous fire streams coming from the guards; she'd seen them during practice and knew that they were no joke- only the best of the best would be assigned to protect Azula. The guards still fought back, but Ty Lee tried to ignore them, knowing that getting everyone out of their cells was far higher a priority than kicking some butts. She felt annoyed over what happened, but she was sure that her friend was furious; she would be giving as many sailors as possible a beatdown. She moved along to the next cell, pulling out the keys once more, and trying each of them. She cringed from the heat of the flames being thrown their way, though the guards seemed to be able to disperse any attacks well enough. She got the door unlocked, and the guard inside immediately moved up.

"Just do my hands." he told her, the acrobat nodding, and quickly moving around behind him to test the keys out; she assumed that he was going to do the same thing as Azula had.

It took five tries, but she did it; with that, the guard immediately pulled his hands together, drawing heat toward them, before he directed it downward in a thin, but hot arc of flames, which cut the foot shackles in two. She moved to step out of the cell, and realised that the guards had already opened up each of the cells, with either keys or their bending, and used the latter mostly to break their comrades' shackles.

She heard the Captain's voice rise up, "Is that everyone?" he asked, not getting any shouts from a potentially imprisoned guard, before he gestured down the hallway, where she could see their attackers already knocked unconscious, "Let's go! We need to take control of the bridge!"

She smirked, and felt the same relief Azula must have once she had her bindings taken off; they were finally going to get to the bottom of their situation, and hopefully, stop Zhao from achieving his insane spirit-slaying goals. She shook her head, knowing she was wrong in the way she had considered it; there was no 'hopefully' stopping Zhao- they would do it, or they would not. She trusted that her friend would do everything in her power to prevent that outcome from becoming reality. She darted down the hallways, weaving past the Princess' guards; she was far faster on her feet, and she'd use that to her advantage.

When she reached the doorway, she noted that it was open, and she immediately made her way through, taking note of the unconscious sailors that lay over the hallway, with singe marks on their clothes and burns on their skin; Azula had already beaten them well, and she ignored them, making her way toward where she thought the stairwell would be. They all seemed to be located around the middle of each deck, with one staircase underneath the superstructure, leading all the way up to the bridge, and a few more located along the length of the massive battleship. She made her way along, hearing the sound of thumps and shouts above her; the Princess was giving the sailors an absolute beating, given that none of them could possibly beat her head on.

When she found a staircase, she immediately paced up them, where she saw a few sailors; they weren't benders, but that didn't matter- they were armed. She jabbed one of them in the extremities, forcing him to drop his sword, before she kicked him in the chest, throwing him into the wall. His comrade tried to jab her with the pike he held, but she was able to easily dodge it, and jammed her fingers into his chi-paths, ensuring that he would drop his weapon. She didn't bother to kick him down or throw him into the wall, simply making her way past him. A fire stream was sent his way by one of Azula's guards a few moments later, throwing him back, by the time she had already climbed up to the next deck. She didn't see much evidence of fighting by the entrance to those stairs, and thus deduced her friend had climbed up to the next floor.

She made her way up the stairs, where she saw a few unconscious sailors, slumped over with burns over their extremities. She grimaced at the sight, but tried to ignore it as she continued up the stairs, noting that there was a trail of destruction, that being evidence of Azula. She immediately strode down the hallway, and noted some fearful servants in their undergarments, who ran right past her, obviously trying to get away from the most dangerous person on the ship. Ty Lee continued along, making her way toward what she assumed was the rear of the ship; there was a broken doorway in front of her, which she assumed had been blown open by her friend's lightning. She reached another staircase, and noted the presence of some more knocked out men; who were wearing full armour, though their helmets had been thrown off.

She called up the stairs, "Zula!" to no avail, assuming that her friend was already making her way well up the staircase; perhaps she'd gone for the deck, which was where the airship was- she knew it must have already left, but she had a good reason to at the very least try and see if it hadn't left yet.

Following the trail, she made her way up the staircase, hearing some of Azula's guards pacing up behind her; she kept a steady pace, making her way up the stairs, where she saw a number of unconscious sailors, and eventually reached the level of the deck of the ship. She immediately glanced down the hallway; she was forced to lean back as a blue fire stream funnelled down the hallway, and a man was thrown back to the ground. He groaned with pain, and looking past the dissipated flames, she made sight of her friend. The look of fury on her face suggested that she was correct in her assumptions.

"It's gone, isn't it?" she asked her, the Princess nodding as she approached her, stepping over the man she had just beaten.

"Let's take control of this damn ship before he gets too far ahead. We need to shoot him down before he gets to the Northern Water Tribe." she explained, stepping past Ty Lee before she thrust her left hand down the hallway, creating a fireball which hit a man in the head, who must have been trying to pursue her.

"WIth lightning?" she asked her friend, following her up the staircase.

She let out a little laugh, "I won't need to." she shook her head, "I think you underestimate the power of anger, Ty Lee. If I get close enough, I'll be able to blow it up with a fire stream from down on the deck of the ship." she argued.

Her eyes widened, realising the physical strength that would take to achieve, but knew that her friend had it in her; truly, her rage was her best weapon at that point, though she was unsure if she would be as angry as she seemed at that moment in a few hours time, if that was how long it took for them to catch up to Zhao.

"But I will use lightning. I trust in the certainty of its effects." she added, before darted off, up the stairs.

She was forced to run even faster than she had before, tailing after her friend, who didn't relent to sprint up the staircase; her hair was still dishevelled, and she was only wearing her nightgowns, but even then, she could read her aura- despite her appearance, it was burning hot and bright, with a boiling mixture of rage and fear. She knew her friend hid her fears, and the only way she seemed to be able to express them was through rage.

They were able to climb the staircase quite quickly; it was the complete opposite of when they had first climbed the staircase to Zhao's office. That afternoon, Azula had been cold, calculating and quite exhausted from all the walking they'd done, and now she was brimming with rage, looking like she was about to explode. It had only gotten worse since she was freed from her shackles; perhaps it had dawned on her that it might have been her fault. Ty Lee didn't know whose fault it had been for Zhao figuring out their plans; it could have been them talking, and the Princess' new men overhearing them, or the Admiral figuring out earlier on, back at the compound, and waiting to make his move when it best suited him.

When they reached the bridge of the ship, the Princess immediately sent out a wave of flames, bursting right through the room, knocking down the operators of the ship. She approached the helmsman, with a torch on her right index finger; grasping him by the shoulder, she positioned herself to literally melt his throat open, something that would have been certainly fatal.

"Start the engines." she demanded, his expression dazed from being knocked down; she grit her teeth, voice rising to a shout, "Did I fucking stutter?!" she snarled at him, before throwing him down onto the floor with a fire blast to the chest, "Start the fucking engines!" she ordered him once more.

"Y-y-yes, your majesty." he accepted her order, "You heard her, start the engines!" he demanded of his underlings, who heeded his panicked words; he was obviously afraid for his life, and a few moments later, Azula's guards strode into the bridge, already in their firebending forms.

"Is everyone in line, your highness?" Renshu asked his superior, who nodded, before grasping the helmsman by the collar.

"How long ago did he leave?" she demanded with a cold, slightly less furious sounding voice.

"H-half an hour ago." he clarified, the Princess raising her gaze toward the windows of the bridge, allowing her to look over the deck of the ship, and beyond that, the horizon; it was still dark outside, but Ty Lee noted that the sky was starting to turn a dim blue hue, suggesting the sun was going to rise soon.

"Set a course for the Northern Water Tribe." she demanded, the helmsman's eyes widening.

"Y-your majesty, that's suicide. They'll sink our ship."

"Do you think I care? I need to stop Zhao from enacting his insane plan. Sacrificing a single ship is worth that." she declared, before snarling, "You're too weak-willed for your station." she added, before punching him in the face with a flame covered fist, knocking him unconscious, "Which of you can read naval maps?" she asked the crew, one of the men stepping forward.

"I'll- uh- set a course for the Northern Water Tribe." he clarified, the Princess raising her chin up, sneering at him.

"Get on with it!" she demanded, before turning to face her guards, "I assume the rest of his cronies are going to come up and try and kill us." she acknowledged, before pursing her lips upward, her lips forming a devious, ruthless smirk, "That's real suicide." she ominously added, before turning to face Ty Lee, "Let's make sure they learn their lesson, Ty." she added, "We can't have them disabling the engine or blowing up the bridge."

"So, destroy the catapults and clear out the engine room?" she asked, the Princess nodding.

"Precisely." she confirmed, before gesturing for her to follow after her; she momentarily eyed her guards, "Keep control of the bridge, and if anybody explicitly disobeys my orders... throw them off the balcony."

"Yes, your highness." Renshu nodded, before turning around, ready to oversee the ship being reoriented and sent toward their destination.

The acrobat was a little unnerved by her friend's words, but in contrast, her guards were completely unfazed- they knew the old Azula in a different way; she had been her friend, and saw her make schoolgirls shudder with fear, not literally threaten potential enemies with death, which she assumed the guards were more than used to. She followed after Azula, who immediately made her way to the staircase, which she began to climb down at once; then hadn't even gotten down a flight of stairs when she raised her hands up, conjuring a wall of flames to block a group of sailors who had dared to follow up the stairs after them. She then thrust her hands forward, sending the flames into the men, forcing them down the stairs; Ty Lee heard their grunts and groans of pain, but did not relent to leap past her friend to chi-block the men before they had a chance to react. She jabbed them in their extremities, preventing them from bending and walking, the two things they'd need to be able to do to stop the Princess.

"Let's keep moving. They might sabotage the damn engine." she warned, the acrobat nodding; her friend was right, their enemies were serving Zhao, and if the Admiral didn't want her intervening, they'd probably prefer to get them stuck in the water for a few hours while Azula forced some engineers to repair it, instead of allowing her the chance to reach the North Pole and stop him.

"Just like Katara and you did that one time?" she asked her friend, recalling how she and the Water Tribe girl had once destroyed a Southern Raider vessel's engine; it didn't sound that challenging, at least how her friend phrased it, so with the help of some actually knowledgeable engineers, those loyal to Zhao could blow the engines with little trouble.

"That, minus the waterbending." she clarified, before racing down the staircase; Ty Lee followed after her, knowing that avoiding that was their only way to get to the Northern Water Tribe in a timely manner- the more time they wasted idle in the water, the more time the Admiral would have to enact his plans.

"Azula... what if we can't get to the North Pole in time?" she asked her, panting lightly as they ran down the staircase, and the Princess grit her teeth.

"Then my boyfriend will have to deal with him." she told her, as if there was no stopping it; she knew that Aang might want to stop the Admiral, but there was a possibility that he might be overpowered, or worse, defeated by him.

They raced down the staircase, and she grimaced, thinking what Sokka might be facing, "Azula... what if... what if Sokka can't stop him."

The Princess looked at her with a snarl, her eyes red, which told that she was holding back tears; Ty Lee realised what her expression implied easily enough. The Water Tribe warrior wasn't going to give up, or lose; there was only one way it could go with someone as determined as the Admiral.

"That stubborn idiot would rather die than let that piece of shit win." she assured her, before she turned her gaze down toward the staircase, "Let's just get to the engine room. If we're lucky, everyone will decide to fall in line."

"And if not... that's going to be a lot of chi-blocking." she noted, making the Princess laugh.

"As we have just seen, the prison hold is more than large enough to accommodate for any men who dare to resist my authority." she argued, before she gestured to their right, "Let's just take a momentary detour." she asked of her, "There's some weapons we need to disable."

Ty Lee nodded, remembering she had mentioned catapults earlier; the pair raced down the hallway, and immediately moved out the door onto the deck; it was still dark out, but it was just bright enough that she could disguise the deck, catapults and sky above them from each other. That was made a whole lot easier when Azula stepped forward and created a massive fire stream with her right fist alone, pouring out over the deck of the ship and knocking down a number of sailors who were standing around the weapons.

The pair didn't waste a moment to race across the deck, quickly making their way to the closest of the catapults, which her friend stood in front of, spinning her fingers around to conjure a lightning bolt. Some of the sailors obviously saw what she was doing, and moved to attack her, but Ty Lee pounced at them, jabbing their arms and legs to make sure they couldn't firebend, or in the case of non-benders, use their weapons against the Princess. She was able to quickly disable each and every one of them, though in that span of time, Azula had already shot a lightning bolt into the catapult and moved to shoot one and at the second nearest one.

The pair immediately moved toward another catapult, where a number of firebenders were already standing, prepared to defend the weapon; they sent their fire streams towards the pair and Ty Lee covered her face, the glare of the flames far too bright for her to tolerate. She heard the sound of fire rushing around her, but didn't feel much heat, which was a bit of a surprise; the flames rose up in the sky above her and Azula, the orange mixing with her own blue, the funnel cut them off from every other person on the deck, and for a few moments, she just stood her, jaw open wide with awe.

"Azula." she mumbled her friend's name, "This is amazing."

"Get ready." she warned her, the acrobat nodding; she was ready to do what had to be done.

The flames rose up, all of them turning back to the usual orange, suggesting that Azula had let go of her hold on them, before she kicked her right leg forward, "Go!" she told Ty Lee, who ran forward as she sent out a fire stream, knocking a few of the firebenders over.

It provided her with a few moments to break the gap between her and the firebenders, before they had the chance to retaliate; she jabbed one of them in the chest, winding him, before she tapped his chi-paths on both arms, preventing him from bending. She then weaved around, jabbing another firebender in the back, paralysing his legs, before she was forced to drop down and dodge a wave of fire sent her way. Her distraction proved useful to Azula, who continued to barrage the sailors with her own bending; Ty Lee jumped back up, sending out a number of concise jabs into the arms of the men around her, who were paying more attention to her friends impressive bending, which was forcing them to take defensive stances. She grasped one of them by the right arm as he tried to send a fireball into her head, before she winded him with a punch to the gut.

"That's not very nice of you." she narrowed her eyes at her opponent, before tripping him over as he stumbled forward, gasping for air.

The Princess threw her hands forward and sent out two final fire streams, which knocked the last of the firebenders defending the catapult over. She immediately began to take a lightning generation form, but stopped at once, turning her gaze towards the superstructure of the ship.

"What's wrong, Azula?" she asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"The ship stopped shaking. The shaking is from the engine, so that means it's been turned off." she deduced, before flaring her teeth, "Fucking spirits." she growled, glancing around, noting that more sailors were approaching them; she angrily threw her hands out and sent out a fire steam, which let out her rage into a physical form, throwing them back, and even knocking a few of them out with that first blow.

"You go deal with the engine." she argued, "I'll make sure everybody here behaves." she argued, the Princess nodding.

"Thank you, Ty Lee." she simply told her, before darting off toward the closest staircase that would lead her down into the ship, and thus, toward the engine room.

The Acrobat turned around, and eyed the men who were approaching her, "Which of you wants to get hit first?" she asked them mockingly; one of them threw a fireball right at her head, and she somersaulted out of the way, "So you're volunteering? How nice of you?" she grinned at the firebender, who tried his best to defend himself, raising up a wall of flames; Ty Lee, being as agile as she was, was able to jump around it and jab him in the side.

He grunted, and tried to flick his hand up toward her face, probably hoping to burn her and her clothes, but all he ended up doing was opening up his chest, which she jabbed, preventing any flames from coming out of his hand to begin with. Ty Lee weaved out of the way of another attack before she kicked a sailor square in the chest; he was thrown back, and she weaved under a fire stream before hitting the bender who created it right in the bicep, blocking that arm. He reacted by kneeing her, but given he was only able to hit her side, she was able to easily move around and pull him into a headlock, using him as a shield against any future firebending attacks.

"I think you all know how this is going to end." she warned them, before throwing the firebender forward, making him stumble into one of his comrades.

She somersaulted once more, dodging another fire stream, before she tripped one of her attackers over, making him fall flat on his face/ She jumped over his body and lunged at another firebender, who had covered his hands with flames; that wasn't an issue for her, however, as she was able to jab his thighs instead, making him fall to his knees, before she flicked her toe-tips into his skull-mask, throwing it from his face. It revealed his fearful expression, though she paid little attention to it as she jumped over, using him as a shield against the next firebending attack that came her way.

"These guys don't know when to give up." she mumbled to herself, before pursing her lips upward, with an idea of how to abuse their attitude.

She jumped up and moved toward the nearest catapult; though she couldn't destroy it by herself, she had a pretty good idea how to break them indirectly. She used the weapon as cover, and two firebenders both attacked her at once, from slightly different angles; she dropped flat on the deck, and their flames hit the catapult instead of her, just as expected. She knew it was probably fireproof, so they'd need to attack it a few times to make any damage.

She stepped around, and watched as two sailors approached her from either side, "So you think you can hit me?" she asked them, the acrobat rising up to her feet as she eyed both pairs, "Fire's bright, you know?" she questioned them once more, the sailors not seeming phased by her questioning; it was their loss, in the end, when they decided to send their attacks her way; fire streams, fireballs, and even a cutting wave of fire.

She was able to drop down, and she closed her eyes, remembering where her opponents were. The flames were bright, and so bright, that the firebenders wouldn't realise that she was already moving on them. She immediately jabbed one of them in the arms, before she shoved him into the other firebender, she stepped behind them, and let their comrades finish the job for her, by sending their attacks right into the two men she'd just startled. With her opponents dazed, she finished them off by chi-blocking their backs and letting them fall down to the ground; she couldn't help but smirk at them, ready to take whatever came her way next.

"If you're all this stupid then Azula's going to beat Zhao no problem."

* * *

Whipping a stream of water around his body, Aang tried to remain focused; Master Pakku's serious glare was unnerving, but he tried to ignore it as he moved through the forms he had been practicing. It was a set, similar to the kind he'd seen Azula practice, though, of course, waterbending was very different to firebending, even if the structure of their sets was rather similar. He moved his arms around, bending the stream of water into a water shield, before pulling it back around, creating a water whip, which he flung outwards; there was no one to hit, but the form moved as it should, as if somebody was there to get smacked in the face by his bending. He then took a breath, cutting the water stream in two, throwing one portion of it first out in the opposite direction, before doing the same, as if he were hitting someone in the torso to weaken their stance, before using the rest of the water to throw them to the ground.

He moved himself back a reserved stance, and turned to face his master, who seemed impressed enough by his moves, "You're faster than before, Pupil Aang." he noted, "Your focus has improved greatly." he added, sounding approving of his progress.

"Thank you for getting me... uh, into shape, Master." he smiled at the waterbending master, genuinely thankful for his strong but thoughtful teaching style; he then turned around, approaching Katara, who seemed almost disapproving of the praise Aang had received- he was a little confused why she'd be annoyed, given she got more praise than anybody else.

He sat down beside her, and then waited for their master to call up the next student, "Well, who wants to practice the set next?" he asked his students, "Anybody... except Katara?" he asked, knowing that she was the most confident of the group of students, and thus, more than willing to show off her skills.

"I'll do it, Master." one of the other pupils, Kallik, rose up to his feet.

He crossed his arms and nodded at the students decision to do the set, "Well then, go ahead." he gestured forward, to where he was meant to stand when practicing the set.

He moved into position, before taking a deep breath; he was probably even more nervous than Aang, and didn't want to embarrass himself. He bent the snow around himself, phasing it into water, before bending it around himself, forming into the thin stream the set required. He immediately got into motion, thrusting his right hand forward to create a water whip with the stream, before he bent the stream up and over his head, creating a water shield. He turned around, cutting the shield in two and bent the water around himself, coiling the water up his arms, taking a breath before he thrust the water out as two water whips, which then merged.

Aang would admit that the forms were pleasing to watch in motion, something he didn't pay much attention to when he was doing them himself. He moved to pull the water back into a shield once more, bending it around him before it massed on the opposite side from where he had sent out the water whips. He then readied himself for the next form, only to find himself distracted, along with the rest of the students, by what could only be described as a thundering boom in the distance.

Aang raised himself up, looking out into the distance, realising that he could actually see where the sound originated from; Katara rose up with him, her eyes filled with shock, "I think.. I think I know what that sound was."

Pakku turned her way, a serious look on his face, "What do you mean, Katara? What just happened?"

"Lightning generation, Master." she clarified, "That's... well, I don't know who else can do it."

She didn't drop her name, but their master knew exactly who she was referring to; Princess Azula was going to show up sooner or later, but that didn't explain why lightning was being generated in the first place, and what had been hit.

"But... what was shot with lightning?" he asked her, "That was loud. It had to be something... explosive." he ominously noted, before turning his gaze back to where he had heard the sound.

He didn't see much, but he knew that something was there; a few moments later, he saw a smoking object falling down from the sky- the airship. It was falling down fast, and heading right toward the icy plain to the west of the city; he wondered if Azula was aboard, and she had set off a lightning bolt inside in an attempt to stop Zhao- maybe he found out about what she wanted to do.

"Oh no." his eyes widened with fear, watching as the airship crashed, the sound of it hitting the ice audible from even that distance.

"That... that can't be good." Katara mumbled, before she turned her eyes his way, "Aang, we need to find out what just happened." she suggested, the young Avatar nodding.

"Sorry, Master, but we're going to have to take a break from our training." she explained, Pakku nodding.

"No, no, I understand." he assured her, gesturing toward the smokestack that had formed where the airship had crashed, "That is far more important."

"We need to get Appa. I don't have my staff." he explained, the Water Tribe girl nodding, before the two of them darted off as fast as their feet could take them; Aang did go faster than Katara, given that he had the help of his airbending, but he tried to not go too fast, giving her a chance to catch up.

They made their way down the staircase, and immediately moved toward the stable area where Appa was being housed while they were at the North Pole; they were quick on their feet, and luckily, both of them knew exactly where they were going. His sky-bison wasn't that far away, but neither of them had any idea what was going on; they didn't know if Azula was in danger, or if Zhao was even on the airship to begin with- he assumed he was, but he couldn't be certain.

The Princess had told them what she intended to do, but not a detailed plan that she was going to follow precisely; thus, he didn't know if what he was seeing was 'all part of the plan', or if something had just gone terribly wrong. The unknowns were making him panic, and he didn't relent to show the unease in his face; Katara looked unnerved as well, though a bit less though than himself- he could not tell if she simply was less worried, or if with age, one could become more stoic.

They raced along down a path, leading them around the area just below the palace, where he knew the stables to be; he couldn't see Appa yet, but knew that he would start flying as soon as Aang called on him. In his panic, he realised that he had forgotten about his bison whistle, and decided to blow on it; he blew hard, and hoped that by the time they found him, his sky-bison was ready for them. As they approached the stables, he saw the flying bison climbing out of the stables, roaring out to his friend and confusing the people whose job it was to attend to the place; they might have thought he was trying to escape.

"Appa!" he called on the sky-bison, who immediately moved to approach his friend; he jumped up onto the saddle as soon as he reached it, and held out a hand to help Katara up.

To his surprise, instead of accepting his hand, she used her waterbending to deform the ice underneath her, pushing her up and allowing her to climb up onto the saddle with ease. Once she was on, he turned his gaze ahead and knew exactly what he needed to say.

"Yip, yip!" he called on Appa, who roared before rising up into the air; he pulled on his reins, making sure that he turned around and began flying in the right direction, that being right toward the icy cliffs, past which he could see the smokestack the crashing airship had created.

The sky-bison rose up above the city, and he kept his gaze set on the airship, taking note of the debris that was scattered across the ice from its impact. It looked like the entire top of the craft had been scattered, presumably by the lightning bolt that seemed to have hit it. Katara tapped on his shoulder, and gestured out to their left. He could see a smoke stack in the distance, but the one he could see was not from a burning craft, but from a massive battleship; it was very close by, and he realised that soon enough it would reach the walls of the Northern Water Tribe capital.

"That's a big ship." he gasped, before turning his eyes down to the airship, "Did... did they shoot it down?"

"Maybe." she narrowed her eyes, "I don't know." she admitted honestly, turning her eyes ahead; they were approaching the cliffs, and Aang knew that they'd be able to get to the bottom of the matter once they figured out who was in the airship and why it crashed.

Suddenly, before they could get close enough, the young Avatar's eyes widened, seeing a bright light appear, and a few moments later, a number of massive fire streams were set their way; he screamed out in fear, and pulled on the reins, trying to get Appa out of the way quickly. Katara rose up and reached out, pulling ice out from the ground to try and use it as a shield; they weren't close enough to the ground, and it didn't really help. The sky-bison evasively moved, groaning out in pain from the flames as they licked his fur.

"Appa!" he cried out pulling the reins harder to try and get him to turn around, "Just keep moving, buddy!" he asked of his sky-bison; he didn't fall from the sky, as he had initially feared he might, and ducked down under the cover of the cliff, moving back down toward the city.

"We need to go around, Aang." Katara warned him, "They're going to attack us either way."

"So, stay close to the ice so we can use it to make a shield?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl giving him a small smile to confirm that was what she had in mind; he pulled on the reins of his sky-bison, and turned him around.

He knew that Appa wouldn't want to put himself in danger, but he was sure that they would be alright as long as they stayed close to the ground, "I know it's not good buddy, but we've got to stop some bad guys." he explained to his sky-bison, who made a low, gargled groan, which suggested he was still reeling from the firebending attack.

As they approached the cliffs once more, he grimaced, unsure what they'd face, and he turned to face his friend, "Are you ready to make a shield?" he asked Katara, who nodded, a smirk appearing on her face as she took form.

She reached out toward the cliffs as they approached them, taking a layer of snow and bending it up and in front of Appa, creating a water shield which they could still see through, but would provide them with the protection they'd need to get close enough to the Fire Nation soldiers who must have just attacked them. When they moved up above the cliffs, he made sight of the downed airship once more, and watched as more fire streams appeared, and were sent their way. Katara's water shield, which continued to grow as she picked up more snow as they moved along, was able to hold off the firebenders, though their attacks created a lot of steam. That made it hard for Aang to see where they were flying, but he was able to go off where he had seen the airship to know when he had to stop; the flames grew more intense as they got closer, and he grit his teeth, wondering if he ought to help his friend, knowing that protecting the three of them was the thing he ought to be most concerned about.

When Appa landed, he immediately reached his hands out ahead of him, bending the water shield Katara had been holding up into a virtual wave of water, which he thrust toward the airship. He heard some cries and grunts, and with some confidence in his new waterbending forms, Aang jumped to the ground; he immediately dashed forward, pulling the snow around him to create a stream of water which he'd be able to pummel any standing firebenders with. He moved toward the airship, gritting his teeth as he realised that there was a crevasse before him; the airship had pierced a hole in the ice, revealing what he assumed to be some kind of cave system. He hadn't heard about any caves, and he wondered if they were able to take the Fire Nation soldiers down to the city; he pulled his stream up to block a fire stream that was suddenly sent his way.

He noted a Fire Nation soldier taking cover by the wreckage of the airship, which looked like it was about to fall into the crevasse; it seemed like it was just big enough to avoid slipping into the crack. He bent the water around himself, stringing it out to create a water whip, which he reached out to whack the soldier, who despite his cover, wasn't really able to hide when Aang knew exactly where he was. The soldier who he hit stumbled back, before he scampered away. He thought at first he was running away from the young Avatar, but it turned out that Katara was right behind him, throwing a large mass of water his way; she used it to freeze the soldier in place, creating an ice trap. He grunted and groaned as he tried to move around, and he looked at them with a fearful face.

"Nobody else is attacking us." his friend observed, "I think they all went down into that cave."

He scrunched his lips up, and stepped closer to the crevasse; he could see how deep it went into the ground, and how the Fire Nation soldiers could have climbed down it. He turned to face his friend and nodded, before he used his airbending to propel himself over the gap; landing in front of the ensnared soldier, he narrowed his eyes at him.

"Where did they go?" he asked him, the soldier's eyes widening; he obviously had seen Aang's tattoos, which weren't covered.

"Y-you're the Avatar." he mumbled, before trying to turn his head away, "You can't stop us." he defiantly proclaimed, making Aang look at him with confusion; he had a sky-bison and a pretty good idea where Zhao was going, assuming that he was the one in the airship to begin.

"No, I think I can." he retorted, before raising a hand up, liquefying Katara's ice trap, "I've got another question." he admitted, creating two tentacles of water, using them to grasp the soldier by the hands before he could try and firebend, "Where's Azula?"

"She nearly fucking killed us!" he snarled, shaking his head, "And if I don't get away, she's going to find me and kill me!"

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, having gotten across the crevasse, now standing beside Aang.

"She's a traitor! She wants to destroy our nation!" he declared, making the young Air Nomad look at his friend with a confused expression.

"What?" he mumbled, utterly perplexed by his words, "Do you know what she wants to do?"

"Sacrifice us all so she can please the shitty Water Tribes." he snarled, the Water tribe girl chuckling.

"Oh... that's just dumb of you." she crossed her arms, sounding disappointed in them; that was a bit of a surprising response, if he were to be honest, "You could have gotten away. She only wants Zhao."

"She doesn't have-" he began to argue, before the Water tribe girl threw a mass of water at him, throwing him to the ground, knocking him out cold.

"Katara, we still need to figure out-" Aang spoke up, before she raised a hand to silence him.

"Zhao's gone into the cave, that's the only way he could have gone. We need to get to the Spirit Oasis Where's Sokka?"

"Probably eating his breakfast, or still in bed." he noted, "He really likes sleeping in."

"We need to get him, and we need to stop Zhao." she declared, before turning around, "I have a feeling our friend is the one sending the battleship right toward the walls of the Northern Water Tribe."

"I hope she's alright." he admitted, before he pulled out his bison whistle, and blew into it; his flying bison groaned, and he called out to him at once, "Appa, we need to go!"

Appa rose up into the air, and flew over toward them; he grasped Katara by the wrist, and used his airbending to propel them up into the air, launching them onto the saddle. He quickly got a hold of the reins, and pulled them around, directing Appa to fly back towards the city. He tensed up, not knowing how long it would take for Zhao to get down into the city. He could see some steam and smoke down in the city proper, and narrowed his eyes at the sight of it, he turned to face Katara, before turning his gaze over toward the battleship.

"Which is more important?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl gesturing down toward the smoke.

"I'm pretty sure the warriors and waterbenders will be able to deal with the battleship." she assured him, "We need to stop Zhao, before he can do what he wants to."

"What about Sokka?" he asked, unsure if he would have realised what was going on, and thus, gone to the Spirit Oasis.

"He'll figure it out. He's been waiting for this day for weeks." she assured him, before Aang pulled on Appa's reins.

"We need to go down buddy, not up." he told his sky-bison, who groaned as he tried to refuse his pulling; he obviously didn't want to get close to the firebenders, but it wasn't like they had much of a choice.

They needed to stop the Fire Nation forces before they reached the Spirit Oasis- if they didn't, Zhao would kill the Moon Spirit, and then they'd have something far more serious to worry about. The death of one of the most powerful spirits, at least in relation to their mortal world, was something he knew would not go down well with the spirits. His past lives, though they'd remained quiet, seemed to be telling him that he needed to do that; he didn't need to meditate to find that out- whatever was inside him, it was getting very worried, very quickly. He wasn't going to use the Avatar State if he could help it; Aang had not reached his full potential as a bender yet, and he knew that if the Avatar State took over, to defend him from Zhao and his men, then he'd probably end up destroying a lot of stuff unintentionally. They were in a populated city, not in the wilderness, or the abandoned Southern Air Temple, where it would be marginally safer to use his powers.

Appa did eventually heed his prodding, and he glided down toward the streets of the city, toward the steam and smoke, which he assumed to have originated from some guards facing off against the attackers. He grit his teeth, and felt frustrated that he hadn't bothered to get his staff; he'd have to improvise, and all he could think was how lucky he was to have already learned a fair number of waterbending forms and techniques. He did not get angry, however; he knew that getting angry would just make him clumsier and more of a threat to himself than others. The young Avatar leapt off of the saddle once they were close enough to the ground and reached out, massing some snow around him into a stream of water, which he held around his arm, spinning it as he prepared to face off the firebenders.

Katara followed right after him, and the pair ran down a side-street, where he made sight of an unconscious guard, whose parka was clearly damaged from firebending. Continuing along the trail, he eyed about for evidence of the Fire Nation attackers, but found the street surprisingly empty; he could hear cries of fear in the distance, and knew that they were what he'd need to follow. He did just that, and sprinted down the street, readying himself to defend the innocent people of the Northern Water Tribe against the aggressors; he knew this was not what Azula had intended, but he had allowed it, and he would fix it- he was the Avatar, and he would never try to forget it again.

Suddenly as he was racing forward, he was struck in the chest, by something he hadn't even seen. Falling down flat on his back, he cried out, feeling a sharp pain across his torso; he looked up and saw the source of the hit- the blunt end of a pike being held by a Fire Nation soldier, who immediately turned his weapon around to face it toward the young Avatar.

He heard a laugh in the distance, and looked over to see a man wearing a thick red cloak; his most distinguishable feature was the scar over his eye- the kind that Azula described her brother having, the kind he had given to Admiral Zhao, "You're a lot weaker than I thought, Avatar." he scoffed, "You and your snow savage friends won't stop me." he warned him, before thrusting his right hand forward, creating a bright orange fire stream; Aang reflexively pulled his arms up, creating a shield of ice, though it was immediately shattered by the Admiral's firebending.

He could clearly see was powerful, and the danger that he would pose to both he and Katara; there obviously was a reason Azula obviously hadn't tried to face him head on. He grit his teeth, and sent out two funnels of air from his palms, which allowed him to slide along the snow, while Katara raced up beside him, throwing a wave of water toward the Admiral and his men, who sent out fireballs in return. She was able to block most of them, but the flames pushed through and forced her off her feet.

"Ah!" she cried out, turning to face Aang, "Use your airbending!" she demanded, her voice fearful, obviously realising that they probably weren't matched up against the Admiral and his men, despite the environmental advantages they had.

He took a deep breath before throwing his hands forward, creating a fast moving funnel of air, akin to the fire streams they themselves used; he used it to strike their lower bodies, throwing their enemies off their feet. Aang turned around, and immediately saw they were being surrounded by more firebenders; he didn't know how many men Zhao had, but there had to be at least a dozen right there, surrounding the pair. He threw his hands up, creating ice traps to hold the charging firebenders in place, before turning his gaze to Katara.

"What are we going to do?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl narrowing her eyes.

"Fight." she declared, "Let's do what our master has told us to do." she added, before throwing her arms forward, ensnaring one of their attackers in an ice trap; he picked up as much snow as he could, and created two water whips which he sent out, hitting two of the firebenders by their legs, stopping them from sending any flames their way.

That didn't stop them all, however, and a few of them sent out bolts of fire in quick succession; he jumped, weaving out of the way of their flames. Aang was not ready, however, for the wave of flames that thrown his way by Zhao himself, whose flames broke Katara's ice trap in the process. His friend threw up her arms, creating a wall of ice that momentarily protected the group. It held the Admiral and his men back for a few moments, the young Avatar glancing back to the men he had ensnared earlier. They were already using their firebending to try and break free, and Aang grimaced, realising he'd have to take a different tactic to make sure they didn't pose a threat to anybody; he raised his arms up, before pulling them down, liquefying the water the Fire Nation soldiers were in; they could momentarily move, though it didn't help, as they sunk down in the ice below, and were frozen, with only their heads and upper torsos out of the ice.

"Aang! Think of something quickly! I don't think I can hold this wall much longer!" Katara pleaded, her tone and near pained expression suggesting that he'd have to do something a little more forward that some water whips.

He didn't want to give in to anger and fear, knowing that he would best face their enemies with a level head, but he knew that he had to do something; his friend was counting on him- the whole world was counting on him. The Avatar thrust his hands forward, breaking through his friend's ice-wall, before he melted said ice to create a water stream, which he swung around, like a very long and bendy staff, whacking Fire Nation soldiers in their heads and torsos. The move worked well enough, as he was able to keep them occupied while he moved forward. The man who had first hit him in the chest with his pike charged at him, and Aang smirked, knowing that he had exactly what he needed. He weaved out of the way of his lunging attack, before he tripped the man over, grasping the shaft of his weapon. He then rammed the head of the weapon into the ice on an angle, snapping it off; with a makeshift staff in hand, he had a better chance against his opponents than he would have had otherwise.

"Aang, duck!" he heard Katara call out to him, and he did just that, weaving underneath a fire stream sent out by one of the soldiers, nearly hitting him square in the face; he then swung his new staff to the side, creating a gust of wind which threw said soldier right off his feet

Admiral Zhao strode toward him, covering both his hands with flames, and grit his teeth, "This stops now!"

He threw a volley of fireballs his way, Aang dispersing each of the attacks as they came his way; he was able to swing his staff again, this time creating an air blast which shot the Admiral off his feet. Before he could try and trap him, his men raced toward the young Avatar, covering their hands with flames. One of them tried to tackle him, but he raised his left hand up, bending his foot stuck in the ice, and stopping him from reaching the young Avatar. That didn't really help him however, as another firebender came at him, and threw out two fire blasts at once; he spun his staff around, realising that it had caught aflame.

He tried to put the burning end out on the ice, but was distracted by the soldier throwing him to the ground; he grunted as he felt the weight of an adult man holding him down. He wasn't able to do much, but he did kick his foot upward, bending the snow around his legs to trap the man; he snarled with frustration, but Aang seemed to be the least of his worries as he turned his gaze toward Katara, who had been throwing water whips toward his comrades and tossing them about with her grip. She got the man who tackled him with a water stream, throwing him off of the young Air Nomad, and broke his ice shackles in the process.

"Thanks, Katara!" he grinned at her, before grasping his staff, which was no longer on fire; he used it to jab the man who had tackled him in the gut, which decidedly kept him down.

He turned his attention toward Admiral Zhao, who didn't look like he was going to back down any time soon, "Keep moving!" he demanded of his men, "I'll deal with the Avatar myself."

"Ha, good luck." Aang smirked, readying his staff in hand, while Katara stepped up behind him, ready to assist.

The Admiral began to throw fireballs toward the young Avatar, who dispersed them with his staff, before he thrust it toward him, hoping to throw him off his feet with a gust of wind; that didn't work, as he cowered down beneath the attack, before sending a sweeping kick at Aang. The flames were hot and bright, but he was able to easily jump over them. When he landed on the ground, however, the ice was unexpectedly slippery; he slipped and fell onto his back, crying out from the shock of hitting the ground. The Admiral pounced at the advantage, sending an arc of flames right down at the young Avatar, who held his staff up in defence; though it protected his face somewhat, he realised that it had been cut in two, and thus was far less effective as an airbending instrument. He was forced to scamper back, trying to avoid the fire stream Zhao was sending out of his right hand, a callous smirk on his face.

"You will learn your place, airbender!" he mocked him, before he aimed a fire blast at Aang's head.

"Hey!" Katara called out, catching his attention; she sent a water whip toward him, which he was able to break apart with a cutting blow of fire.

He ignored his previous opponent for a moment, sending a fire stream out of his left palm, which cut right through the water shield his friend created to protect herself; she was thrown back to the ground, and was forced to pat down her parka, which was burning in some spots. The young Avatar tensed up, realising that Zhao was going to seriously hurt her if he just did nothing. So he did something; he tossed one half of the staff right into the back of head, making him stumble forward and snarl in anger, turning back to face Aang.

"You little shit." he snarled, and covered his hands with flames, set to use them to attack the Air Nomad boy.

With his attention squarely on himself, he could fight with a calm mind, knowing his friend was going to be safe. He bent the snow around the Admiral and used it to ensnare his feet. He grit his teeth and threw his arms upward, creating a wall of flames between them, which forced Aang to move back, lest the flames lick his skin. He pulled himself up slowly, and took a deep breath, wanting to remain calm as he faced off the man who probably sought to capture or kill him. He wouldn't let him do either; he had to win, for the sake of the Moon Spirit, whose importance he didn't fully comprehend, but he knew it to be vital to the world's balance.

Though they hadn't directly communicated with him, his past lives were telling him that it was the case. When the wall of flames dissipated, Aang pulled all the snow he could mass around himself, and directed it into two separate water streams, throwing them toward Zhao; the Admiral sent out a fire stream toward him, and he leapt over the top of it, directing his water streams right into his opponent, who was thrown back.

"Give up!" he demanded of the Admiral, "You won't get to the spirits!" he declared, Zhao cocking his chin up, glaring him down as he charged two fire blasts in each of his hands.

"So I was right." he snarled, "I've been played this entire time!" he furiously shouted at Aang, throwing his fire blasts toward him; he was able to block them with a water shield he conjured from the remains of the streams he'd thrown at his opponent.

He was still forced back, however, and cut the shield in two, spinning around to throw one half at him as a water whip, tripping Zhao over; he almost fell flat on his face, before he was splashed and thrown backward by a smaller water stream than last time. He froze the water, momentarily holding the Admiral in place. He then conjured some water out from the ground below himself, before throwing it right into his opponent's face; he hoped that knocked him out, and at the very least kept him down for a while, while he went to help Katara. He could see her fighting off some other Fire Nation soldiers, who must have still been coming down from the caves, and thus, weren't moving with the others toward the Spirit Oasis. He charged over to help her, massing snow beneath himself to use it to propel himself forward, before he threw said snow out in the form of a wave toward his enemies.

"Take that!" he shouted at them, watching as they were thrown off of their feet by his wave.

His friend turned back to face him with an impressed look on her face, "That was pretty good, Aang." she conceded his skill, before drawing out more snow to create a stream of water which circled around him, "Let's take these guys out before we take Zhao to the Chief."

"That's what I was thinking." he nodded, before he took form beside her, pulling some water back from his previous attack to form a ring around himself; he made two tentacles, ready to use them to strike any Fire Nation soldiers who came to face them.

The soldiers got back up to their feet, and one of them was immediately whipped in the head by Katara, and Aang moved to grasp two of them by the arms, throwing them down to the ground, where he could ensnare them in ice traps. He smirked, spinning around, taking the remaining water he had to create a water stream, which he used to throw the remaining soldiers into a wall, knocking them right out.

He smiled, brimming with confidence in his new waterbending abilities, but that happy feeling was cut short by the feeling of scorching heat all up his back. He was flung down to the ground, unable to hold himself against the attack, when his face struck the snow, he lost control of his senses; all he could feel was a sharp pain on his forehead, and cringed as he felt the heat on his back. He relieved himself of the latter by rolling over, presumably extinguishing the flames that had set his parka alight. He grit his teeth and squinted, eyeing Katara, who seemed to be taking form, sending a water stream back down the street. He glanced up, and realised that Zhao was gone; the ringing in his head made him grasp at his forehead, hoping that if he touched it, the pain would go away- it didn't.

"Aang, Aang, stay still." he heard the water Tribe girl address him with a panicked voice, suddenly feeling something cold on his forehead; he blinked a few times, and noticed that the pain had receded somewhat.

When he regained his bearings, he realised that she was healing him, and smiled, glad that she had learned that technique from Pakku when she had; otherwise, Aang might have just been forced to lie there and groan in pain while the Admiral and his goons got away. He groaned, and pulled himself up, glancing up to notice that some of the firebenders were running past, finding an alternate path around them; he gestured up toward them and grit his teeth.

"K-Katara, you've gotta stop them." he told her, trying to stress his point; she raised her left hand up and flicked up a mass of snow, freezing some of the soldiers in place as they tried to move past them.

"Ah!" one of them cried out, grunting as he tried to pull himself free of the ice.

Aang turned his attention back toward his friend, who had her right hand over his head, soothing the pain he could feel; he pulled himself upright, and glanced around as she moved her hand away from his face, "We need to get to the Spirit Oasis." he spoke up, Katara narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yeah... but somebody's gotta do something about the battleship." she noted, "Maybe Azula's there." she suggested, the young Avatar nodding.

"You should go to the walls." he explained, before he reached into his pocket, pulling out his bison whistle, "Take this... get Appa. You can fly straight to the Spirit Oasis with Azula once you find her; if anybody's going to be able to stop Zhao, it's her." he acknowledged, before he eyed up the street, "I'm gonna chase down Zhao. Hopefully, he doesn't get there, but I don't know if I can stop him."

"You've got to try, Aang." she argued, the Air Nomad boy nodding, before he rose up to his feet, "I need to find a new staff." he noted, before eyeing one of the soldiers she had frozen in place; he was holding a pike in hand, and Aang moved to grasp the weapon, unfreezing his hand so he could take it off him, "Thanks." he grinned at the soldier, who didn't seem to approve in the slightest.

He then turned to face his friend, nodding at her with a warm smile; he was thankful for her help, but now he knew he had to go handle something by himself. Her tenacity inspired him, and he did not want to let her down; he didn't want to let any of his friends down.

"We'll stop him, Katara." he assured her, the Water Tribe girl nodding, before she blew into the whistle; she looked back his way with a poignant, near nervous face, as Appa's roaring could be heard in the background, assuring them that he'd be there soon.

"We don't have much of a choice."

* * *

Azula took a deep breath, and sighed, looking at all the unconscious sailors around her- she had beaten them, but she was tired, after all she had done. She had thought that after she shot the airship out of the sky with her lightning generation, the men on board would have given up; contrary to that belief, they kept resisting, and they had tried to disable the engine of the ship, in an attempt to stop them from reaching the Northern Water Tribe. She was able to stop them, and now she and Ty Lee were surrounded by unconscious men; she had wished they would have given up and accepted her authority, but they seemed to prescribe to the belief that if enough of them threw fireballs at her, they'd eventually win. Zhao's initial tactic of forcing her unconscious with gas was smart, but it wouldn't work twice; she had disabled such attempts, and after the fight was over, she decided that a smart way to ensure the enemy wouldn't pose a threat would be to set off said gas around the hall that led toward the engine of the ship.

She picked up one of the smoke bombs, and turned to face Ty Lee, "Let's give them a taste of their own medicine." she suggested, before she lit a flame on the end of her finger.

Her friend grimaced, obviously understanding what she was about to do, and paced down the hallway toward the nearest door; Azula followed after her, and once she reached the door, used her flame to set the bomb alight, before she tossed it down the hallway. When it hit the floor, it began to let out smoke, and she immediately closed the door behind her, turning to face her friend, who just seemed to be relieved that the fight was over.

"So, are we going to get back up to the deck?" she asked her, the Princess giving her an affirmative smirk.

"Oh, that we are, Ty Lee." she confirmed, "We've got an Admiral to beat the crap out of." she argued, before narrowing her eyes, remembering that she would be likely be facing resistance; hopefully the Northern Water Tribe came to understand that she was not seeking to bring war and chaos to their capital- she had only sought to take the airship, and trick Zhao, but the Admiral had forced her hand.

The pair immediately turned their heels, and began to race down the hallway; they had to get to the stairs, and after that, the deck. The Princess kept her focus ahead of herself, and remembered what was at stake; the Moon Spirit was in mortal danger as long as Zhao was walking around, and she had unintentionally given him a means to reach it. Hopefully, in shooting down the airship, she could slow him down somewhat, but even then, she had to worry about potentially hostile warebenders. She shook her head at even considering that; she was certain they were going to be hostile. She knew for a fact that the other nations didn't consider whether Fire Nation forces were hostile to them; they were their enemy, and it was drilled into their minds, whether they'd faced off against them or not.

When they reached the stairs, she could see some nervous looking sailors standing by; they were unarmed, and didn't seem hostile in the slightest, so she didn't take any notice of them. She had to focus on making sure nobody got in her way; she was going to get to Zhao, and she was going to make him regret his actions dearly. The Princess and her friend were only up the first flight of the stairs when the ship shook violently, and she heard a loud scraping noise. She turned to face Ty Lee, who grimaced at the sound.

"That's the wall, isn't it?" she asked her friend, who pursed her lips upward.

"I'm certain." she confirmed, before she began to bolt on up the stairs.

She couldn't waste any more time, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before the Northern Water Tribe's warriors and waterbenders boarded their vessel; she had already been dealing with waterbenders on canoes, who had tried to damage the ship. They hadn't succeeded, due to her timely interventions, and she had forced whatever men on board that remained loyal to herself to attack them, or at the very least, ward them off.

She found herself panting as she rushed up the staircase, and tried to keep a grip on her breathing; she wasn't even fighting anyone, so she knew she had no excuse to lose track of her breath. She kept her eyes focused ahead of her, as she moved up and around the winding staircase, making her way up each flight of stairs, down from the lowest decks, where the engine was located, up to the top deck, where she'd be able to get over onto the walls that she knew to surround the Northern Water Tribe capital, along with the towering icy cliffs.

As she climbed up the staircase, getting herself closer and and closer to the top deck, she began to wonder how many men they'd have ready, defending their walls; she knew for a fact that the Northern Water Tribe had resisted Fire Nation attacks so far, so she was sure that they'd put up a good fight. She knew that she didn't want to fight them, but getting past them and moving toward the Spirit Oasis with no questions asked would be the simplest way forward. She had no time for pleasantries; she needed to get rid of Zhao before he killed the Moon Spirit, and gave Sokka good reason to think her either insane or an idiot.

When she finally got to the top deck, she was forced to cover her eyes to compensate for the change in light; unlike when she had first awoken, the sun was up and it was bright, despite how low the sun was in the sky- compared to the interior of the ship, it was bright, especially with all the glare from the snow. She looked over the bow of the ship, where the boarding ramp was moving down, allowing them to access the wall; a number of her guards were already gathering around on the deck, having heard the sound she had. She raised her fist up, catching their attention, before she gestured toward the walls.

"Move!" she called on her men, before she raced ahead, moving toward the walls.

When streams of the water were sent out right at them from on top of the wall, she did not relent to cross her arms before sending out a massive wave of blue flames. The attack was thin, but it was able to cut right through the water streams and stop the enemy from harming her or her men; she then pushed on ahead, toward the boarding ramp, which had lowered down further, allowing her to see the Water Tribe warriors that were getting ready to move in and attack them. She rolled her eyes, realising that their attire was actually quite similar to that which Sokka had worn when she had first met him, when he had boarded her ship and the warriors had sunk it. She did not relent to charge forward, creating a fire stream in both of her hands, sending it out to knock them back; it held back the warriors, some of whom were immediately knocked over.

"Wow, it's a bunch of Sokkas." Ty Lee observed, making the Princess roll her eyes.

"Yeah, except they're incompetent and can't chi-block." she argued, before she thrust her leg up, sending a fire blast right toward one of the warriors who had not relented and continued to charge at her.

She knocked onto his back, falling over onto the inclined ramp; she continued to charge up it, crossing her arms before spinning them around, creating two fire whips, which she was able to use to burn the arms of two warriors who came at her at once. Her guards sent out fire balls to strike down a few of them as well, as she smirked, approving of their quick work. She wasn't even going for hits to knock them out; she just needed to get past them, that was what counted, in the end. She moved forward, effortlessly charging a fireball in her right hand, which she threw into the chest of a warrior who ran her way with a spear in hand. He fell down right onto his back, and she strode past him.

"Not sorry." she chided him, turning her eyes toward his comrades, who seemed rather intimidated by her; perhaps they'd heard about her, which wouldn't surprise her- not just from Sokka, either, given that they seemed to be well-known and notorious for their actions a few months prior.

She strode on up the ramp, charging two file streams in her hands, which she used like jets to power herself forward, almost gliding up the ramp, moving right through the first opening she could find in the warrior's lines, after which she jumped out onto the wall. She eyed around, and noted that there had to be at least a hundred warriors and waterbenders, combined, on the walls, and that was not good at all; if she had the support of everyone onboard the ship, it wouldn't be much of an issue- they'd provide a good distraction while she went for Zhao. However, in her current situation, it seemed like all the focus would be on her, Ty Lee and her guards, who were still following on after her up the ramp. Scanning the approaching warriors and waterbenders, she immediately took a defensive stance, knowing that it was not her intention to give a bunch of combat inexperienced waterbenders an absolute beatdown; she could do that, but she would prefer to just get to the matter at hand.

"I'm here to stop Admiral Zhao. So, if you'd like to remain uninjured and retain your waterbending, I'd suggest you get out of my way." she asked of the people who were surrounding her; they looked at ther with perplexed faces, but those expressions quickly turned to ones of disdain and fear.

Spears pointed her way, and waterbenders took form; she sighed, frustrated that she was going to have to fight through the people she was actually trying to help, "Did you miss the part when I said he will stop you from being able to waterbend?" he asked them, the men clearly unresponsive; when a mass of water was sent her way, she spun her hands around in a circular motion, creating two arcs of flames which caused it to explode into steam and a spray of water; it covered her, and the cold made her want to shiver.

She snarled with annoyance, and took form, understanding their unwillingness to cooperate, "Well, that's just how it is, then." she sighed, knowing that she had a challenging fight ahead of her.

Azula thrust her hands outward, and then raised them up, creating two walls of flames that held back any potential attackers, even if only for a few moments, while her supporters caught up with her. She glanced back, watching as Ty Lee and the others climbed up to the top of the boarding ramp, before jumping down onto the wall, joining her. As the flames dissipated, she saw a water stream coming her way, and she sent out a fire stream right into it, breaking apart the attack, turning it into steam.

She then gestured down the wall toward a staircase, which they'd be able to take to get themselves safely down, closer to the city, and thus, closer to the hidden location of the spirits; she was sure that Sokka knew where it was, as would the Northern Water Tribe. With any luck, they were protecting it from Zhao already, and her efforts were unnecessary; hopefully, she'd get the right kind of attention, but given the immediate hostility she was facing, she was sure that would be harder to achieve than she would've liked. Her men followed right after her, sending out fire blasts, not aimed necessarily to harm the warriors, who were in their way, but to get them to move. It was rather simple coercion, which was far better than knocking each and every one of them out.

She moved forward, sending out well placed jabs with each step; each of them struck a warrior or waterbender in their extremities, forcing them back or to the ground. A water whip, a form she'd seen Katara and Aang use, was sent her way, and she stepped out of the way of it, before she swung her right hand down, creating an arc of flames which sliced right through it. She then kicked her right leg out, sending out a fire stream into the waterbender who had tried to attack her. Once they were down and out of the way, she moved along, sending one last fireball into their parka to keep them down; the attire was thick, so she knew that it was simply an impediment, rather than actually painful. Ty Lee charged past her, and jabbed a few warriors in their chests, chi-blocking them, before she turned to face the Princess for a moment.

"We need to get past these guys." she argued, Azula scoffing; that was an unnecessary comment if she'd ever heard one.

"Yeah, I figured." she noted with a frustrated tone, before she sent out another kick, knocking one of the waterbenders down before they could try and attack her.

She did not relent to continue forward, and began to clear out her path even further by sending out small fireballs to distract her opponents, while the acrobat leapt forward, cartwheeling past some of them and chi-blocking them from behind. When she tried to take another step, her feet felt suddenly heavier; Azula sighed with frustration, realising that a waterbender had tried to ensnare her. She didn't let that stop her as she channelled her bending to her soles, creating two jets which allowed her to burst free; the pent up energy of the jets allowed her to momentarily shoot up into the air, and she sent out a fire stream from above, making a few warriors dive out of the way, giving Ty Lee a clear path to continue forward. When she landed on the ground, she glanced back, noting her guards were still keeping the waterbenders occupied while they approached the stairs. They were struggling to keep back all of their enemies, but she knew she could trust them to continue fighting, if the Water Tribe forces continued to resist; obviously, they weren't going to listen to reason, so she would just need to get past them.

"Tighter formation!" she heard Renshu call out; obviously the guards needed to get closer together, as otherwise, the Water Tribesmen would just pick them off.

She and Ty Lee continued their advance, the Princess jabbing a warrior who dared to run at her in the chest with a fireball, throwing him flat onto his back as he slipped over; she would usually laugh at such a sorry state, but she was far too concerned with actually getting the job done to do that. She weaved under a water whip that was flung towards her before she made a sweeping kick. She hadn't even needed to attack that waterbender, as he was jabbed in the side by her friend, and was unable to bend, thus, defend himself from the charged bolt of flames she sent right into his chest, flinging him down to the ground.

Azula stepped forward and yelled out to her friend, "Ty Lee, duck!" as she conjured flames in between her hands, creating a large ball of flames, which she propelled forward, shooting it out in the form of a wave that spread out ahead of her, knocking down a few warriors, while the rest ducked and weaved, just as her friend did.

She continued to move forward, the pair taking advantage of the enemy's momentary distraction in the form of the wave, the two of them quickly moving in succession one after another, withe the Princess using her flames to break their stances and drawn their focus while the acrobat leapt around, jabbing their chests and backs to ensure that they were paralysed. The Princess then raised her foot up, kicking a stream of flames out and knocking out another waterbender, who failed to hit her with his water whip- she was faster, after all. She smirked, and sent out a volley of fireballs, further forcing the warriors to draw their attention to dodging her attacks over avoiding Ty Lee, who continued to move around, her agility preventing any of the waterbenders from ensnaring her.

"Princess!" she heard one of her guards call out, the Princess turning around, looking for a split-second as she saw a water stream strike her square in the chest; she grunted as she was thrown down to the ground, digging her heels into the snow to prevent herself sliding right off the wall.

"Shit." she snarled, before throwing her right arm up, sending a fireball right into the hand of the waterbender who was about to ensnare her with his next move.

One of her guards struck him with a decent sized fire blast, throwing him into the icy battlement, and knocked him unconscious; she turned her attention around, before she saw two waterbenders moving at her, sending out tentacles of water. She charged up flames in her hands, dissipating the tentacles when they got close enough, but the waterbenders changed their tactics, sinking her into the ice below her feet. She grit her teeth, and raised her hands up, creating a wall of flames, which both forced them back, and gave her a moment to deal with being sunk into ice up to her knees.

Azula grit her teeth, before she created two torches on either hand, and placed them down by the snow; the heat cracked the ice, and began to slowly but surely melt it. She then covered her right fist with her bright blue flames and hammered it down into the ice; it made a loud crack, and then she took a deep breath, before redirecting her firebending into her feet, allowing her to further break the ground, and thus, allowed herself to blast free. Ice shot up with her, and she rose up into the air for a few moments, and decided to channel her firebending even more, sending her to even greater heights; she'd had enough with playing around- she needed to get to Zhao, whatever the cost.

She spun her hands around, feeling the electricity charge between her finger tips, before she channelled her chi into her left hand. The lightning bolt was bright, and deafeningly loud; it created an explosion on the icy wall, and threw a number of men back, obviously unable to keep their footing after the explosion right in front of them. When she touched her feet on the ground, she did not waste another second, sending a fire stream each into the waterbenders who had attacked her, throwing them down onto the ice again, knocking them out cold. She then put her hands behind her, creating two jets of fire, which allowed her to propel herself forward, moving along the wall with increasing speed, moving right past the men she had knocked down.

She then spun her hands around again, and charged a lightning bolt as she slowed down, the warriors around her looking at her with fear, "I am not going to say it another time." she snarled, before she decided she was going to scream, and not just any kind; the furious, monstrous kind- the kind that she only allowed out when she was in a situation that put her life or the life of her friends in danger- Zhao was a danger to not just Sokka and her friends, but the entire world.

She had had enough of keeping a serious, stoic face; she let the rage out in her expression and it seemed to scare them more than the lightning she was about to send out,"Get the fuck out of my way!" she demanded, before she shot the lightning up into the sky above her, a reverse of what would appear in nature, the lightning reaching up into the clouds; it was impressive, perhaps even beautiful, but she wasted no time to consider its majesty, turning back to face her guards, "Keep moving!" she demanded of them, before she darted ahead to the stairs, which were just in front of her.

She raced down the stairs, seeing the few warriors who remained on it; she grit her teeth and threw her arms out, creating a wave of flames that threw them back. All the bending she was doing was exhausting, she knew that, but she had more than enough rage left for Zhao; after what he'd done to her, a practical humiliation in the end, given that he didn't even give her a chance to fight, she was ready to give him and anyone following him the kind of beat-down that would leave scars- the kind her brother and the Admiral himself bore on their faces for their own failures.

She glanced back to see the guards following after her, though the waterbenders present on the walls were still harassing them. She turned around and charged some flames in her right hand, which grew brighter and hotter by the second, until she let it loose in the form of a fire stream, hitting the waterbenders back; she didn't was any more time, and made her way down the stairs, knowing that she had to get into the city; hopefully she could find Aang and Katara, if not her boyfriend himself. She needed to get to the Admiral, before it was too late.

Racing down the staircase, she paid little attention to the men she had just knocked down, and when more waterbenders approached the base of the staircase, she jumped up into the air and sent out some jets from the bottom of her feet, both softening her landing and setting their parkas alight; the distraction lasted long enough that she could send some fireballs into their heads, knocking each of them out. Turning her attention back up the stairs, she whistled, wanting to get Ty Lee to follow after her; her friend was fast, but she could see that her guards were becoming overwhelmed by the waterbenders on the wall, who had ensnared a few of them.

"Zula! We need to keep moving!" Ty Lee shouted at her with a panicked voice as she herself stood still, wondering whether she ought to assist her men; part of her told her to abandon them, as her mission was far more important than their own safety, while another part told her to go up and beat every last bender who touched her guards- they were her responsibility, after all.

It seemed that that question was answered for her by Renshu, who sent a fire stream into one of the waterbenders who had tried to trap him, before he shouted at his superior, "You have to go, Princess! Go!" he pleaded of her, Azula gritting her teeth; at that moment, she swore to herself that she'd come back for them, once it was all over.

She turned her heels and followed right after Ty Lee, making her way toward the city; they hadn't even reached the secondary walls, which they'd have to scale, likely with the assistance of her firebending, when her friend was ensnared by an ice trap, she turned around to see that one of the waterbenders she'd knocked unconscious was still moving. She snarled, and threw a fire stream into his chest, knocking him down to the ground, before she immediately turned to face her friend, using her firebending to cut the pillars of ice up, allowing the acrobat to escape.

"Thanks, Zula." she smiled at her, before they continued onward, approaching the walls; she realised that there was a moat between them and the walls which would make her next step even more challenging.

"Maybe lightning can blow a hole through it." Ty Lee suggested, the Princess narrowing her eyes, before she took a deep breath; she could conjure another lightning bolt, but she was already feeling her energy receding- she could not waste too much, or she would be unable to stop Zhao.

Before she could even make a decision, the water in the moat in front of them suddenly burst up, making her realise that they were being bent at once again; she raised her hands up and tried to create a wall of flames. The flames turned the water into steam, and she smirked, understanding that her flames were still potent enough to neutralise the enemy's attack; she turned around, wanting to try and knock out whoever attacked them. She suddenly found herself unable to move her limbs as well as she would have liked, as if her motions had become sluggish; in any other context, she might have though that she was drunk or just fatigued, but she realised with the weight on her arms, that it was steam- it was being solidified into ice, all over her extremities, making it nigh impossible for her to move.

"The fuck..." she snarled, and opened her mouth wide while she had a chance, creating a fire stream which bellowed out at once, right toward the waterbenders who'd frozen her and Ty Lee in place.

The attack, frustratingly enough, didn't do much as they used their own water streams to snuff out the attack, and splashed her, the cold water making her shiver, along with the ice that was holding her in place. She tried to breathe out flames again, but knew it would be better to just conserver her strength; she knew that she might have a chance to break out if the waterbenders got close enough that she could threaten them, hopefully to allow her free so she could go get to Zhao, or at least, teach her friends, who had Appa and could get her to the Spirit Oasis very quickly.

"Stop moving!" she heard one of them demand, "Or we'll sink you both into the ice!" he warned them, the Princess turning to face her friend, who had a disenchanted look on her face.

"Well... I guess we're stuck now." she dejectedly noted their condition; Azula turned her gaze toward the waterbenders, who approached her cautiously.

"What are you doing attacking our tribe?" one of them asked her, "Aren't you friends with the Avatar?"

"Uh, yeah, I am you dimwits!" she snarled, "I rammed the ship into the walls because it was the fastest way for me to get here. I shot down that airship; the man onboard wants to kill the moon spirit and get rid of waterbending."

"The what?" one of them looked at her with a disbelieving face, "You're joking."

"Yeah. Koi fish, spirit pond? Sound familiar?" she asked them, the waterbenders looking amongst themselves.

"The Spirit Oasis." one of them noted, before narrowing her eyes, "How do you know the moon spirit's there?"

"Because somebody I trust read through his personal documents. Some scrolls stolen from spirits-know-where told him where the moon spirit was." she explained, the waterbenders looking at her suspiciously.

'Then how can he get here? That's your airship, right? that's what they've been saying."

"It was but he stole it. He knew I was going to betray him to your tribe." she explained, making them look at her with surprise; with their attention squarely on her, she grit her teeth, "So, let me free so I can stop him. I'm the only one who I'm certain can."

"Oh." one of them mumbled, before turning to face his comrades, "You know, that makes a lot more sense than the Avatar's friend attacking us, no matter how absurd it is."

"Did you hear me, let me-" she began to demand, before suddenly, she heard a roaring above her, "Finally." she sighed with relief, glancing up to see Appa flying around above them, quickly circling down toward them.

On top of his saddle, she could see Katara, who had a clearly concerned look on her face; she obviously understood what was going on. The waterbenders turned her way with confused faces, and before they could react, the Water Tribe girl raised her hands up, ensnaring them all in ice traps; she then moved her hands around, freeing the two Fire Nation girls from the waterbenders' icy grip. She grinned, and sighed with relief, as she looked up at the Water Tribe girl.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really glad to see you, Katara." she admitted, the girl's serious expression not faltering.

"Get on!" she demanded, "Zhao might already be at the Spirit Oasis." she explained, the Princess nodding, and with that, she and her friend quickly climbed, up onto Appa's saddle; the sky-bison groaned, obviously pleased to see them again.

"Yes, you giant furball, I may have missed you somewhat." she acknowledged, patting his fur before she turned to face Katara, who immediately whipped on the reins of the bison, who flew up into the sky, rising up above the wall, putting the expansive city back into view.

The Water Tribe girl kept her focus ahead of them, directing the sky-bison in the right direction, and the Princess couldn't help but ask her, "Have you met him yet?"

"Yes." she acknowledged, "He's a piece of shit, and he needs to go down." she agreed with the very sentiment Azula prescribed to.

"Oh, well, we agreed on something." she smirked, before she narrowed her eyes, "He gassed us last night."

"Gassed you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, "So you were knocked out?"

"Yes. And then we woke up in prison. I got here as fast as I could. If the ship was a little damn faster, I would have shot down that airship and it would have hit the sea. Then hypothermia could've taken care of Zhao for us."

"Uh... speaking of which... Zula, I'm really cold." Ty Lee admitted, the Princess cringing as she remembered that her friend had got doused wet from the steam and then Katara melting their bonds.

She raised her hand to her friends shoulders, and heated them up; she didn't create any fire, but she heated up the air instead, and her friend smiled back at her with a relieved face.

"That's better." she thanked her, the Water Tribe girl turning her gaze ahead of them, toward the palace that sat far into the city, which they were quickly approaching.

"So, I think we can admit, Sokka was right." Katara noted, making Azula cringe as she realised how correct a statement that was; all of her boyfriend's fears had come true- the Princess was just lucky that she hadn't been thrown overboard by the Admiral while she was unconscious.

"Y-yes." she muttered softly, not wanting to say it too loudly, "He was right. We were so close, but Zhao played me just as much as I played him." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "Sokka will be there, won't he?"

"He's probably at the Spirit Oasis right now." she confirmed, before narrowing her eyes, "Aang's coming, but I don't know if he was quick enough."

"Sokka can stop him, I'm sure of it." the Princess declared, the Water Tribe girl grimacing.

"If he can't... then, there mightn't be much of a world to save after this is over." she acknowledged, the Princess narrowing her eyes; she knew what was at stake, and she was ready to fight her all to save the spirits, knowing the power they held.

"The alliance is dead. At the very least, we might be able to save waterbending."

* * *

_**Eight minutes earlier...** _

Sokka did not relent to run; he needed to do so if he wanted to reach the Spirit Oasis in time. The Spirit Oasis of the Moon and Ocean Spirits was under threat, and it was up to him to protect them. As soon as he had heard the explosion, he had left the igloo, and realised that the airship had been shot down; though his first thoughts went to Azula, he understood that there were only two reasons the airship was being shot down. Because the Princess was on board and Zhao had figured out what happened, or because of the opposite- he could have been on board and she was the one to shoot it down. It didn't matter which was the case; the Admiral was coming, and he needed to be ready. The thoughts of the danger his girlfriend might be in first came to mind, but he forced them to the back of his mind, knowing that his own role was too important to give up just to try and find out if she was okay. She was a survivor, and he trusted she would be alright.

He had already just changed into his Fire Nation disguise, and tied his hair up into a top-knot, making himself look like a Fire Nation soldier, barring the fact he had blue eyes and the swarthy complexion of a Water Tribesman. Hopefully Zhao didn't recognise him at once, and just believed him to be another soldier; he had a cloak around his shoulders, red, like he'd expect the soldiers' to be. He was already running through the city, and the warriors who saw him were obviously confused; they probably recognised him, but that didn't make his appearance any less concerning. He feared they might attack him, but nobody was fast enough to try and call him out on his attire. He was at that moment racing up the staircase toward the Chief's Palace; behind it sat one of the entrances to the Spirit Oasis, which he'd need to take to reach the spirits. He wasn't going to enter at once, wanting to appear with the other Fire Nation forces, so he could fool them into believing he was one of them.

When he reached the top of the staircase, he could see a few warriors standing by the entrance of the palace, who stepped forward as they saw him running in their direction; he didn't actually want to deal with them, but they seemed to make it their business, readying their spears in hand, "Stop!" they demanded, the Water Tribe teen staring them down.

"It's me, Sokka!" he clarified, raising his hands into the air, "You know, the guy who dressed up and worked for the Princess." he explained exactly why he was even wearing a Fire Nation outfit in the first place, "I know they're coming this way, so I'm going to trick them into thinking I'm one them." he explained, before narrowing his eyes, "You know what, could one of you do me a favour?"

"What?" they asked him, sounding understandably concerned.

"Whack me in the leg. Not enough that it's really going to injure me, but to make it hurt." he asked, "I need to be convincing... and it's easier to play off being hurt." he argued, the Water Tribe warriors looking at each other with confused faces, before one of them stepped forward.

"Okay, Sokka." he accepted his request, before nodding at one of his comrades, who whacked him right in the left leg with the blunt end of his spear.

"Ack!" he cried out, gritting his teeth, before he made a cringed smile, "Ah, yep, that works." he nodded, realising that despite the pain, his leg was still working perfectly fine.

"No problem." the warrior acknowledged with a slightly amused voice, before Sokka raced off around the exterior palace, knowing that he had to get to the Spirit Oasis at once.

The Water Tribe teen did not slow his pace, and though his leg hurt, it did not distract him from the matter at hand; the palace was quite large, but he was able to quickly get around to the rear of the palace, where there were some buildings in the way of his access point; he didn't worry about that, as he was able to quickly climb up by reaching for the shingles. If there was one thing he was glad about Azula training him nearly every day, it was that his physical condition had never been better- he was as ready as he could be for facing the Admiral and his goons, if that was what it came to.

He then paced across the roof, and eyed around for evidence of the Fire Nation forces; he couldn't see any signs of footsteps or struggle around the area, which suggested that they either hadn't taken that path to the Spirit Oasis, or hadn't arrived yet. He eyed a wooden door that sat by the northern end of the palace, lined up against the towering walls of ice. He pulled it open, and smiled with relief as he realised Zhao wasn't there- all he could see was the lush green of the garden that sat in the middle of the oasis. However, despite the tranquility before him, Sokka knew that the Admiral would be arriving soon, and if not him, then hopefully his girlfriend. He thus decided to close the door and pace back toward the palace; he was going to play off being an injured straggler, and hopefully they'd believe his act.

The Water Tribe warrior approached the doorway at the rear of the palace, and eyed around, realising there were no guards about; he though that was rather stupid, seeing that he'd already told Arnook about the Spirit Oasis and what Zhao wanted to do. He pushed the doors open, and glanced inside, seeing that nobody was around the hallway of the palace; suddenly he heard what had to be an explosion from inside the palace.

"Oh, shit." he mumbled under his breath, guessing well enough what he had just heard, "Aang, Azula... somebody... hurry up." he grit his teeth, before eyeing the various doors in the hallway, he opened open at random, assuming that he was in some kind of storeroom for food; though he'd like to steal some of the Chief's jerky, he decided that ought to occur after he'd dealt with the Admiral.

He hid in that room, patiently waiting for the attackers to move through the hallway; they wanted to get to the Spirit Oasis, so they'd have to go through that way. He heard some shouts, and then he heard footsteps coming his way; he tensed up, hoping whoever was coming didn't have the same idea as him; the footsteps pushed past the doorway, and then suddenly, he heard what had to be some waterbending, the sound of ice cracking and shifting around.

"Oh... that's smart." he conceded, guessing that one of the Chief's men had decided to cover up the entrance to the Spirit Oasis, knowing that slowing down Zhao was one of their only options.

"You think that will stop us?" he heard the callous voice of the Admiral himself, and then the sound of a fire stream rushing past the door, moving outside, presumably to strike the waterbender who had covered up the entrance, "Nobody's stopping me. Not any of you savages, nor the Princess. I'm going to achieve my destiny." he declared, Sokka covering his mouth to quieten his breathing, knowing he had to remain calm; facing the Admiral was inevitable, but he had to do so in a way that would minimise danger to himself.

"And once I take care of the moon, I'll go for the Fire Lord next. That bastard is going to pay for what he did to my face." he declared, stepping out of the doorway and presumably toward the Spirit Oasis's door, and heard them moving up outside; there was few moments silence, before Zhao shouted out, "Take formation, we're going to break through this door."

Sokka heard the sound of fire streams being sent out, the rushing of hot air sounding a little too familiar to him- all he could remember was the training he did with Azula; because of her beat-downs, he was ready to face any firebender, though he was unsure if could beat a dozen of them. He took a deep breath, and fastened the cloak over his head, before he stepped out of the storeroom, and began to pace back down the hallway, right toward the Admiral and his men, pretending to be an injured soldier.

"Urgh..." he groaned, "A-Admiral, the Avatar, he's already at the palace doors." he lied, Zhao turning around to face him, unable to see Sokka's face as he kept it down; his fake deep voice did not concern the Admiral.

"Well, we need to melt this stupid ice quickerǃ" he shouted at his men, before he placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you ready to fight?"

"Y-yes... sir." he assured him with a pained voice; Zhao smirked, but when their eyes met, he looked as if he had just shit his pants.

"Youǃ" he raised his voice, cut off by Sokka jabbing him his right hand, square in the jugular; he was thrown back, and Zhao's men turned around, not having much time to react, as he threw his boomerang right into one of their helmets, knocking said soldier out cold, before he grasped the arm of another as he tried to firebend at him.

"Kill the savageǃ" the Admiral screamed out, his voice suggesting the kind of terror that only Azula herself could induce; perhaps he had come to realise the danger he posed, having been trained by the Princess herself.

His men firebent toward Sokka, who jumped out of the way, kicking one of them in the shin before he grasped another by the arm with his left hand, causing his fire stream to fire up into the air. He still resisted, and the Water Tribe warrior decided to stop his efforts by tightening his grip with his hand, taking the other and hammering it right into the elbow joint, audibly ripping the tendons; he didn't just need to chi-block, not when so much was at stake.

He fell back onto the ground, dodging a fireball that was aimed at his head, before he tripped over one of the soldiers who had tried to lunge at him. He then picked up his boomerang from the ground, as it had been lying nearby, and threw it right into Zhao's face, though he covered it by raising his hand, which was slashed open instead. He screamed out in pain, and Sokka cocked a smirk; he wasn't playing around- he wanted some well-deserved retribution upon the Admiral. He didn't know how many people his barrage in Yu Dao killed, but he was sure whatever pain he was about to suffer would make up for it, at least in part.

"Does it hurt?" he quipped in response, before he leapt up, chi-blocking two soldiers who tried to tackle him; they lurched back, and when they tried to bend, they could only look on in fear.

"Sir, he's like the acrobatǃ" one of them shouted out, which didn't seem to soothe Zhao's fears one bit; he did respond to that warning, however, throwing a fire stream right into Sokka's chest; he was thrown back, and hit the door of the palace, which hurt his back.

He groaned, knowing that he ought to have been faster; he was just lucky Azula wasn't there to chide him, though he'd certainly prefer his assistance and to team up against Zhao, to finally punish him for his misdeeds against the world.

Though his back hurt, he was more than capable of using his legs, and rose back up to his feet, which seemed to surprise his enemies, "I'm wearing the same fucking fireproof armour as you idiotsǃ" he mocked them with as boisterous a tone possible, wanting to chide them for their ignorance, before he charged forward.

A fireball wasn't much when he could just block it with his forearm guards, and then he proceeded to chi-block one of them, paralysing his legs before he kneed him in the chin, throwing his helmet off his head. He weaved about, dodging a fire stream from one of the soldiers before he jabbed another in the leg, disabling it; he fell down to a knee and Sokka dropped down, using said soldier as cover, and made his comrades inadvertently firebend at him. He grunted with pain and the Water Tribesman grasped his helmet, taking it off the enemy's head, and placing it on his own.

"Thanks for the protection." he smirked at him, before jabbing him in the face, making him sputter out blood and fall back.

He then rose up to his feet, weaving out of the way of another volley of fireballs that was sent his way, this time by firebenders further away from him. He quickly realised that Zhao and his men were going to melt open the Spirit Oasis, and thus decided that preventing that was a far more reasonable thing to focus on than simply knocking out every man who came his way. He picked up his boomerang once more, and tossed it toward one of the men beside the Admiral, who was knocked out by the weapon striking his helmet. They immediately turned around and their attention was momentarily drawn to the Water Tribesman.

"Fireǃ" Zhao commanded, and with that, his men moved into form, sending out their attacks right toward him; though he was able to weave out of the way of one of them, he was thrown back off his feet once more by two fire streams striking him at once.

Skidding along the ice for a few moments, he grit his teeth, just glad he had the helmet on to protect his head from being violently slammed down into the ground. He felt a hand grasp his right, and he turned around, noting a soldier was trying to restrain him before making a final blow. Sokka was able to pull himself closer by abusing the grip his enemy held on his arm, before he tripped him over; the downside was that the soldier twisted the Water Tribesman's wrist in the process, though the pain was bearable. He rose back up, grasping the arm of a soldier who tried to firebend at him at point blank range; he then jabbed him in the gut with his right hand, blocking his bending.

He immediately grasped his opponent by the neck, holding him in a headlock, which made him a useful human shield against the inevitable firebending attacks that would come from Zhao's remaining men. He could clearly see that they were about to break into the Spirit Oasis, so he decided that he had to take a desperate measure; he blocked a fire stream with the soldier as his shield, and he grunted in pain.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not." he bluntly admitted, before he threw the soldier forward; he stumbled a little, and most importantly, got closer to the Admiral.

His men weren't able to hit Sokka while he was behind his 'shield', and he charged into the soldier once more, kicking him down and leaping over his back, ready to pounce on the soldiers. He picked up his boomerang which had been laying between them, and threw it into another soldier, who was only struck, but not knocked out by the weapon; he as clearly hurt though, and with only five more men by Zhao's side, he felt that he might have a chance to defeat them.

He drew out his bone dagger which he had hidden behind his cloak, and slashed it at the Admiral, hoping to kill him then and there; he wasn't fast enough to catch him, as he was forced back by a fire blast to his chest, once again. He didn't fall over, given the attack wasn't potent enough to force him over, but the next few attacks from his men did force him over, and he groaned with pain as his extremities were struck; the burns were light, but that made them worse- they stung all the more when they were only touching the skin for just a moment. He grit his teeth, and immediately moved to roll around, making sure that if any of his uniform had caught aflame, it wouldn't burn through.

Though he was on the ground, he was able to somersault backwards and dodge a fireball sent his way, and raised his arms to block a fire whip; it latched onto his arms, and he decided to let the attack to its work, and moved closer, which effectively made the enemy's attack pointless. He kicked the firebender in the shin before jabbing him in the neck, paralysing him. He then turned around and realised that Zhao had opened up the door to the Spirit Oasis; he hadn't stepped inside yet, but Sokka couldn't waste another moment. He raced toward the Admiral, hoping to grapple him and prevent him from getting any close to the spirits, but he was stopped by the man himself throwing a fire blast into Sokka's chest, throwing him back through into one of Zhao's own men. He grunted as his back struck a soldier, and the two of them fell down to the ground. Though he was a little disoriented, he didn't waste the opportunity to elbow the man he'd just fallen on top of in the nose; he cried out with pain and flinched as he reached for his face; the Water Tribesman then glanced around, trying to find his boomerang, which wasn't helped by the clunky helmet he was wearing on his head.

Before he could find his boomerang, and get after Zhao, he heard a shout of fear, "He's here!" one of the soldiers shouted out with fear before suddenly there was the sound of water splashing around; Sokka rose up slightly, and turned to face Aang, who was in a waterbending form- he immediately regretted wearing the firebender's helmet, as he was flung back by his friend's waterbending into a nearby wall, and frozen in place. He groaned with annoyance before he called out to his friend.

"Aang!" he shouted at him, "It's meǃ I'm in disguise!"

"Oh! Sorry, Sokka!" he apologised, sounding rather surprised to see him, before his eyes darted into the Spirit Oasis.

"Zhao's going for the spirits!" he shouted at his friend, who immediately took action, sprinting through the broken doorway before he sent a stream of water right toward the Admiral; though Sokka couldn't see what was going on, still stuck to the wall, he heard the sound of the Admiral crying out.

"Aang, let me loose." he asked of his friend, who immediately turned around and raised a hand, liquefying the water he'd used to freeze him to the wall; the Water Tribe warrior slumped down, taking a knee for a moment before he threw his helmet off of his head, knowing that he needed to be able to see properly for what came next.

He dashed over to his boomerang, before he followed the young Avatar into the spirit Oasis, where he could see Zhao, standing by the pool with his body frozen in place by a massing of ice, which looked to be a splash of water frozen by Aang's bending; the Admiral's firebending was not to be underestimated though, and he was already breaking free of the bonds he had been frozen in. He immediately drew out his boomerang and threw it, timing his throw so it'd reach Zhao as soon as he broke free. He bellowed out flames from his hands, before wringing himself free, aiming to throw a fireball into the Spirit Oasis; he didn't get the chance to send those flames out as the boomerang flew around and struck him in the back of the neck, disabling his bending. The Admiral didn't realise this however, and simply turned to face them with a triumphant look on his face.

"It's too late! The Water Tribes will be extinguished by my hand!" he declared before thrusting his hand forward, only for his jaw to drop, realising he couldn't firebend.

"Aha! You just got Long-Feng-ed!" he proclaimed proudly, the Admiral's eyes widening as he realised he couldn't attack the Moon Spirit, let alone defend himself from the wave of water Aang pulled out of either side of the oasis.

He threw the water over him and froze him in place; Zhao was just standing there, unable to do anything but raise his arms and grimace in fear as the Avatar ensnared him.

"It's over, Zhao. You can't harm the spirits." he warned him, "You nearly won today, but Sokka's smarter than you are tough." he declared, proudly smiling at his friend, who nodded before the two of them approached the Admiral.

"You wouldn't happen to have any way to properly shackle him with waterbending, would you?" he asked his friend, who shook his head.

"No. I can make an ice trap, but I'm pretty sure that a firebender like him could melt it." he conceded, "we'll just have to wait for the Chief's men to get here. A lot of them got beat up, but I was able to get past the men Zhao left in the palace." he explained, narrowing his eyes at the Admiral as they approached him, "Where's Azula? Did you hurt her?" he asked him; Sokka was a little surprised he hadn't asked the question himself, but he was a little concentrated on gloating over their victory to consider where his girlfriend was at that very moment.

"The Princess nearly killed me." he snarled, 'If the Water Tribe has half a brain, they'll throw her in prison for ramming my battleship into the walls."

"Wait... what?" Sokka asked him, turning his eyes to Aang; he'd heard a large bang earlier on, but he had assumed it had had something to do with the airship itself, not with a battleship hitting the walls of the city, "The battleship?"

"Yeah." he nodded, "I saw it coming toward the city on Appa. I'm pretty sure Katara went over to make sure the people onboard weren't a danger, and to find Azula." he explained, the Water Tribe warrior nodding.

"Ah, so they should be here pretty soon, I guess." he guessd, before he turned around, hearing the sound of footsteps in the distance, that even if Zhao was frozen, his men were still well and truly alive; a few of them were standing at the other end of the Spirit Oasis, and had taken firebending stances already.

"Aw, come on." Sokka groaned with frustration, picking up his boomerang, which Zhao luckily hadn't touched after it hit him in the head; he turned his eyes to Aang, who was already taking a waterbending form, "Let them have a wash, Aang." he suggested, his friend smirking before he drew out some water from the oasis and created two water whips in his arms.

He threw his hands forward, and moved in a swift, flowing motion to strike one of the men over, before whacking another into the water; he cried out as he fell down into the water, and Sokka turned his attention up to the entrance, where he could see a few more soldiers approaching from, taking form at once.

"Get me out of here!" Zhao shouted out, demanding his men to approach, and Sokka retaliated by suckerpunching the Admiral in the chin, and he was unable to react other than to wince as his head was throttled backward.

"Shut up, you're ruining my concentration." he snarled, before turning his gaze and around; he readied his boomerang in his right hand, taking aim at one of the soldiers that Aang wasn't close enough to to hit with his water whips.

He threw his boomerang out, and it flew through the air, striking one of the soldiers in the shoulder; he was thrown to the ground, but the hit didn't seem to knock him out. He did not relent to charge on ahead over the bridge, making his way toward the closest firebender, who tried to send a fire stream right into his face; the Water tribesman was expecting it, after all, and ducked under the attack, before he jammed his opponent in the legs, making him fall down onto his knees. He snarled with annoyance and raised his hand up, and tried to burn Sokka's face. He didn't get the chance, as his hands were both chi-blocked a moment later. Unlike when he sparred Azula, the firebenders he was facing were slower and weren't as cautious as she was when it came to his chi-blocking; he mightn't have been as good as Ty Lee, but he could certainly beat the men before him, especially given he had Aang's help.

He weaved out of the way of a fireball, and was forced to charge toward one of the firebenders, who was sending a volley of attacks his way; he was struck in the chest a few times, but the fireproof plating of the armour proved useful once again. In the cold, their firebending was a lot less potent and thus, less of a danger to him, especially given they probably had had very little time to adapt to the new environment they found themselves in. He heard water rushing out behind him and ducked down, watching as a stream of water smacked one of the soldiers in the chest, throwing him backwards. Sokka then took the opportunity to lunge forward and chi-block the man who had been attacking him, getting his right wrist first, before he kicked him in his shin. He fell to one knee, and the Water Tribe warrior cocked a smirk.

"Sweet dreams." he mocked his opponent, before flicking his steel-plated toe tips into the firebender's head; he was out cold at once, and the warrior immediately tensed up his stance, ready to face off whoever came his way next.

He jumped down to the ground, dodging a cutting wave of flames, before he was forced to use the unconscious soldier as a shield against a barrage of fireballs sent out by three soldiers at once. He realised that his boomerang was beside them, so he'd need to beat them to retrieve it; he whistled, catching Aang's attention, and the young Avatar raised his hands up, creating a wave which pushed right down the length of the Spirit Oasis, before it spurt out and caught the soldiers, ensnaring them as it solidified into ice.

He approached the group, and eyed his boomerang, before he noted that there were a few more soldiers coming up their way; they seemed to have come from inside the palace, and must have been the ones his friend had mentioned earlier. They were almost entirely non-benders, unlike the men he had just been fighting, and had a number of pikes and swords as they approached the entrance to the Spirit Oasis; they were clearly injured from the fighting, and he assumed that the Chief's men would soon arrive and capture the Fire Nation forces, though he guessed that they had a little bit more than usual on their plate with a battleship ramming into the walls.

He dashed over to his boomerang, and grasped it, throwing it toward one of the soldiers who approached; he was struck in the head and knocked out cold, dropping his sword- Sokka didn't know how to use a sword, but he was pretty sure he'd be better off with a weapon than none at all. One of the soldiers preemptively charged at him with a pike, and the Water Tribesman stepped out the way, tripping the man over; he stumbled and fell into the water behind him, which made the Water Tribesman let out a little laugh.

"Seriously?" he asked them, before he shook his head, gesturing for more of them to approach, "Are you going to run for your lives or have a swim?" he asked them, the soldiers seeming unfazed by his humoured commentary.

Two of them charged at him, wielding jian swords, and he ducked under a sword swing, before jabbing its wielder in the gut; he blocked one of his chi-paths, making his legs buckle underneath him; the other soldier tried to stab Sokka, but he was able to kick the blade with his boot, forcing the soldier to step back. The Water Tribe warrior took the opportunity and raised his leg right up, kicking the enemy square in the chest. He turned around momentarily and realised that Aang, in focusing on the firebenders who were trying to reach Zhao, hadn't been paying much attention to the Admiral himself, who was trying to firebend again; chi-blocking by boomerang usually didn't last too long, while wasn't good, given that his friend still had to defend himself, let alone consider their enemy going for the spirits once again.

He didn't know what to do other than to shout to his friend, "Aangǃ Stop Zhaoǃ" he tried to get his attention; the young Avatar immediately moved himself around, reaching into the water beside him, before he threw it over at Zhao once more, freezing him again.

Sokka would have been relieved by this, but his friend was forced further on defending himself; the Water Tribesman too faced the threat of the Fire Nation soldiers who were approaching him still, and he was forced to weave out of the way of a sword that was swung his way. He jabbed the wielder of said blade in the arm, and chi-blocked it; his right hand went limp, and he struggled to retain a hold on his sword. The warrior tried to jab him again, but he was forced to move away as one of his comrades swung his own sword down, nearly slashing across Sokka's arms. He dropped down and made a sweeping kick, tripping the soldier over, before he punched him right in the face; he sputtered blood from his mouth, and slumped down onto the icy ground.

The Water Tribesman was forced to duck down once more as a pike was thrust his way; he grasped the shaft of the weapon, and jabbed the blunt end into the wielder's side, making him groan with pain. He then ripped the pike out of his hands and swung the sharp end around to whack him in his helmet; he was thrown to the ground, and with that, Sokka moved forward, knowing he would need his boomerang if he hoped to defeat the other firebenders. He swung the end of the pike down onto a sword, getting it out of his way, before he spun the pike around and threw it at a soldier's head; only the polearm hit him, but that was enough of a distraction to allow him to lean down and draw out his boomerang. He proceeded to throw it around, hitting another soldier in the head, the weapon flying back into his hand; he then leapt forward and jammed him a few times in the gut, blocking his chi paths. He fell to his knees, and Sokka didn't waste a moment to throw his weapon again.

"Take that!" he grinned as he realised that he was winning; the next soldier to be hit was thrown back and slipped over, falling onto the icy ground, and the one after him found himself tripped over by the boomerang hitting his shin.

He glanced back and realised that Aang was still fighting the firebenders, and his fears seemed to be quickly becoming a reality. The Avatar was fighting his hardest, freezing soldiers in place, dispersing flames with his waterbending and sending out air blasts to knock them away, but he couldn't fight indefinitely, let alone focus on Zhao, who was quickly melting himself free. He ran, as fast as he could, with his boomerang in hand, toward the Admiral; he couldn't let the spirits be killed- he couldn't fail. He was the one who was meant to be good and righteous, unlike the pompous shitheads who lived in the very place in which he stood. He was no saviour, that was Aang's job, but he was going to do what was right, and if consciously killing Admiral Zhao was what it took to be right, then he'd have to do it. He wondered what his father would have to say; he remembered how he felt about what Katara did the Southern Raiders. This was the same thing; he would not disapprove, not in the slightest.

"Zhao!" he shouted out, getting the Admiral's attention; he was forced to weave under a fire stream that was sent his way, but he continued racing toward the bridge, hoping to get over to the spirit pool before the Admiral could make a move.

He was yet to be free of his icy bonds, but flames were coming out of his hands; he snarled with anger and forcefully broke himself free, and the Water Tribesman still wasn't close enough to get an assuredly hit. Despite his fears, Sokka threw his boomerang toward him, and it struck him square in the chest; the blow didn't seem to injure him, but simply gave the Water Tribe warrior time- the precious time he'd need to stop him. He charged at Zhao, who threw a fire stream his way; though it hurt to get blasted in the chest by another fire stream, forcing him to the ground, he knew that if he was firebending toward him, he wasn't attacking the spirits. He heard Aang cry out, obviously worried about his friend.

"Sokka!" he called out his name before he threw a water whip toward the Admiral, who was tripped over.

The Water Tribesman grit his teeth, and pulled himself up to his feet, drawing his bone dagger out once more; he ran toward Zhao, but was forced to cower down from the fire stream that one of the Admiral's men sent his way. He somersaulted forward onto the grass, and then moved right in front of the pond where the two koi fish were swimming. Another fire blast came his way, and he raised his arms to block the Admiral's attack.

"No." he snarled, readying his dagger, "You don't get to win."

"Die." Zhao simply told him, charging two fire streams in his hand- he only had a moment before he'd be flung over into the water by his attack.

He lunged forward to attack the Admiral, but instead of stabbing him in the throat, as he had hoped to do, his enemy cowered down in fear. Sokka didn't realise why he did that until his entire field of view was covered by a massive blue fire stream; his eyes widened with awe, and he realised what had just happened- Azula had arrived, and Zhao was doomed because of it. He watched as his opponent scampered away, running for the bridge; he reached for his boomerang, which was on the ground nearby, and both he and Aang moved to attack him at once. They weren't as fast as the Princess however, who, standing at the other end of the Spirit Oasis, shot out a lightning bolt from her finger tip and struck the Admiral square in the chest, throwing him back into the water that surrounded the small grassy island.

He looked over at his unconscious body, watching it sink into the water; he narrowed his eyes, wondering if letting him drown and thus die would be a fair fate. Sokka, not an arbiter of justice by any means, decided that he'd let Aang choose. The young Avatar pushed some soldiers out of the way before he approached the spirit pool, letting Azula, Katara and Ty Lee, who had just stepped inside, to deal with the other soldiers. He looked down at the spirits with relief, before he reached over to the water nearby, and raised his hand up, bringing up Zhao's unconscious body, the fact that he didn't seem to be dead surprised the Water Tribesman. He was sure that after betraying Azula, she would have killed him.

He turned around, and saw as the others demolished what remained of the soldiers, Azula knocking them out with fire blasts, Ty Lee paralysing every man she could reach and Katara freezing them in place with her waterbending. He was so relieved to see his girlfriend, but he knew that she had some questions to answer; the fact Zhao had even gotten to the Spirit Oasis in the first place was something she needed to explain- he was under the presupposition that she'd had everything under control, and it clearly showed that she didn't. Once the enemy were all but beaten, Sokka sighed, running his hand through his messed up hair, and slowly moved toward Azula; the leg that he had gotten one of the warriors to hit certainly wasn't the thing that was hurting the most at that point. His hands were probably burned, not to mention he probably had bruises all over his chest, though he hadn't had any time to check for that specifically.

"What..." he mumbled, Azula staring him down, and deciding to approach as he stopped walking, "What happened to you? How... how did Zhao even get here?"

"He found us out." she simply told him, before she grimaced, "I failed. I had to ram his battleship into the walls, and luckily, that got Katara's attention." she explained, looking at him with an ashamed face, her eyes darting downward- she usually didn't seem to openly regret her actions, but it seemed that day was different, "I came as quickly as I could. It seems that you and Aang... had it under control."

"Not really." he shook his head, before turning his gaze back to Zhao's unconscious body, "I nearly got him before he even got inside... but I'm not that fast."

"You did good, Sokka." she assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder; he cringed and looked away.

"Why did you do it?" he asked her, knowing what the answer would be.

"Because I thought I was right. But I wasn't... again." she conceded honestly; she could admit her faults, but that was only because she had failed so badly before- Zuko was the Fire Lord, after all, and that fact was an ever present reminder, "I knew I shouldn't have taken you with me, and I'm glad. I don't know what he would have done to you."

The Water Tribe warrior nodded, understanding that she was right in that initial presumption, though he understood that the whole plan was flawed to begin with; she had thought Zhao would not see through her, when he had.

"You shouldn't've gone, Azula." he simply told her, before stepping past her; the Princess turned around to face him, seeming confused as to where he was going.

"What are you doing, Sokka?"

"Going to see Arnook. Hopefully they won't have you imprisoned." he noted, the warrior's eyes narrowing in thought, "What about your guards?"

"They're probably in shackles as we speak. There were a lot of soldiers at the walls." she admitted with a serious face, "I need to speak with the Chief."

"No, no, you don't." he stressed, raising a hand, "I can't have you there. You literally rammed a battleship into his city's walls."

"I-" she began before clenching her fists, "I need to free my men." she declared, the Water Tribesman nodding; he knew that, and that's half the reason he was going to see the Chief.

If he wasn't worrying about their fates, he might have just told everyone to get on Appa, fly back to their igloo, get their things and fly south; the guards had served his girlfriend well, and he knew that to betray them and leave them there would be a grievous dishonour.

"I'll organise that, Azula." he assured her, before turning his gaze over to Katara, who was looking at him with a worried face.

"S-Sokka." she whispered his name, before running over to him, hugging him tightly, "You look really hurt."

"Well, I am." he noted, "You wouldn't happen to be able to heal me, could you?" he asked his sister, who nodded.

"I can, we should get you back to the igloo if we're going to do that." he noted, the Water Tribe warrior shaking his head.

"No, I need to speak to Arnook." he argued, his sister shaking her head.

"No, no, I'll handle it. Maybe I can get Pakku to help." she argued, making him scoff.

"Yeah, I doubt he'll be much help when it comes to Azula." he noted, gesturing back toward his girlfriend, who was still standing there with a solemn, pained look on her face; she was not angry at all, which surprised him- she just looked guilty over all that had happened.

He raised his hand to his face, and realised how sore he was; he fell down to one knee, and he glanced up at his sister, who reached out to the water beside them, and immediately pulled a stream over to him, covering his forehead with it.

"Urgh." he groaned, before he felt an unusual sensation across his face and into his head; it was like the opposite of a headache, and it made no sense, but he smiled, feeling the pain recede away, at least in that area of his body, "Th-thanks, Katara."

"No, Thank you, Sokka." she assured him, "Thanks for beating up Pakku a second time. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do this." she smiled at him brightly, before running the water down over his chest plate; Sokka turned around and saw Aang approaching them, standing up beisde Azula, who watched silently as he was healed.

"Are you... how much did they hurt you, Sokka?" he asked the Water Tribesman, who chuckled.

"Ah, it's not that bad." he assured him, making a small smile, "That one explosion was worse."

"Do we need to get the Water tribe warriors to help deal with all the soldiers here?"the young Air Nomad asked him, the Water Tribesman shaking his head.

"They'll be here soon enough." he stressed, before turning his gaze over to Ty Lee, who was standing by the spirit pool, over in the distance; she glanced back up to face them and made a small smile- the spirits were safe, after all, and that was what counted.

"How are we going to get the Chief to understand all this?" Aang asked them, Katara and Azula both cringing at the question.

"You're the Avatar. Persuasion is one of your powers." the Princess suggested, making the boy look at her with a confused face.

"No it isn't." he stressed in return; the Water Tribe warrior snickered, remembering the feast they had gotten at Kyoshi Island, as well as all the respect and awe he had been showered with.

"My full stomach on Kyoshi Island would like to disagree with you there." he argued, the young Avatar looking at him with a perplexed face.

"Am I asking Chief Arnook for a feast because the Moon Spirit didn't die?" he asked, making Sokka chuckle, pulling himself up as Katara moved her hands away from him; his pains were soothed, and he felt confident enough to make one little quip.

"I love food, but you know, that brotherly bond I have with the Captain means so much more to be than that." he declared, Azula obviously picking up on his sarcasm.

"If he heard you say that, he might just shed a tear." she argued, before narrowing her eyes at Katara, "Please, go make sure my men don't end up in a Water Tribe prison. I have a duty to them."

"I don't think they're going to be as inclined to believe that." she admitted, before she nodded, "But I'll try."

"And if you don't succeed, we'll break them out of prison." Sokka argued, before wincing as he tried to get up, "Okay, maybe not me. But I assume Ty Lee might be able to help."

"I will." she assured them, "They're my friends now. I don't want to let them be stuck here."

"Oh, so did you get the 'beat you up until you're best friends' treatment from the guards to?" he asked her, making the acrobat chuckle.

"I wouldn't say best friends." she admitted, "But I know they're good guys. All they wanted to do was help Azula... and now look what's happened."

"Without their help we wouldn't have taken control of the boat, let alone got past that wall." Azula argued, before narrowing her eyes, "They did their jobs today." she noted, before turning her gaze down to her boyfriend, "As did you, Sokka."

"I wish I didn't have to." he sighed, before leaning back, "Can you heal my leg too?'

"Wait, your leg?" Katara raised a brow, "How'd you hurt that?"

"Asked a warrior to whack it so I could more convincingly pretend to be one of Zhao's men." he clarified, making his sister roll her eyes, before she drew the water out once more.

"You're an idiot, Sokka."

"Yeah, an idiot who just saved the Water Tribes... though Aang did most of the muscle-work."

"I came just in time." he admitted, before smiling at him, "You deserve some rest."

"And some jerky." he added, eyeing around to not see any willing volunteers, before he pouted slightly, "Please?"

"Urgh." his girlfriend rolled her eyes, before she paced off toward the destroyed doorway of the Spirit Oasis.

"Where are you going?" Katara asked her, the Princess gesturing outside, toward Appa, who was idly about the exterior of the palace.

"Well, the jerky isn't going to get itself, is it?" she asked, the Water tribe girl shaking her head; Sokka pursed his lips upward before chuckling to himself.

"Jerky with legs." he murmured under his breath, making his sister look at him with a slightly confused expression; obviously it was as weird thing to say, but all he could think about was the jerky walking on over to him, offering itself up as a sacrifice to the victorious warrior.

"Isn't that just seals?" she asked him, making him narrow his eyes at her; that had to be the most absurd thing she'd ever said, given that he was certain seals just had flippers and a tail.

"In what cursed world do seals have legs?" he asked her, making Katara grimace as she realise the absurdity of what she had just said.

"Pretend I didn't say anything."

"Seals with legs." he murmured to himself, "Wouldn't that just be a really fat dog?"

"I don't want to think about that, Sokka." she shook her head, before turning her gaze over toward Appa, "Does she usually get you things?"

"Nope." he admitted, "But, she knows I've done a good job." he proudly added, "And that I was right."

"Don't get too cocky." she warned him, "Otherwise, you'll... well, I don't know what'll happen. It can't be good."

"Something something Zuko." he mumbled, making her narrow her eyes at him.

"Do you think she's going to want to compromise with him?" she asked, Ty Lee clearing her throat.

"Not at all." she clarified, "It'd be best if we just avoid that bridge until we really need to cross it."

"You don't want... Mai to get hurt because of all this, right?" Sokka asked her, the acrobat nodding.

"I don't."

"Well, I certainly know somebody's going to hurt, and I have a feeling it's the guy who's even worse than that shithead." he gestured over to Zhao's unconscious body.

"Stand back if you know what's good for you!" he heard the distinctive sound of Azula's voice, loud and agitated, in the distance.

Aang and Ty Lee immediately dashed over to the entrance of the Spirit Oasis, and turned back their way, "Oh, it's the waterbenders."

"Tell them if they attack her, I'll kill the Moon Spirit myself." he quipped, making Aang's eyes widen.

"Wait, what?" he asked him, the Water Tribesman cringing.

"Ah, no, that's way too extreme a bluff." he conceded, before turning his eyes to Katara, "Please, go do some persuading. I know you like to rant at people for being mean or stupid, so... go on." he gestured toward the entrance.

"I'm warning you!" the Princess shouted out once more as she stepped back toward the entrance, a fireball in one hand and the jerky in another.

His sister stepped forward, and his girlfriend turned around, noting that she was approaching, "Ah, finally, do the thing again." she requested, making Katara roll her eyes.

"I'm not attacking them." she retorted, before stepping forward, "Please, stop. We need to speak to the Chief, right now." she spoke out toward the waterbenders, who were all standing in form, ready to pounce their way.

Azula strode over toward Sokka, and threw the jerky into his hands; he pulled himself up slightly, "Well, I guess we might be going to prison." he noted, making her roll her eyes.

"It isn't the first time we've been in danger of that." she argued, before she knelt down beside him, "Don't worry, Aang and Katara will be able to handle it."

"You're telling me not to worry?" he asked her, genuinely confused by her words, "You look like you're one water whip away from losing your shit." he noted, making her roll her eyes.

"Your bluntness continues to surprise me." she noted, before reaching forward, offering him a hand, "Let's get you to an actual healer."

"And what if the soldiers try to attack you?"

"Then I'll beat them and take you anyway. Nobody's going to refuse me." she declared proudly, before he accepted her hand; it was the first time they'd made physical contact since they kissed after he'd been paralysed- he missed that moment, and he missed that time.

He didn't know if he could be sure that she'd trust him to be by her side, to fight with her and put himself in danger, just as he couldn't trust her to just up and leave him again. He wanted to, he really did, but he knew that was wishful thinking. So, Sokka, having had enough bullshit for one day, decided to cut to the chase.

"Azula." he narrowed his eyes at her, "If it was me or beating him, what would you choose?"

She looked at him with slight confusion, before she looked away, turning her eyes to face Aang, "I don't need to beat him." she admitted, "So, that's a sutpid question, Sokka."

"You know what I mean." he told her with a tense voice, raising a finger toward her face, "I know you think you can get everything you want, but the world doesn't work like that."

"I know, Sokka." she admitted, before she sighed, "Fuck you." she snarled, making him laugh; he was not expecting to be insulted, but he would take it, just to hear what had to follow.

"Oh, and why am I in the wrong here?"

"Why'd I have to fall in love with you?" she asked him, flicking his hand away, "You and your stupid smartness." she narrowed her eyes at him, her glare seeming weirdly cold yet familiar, "I wish I could have remained ignorant, just so I didn't have to see the world for what it is."

"If you didn't... then you'd be the other Azula." he noted, before narrowing his eyes at her, "You're not her anymore. Not really, even if you do stupid things like trying to fool a man with a wish to destroy the world into being your friend." he argued, making her chuckle.

"Well, from the perspective of some in the Fire Nation, Aang's that man."

"Well, everything's just a matter of perspective, isn't it?" he scoffed, before glared her down, remembering what she had said, "And there's no reason why you had to fall in love with me, Azula." he argued, "Shit happens and love happens."

"Wow, that's the greatest philosophy I've ever heard." she sarcastically quipped, "Perhaps you're thinking of becoming a guru and not the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe."

"I'm not." he assured her, "But I do love you, Azula. Just don't do anything stupid again, please. You're meant to be the smart one."

"I am the smart one, but you've got to hit me every once in a while to make sure I'm right." she argued, making him purse his lips upward.

"Oh, do I?" he asked her, before he grasped her by the shoulder, "This is for the chi-blocking." he whispered to her, before elbowing her in the gut, and tripping her over as she lurched forward, stumbling over and falling into the pool of water.

"What?!" Aang turned around, his eyes filled with fear, "Sokka, what'd you do?!" he asked him with a panicked voice, before Azula rose up out of the water, her hair over her face.

"Why is this water so warm? It's like I'm in a spa." she noted with a surprisingly pleased voice, the Water Tribe warrior raising a finger.

"Spirit magic." he answered her question, before turning his gaze over toward the waterbenders who his sister was still trying to reason with, "You better get out, or I think they're going to waterbend you out."

"Oh, no, I think I'm just going to enjoy myself. I haven't had a proper bath in days." she argued, making him roll his eyes; even she could be playful at times, making him question if he was really 'the immature one' in their relationship.

"Get out of the spirit pool. I know I tripped you in there, but that's because you were being a shitty girlfriend and not because I wanted you to clean yourself." he clarified, making her roll her eyes, before she ran her hands through her hair, getting it out of her face.

"That sounds like it'll be a challenge, Sokka." she noted, "Ice is slippery, you know that." she excused herself from getting out while she floated there.

"Aang, please just bend her out of there, and bend the water out of her clothes for measure." he asked, the young Avatar shaking his head.

"Sometimes I don't get you, Sokka." he murmured, before reaching his hands forward.

"Don't you dare waterbend me, Aang. I'm relaxing."

"It won't be relaxing if some unhappy waterbenders come in here and freeze you in there." he warned her, before raising his hands up, raising her up, along with a mass of water, over to the ledge; he did so slowly, to make sure she was held in place, before dropping her down, and dispensing of the water.

"You know, after all crap I had to go through to get here, you could have at least given me the chance to have the slightest relaxation." she argued, the young Avatar shrugging his shoulders, before they all turned their attention ahead of them, seeing Chief Arnook and Princess Yue, both of them looking into the Spirit Oasis and noting all of the unconscious and beaten Fire Nation soldiers.

"By the spirits." he gasped, turning to face his daughter, "These men desecrated our most sacred place." he grimaced, the Water Tribe warrior clearing his throat.

"We stopped them." he simply spoke up, "The Princess included."

He turned his eyes toward her, and narrowed them, slightly confused by her dishevelled appearance, "Did she get thrown in?"

"Yes." she confirmed, side-eyeing her boyfriend, who held back a laugh.

"You should get checked by the healers." he warned her, "Unusual things can happen to people who go in there."

"Well, I feel fine." she argued, before smirking, "Wait, that mean the spirits don't have a problem with me, doesn't it?"

"Uh... I believe you'd be right." he conceded, making Sokka roll his eyes.

"That does not mean what you did today was smart by any stretch of the word." he warned her, before narrowing his eyes at the Chief, "So, are you here to arrest her?"

"The Princess is not a guest of our tribe, and nor is the Fire Nation welcome here." he acknowledged, before placing his hands together, "But I see that you've stopped somebody far more of a threat than yourself." he observed, "I understand what happened today was a mistake, and that mistake has had costs. You will have to answer for the crimes of your people."

"How?" she simply asked him, the Chief narrowing his eyes.

"I believe you can provide us with things. Resources that might suffice to repay the damages you've incurred." he decided, the Princess crossing her eyes, momentarily looking toward her boyfriend, before she pursed her lips upward.

"Oh, I don't think my subjects in the Earth Kingdom are going to like me taxing them to give a handout to the nation least affected by the war." she admitted, "Would you like to tell those people that your grievances are more important than their own?"

"Your people did that." he simply stated the fact of the matter, "Just like your ship destroyed the walls and you and your men injured the noble warriors of my tribe."

"Well, I don't hold personal responsibility for what occurred in the Earth Kingdom over the past hundred years, but I hope to redress those issues." she argued, before crossing her arms, "You know what... I'll accept your demand, but on one condition."

"What is that?"

"That you relinquish all sovereign authority and claim over the rule of the Southern Water Tribe, indefinitely." she demanded, making Sokka snort, covering his mouth; he knew she wanted to help his tribe, but he didn't think she'd be so forward.

"I what?" he scoffed, the Princess crossing her arms.

"Do you want your reparations or what?"

"Uh..." he mumbled, before his daughter tapped him on the shoulder.

"That is a fair proposition, Father. She simply wants her allies to have the dignity that we hold dear to our own tribe." she argued, Arnook nodding.

"Y-yes... you're right." he agreed, "With those promised reparations for these damages, I will elt you and your friends travel free from here."

"I have one... minor request." she asked, the Chief furrowing a brow.

"Your guards?"

"Yes. I'd like them to be able to take a steamer from the battleship and sail south." she simply asked, "I require their services, and they have served me honourably. They hold no ill will against your tribe, and everything they did was under my command. The harm they committed, that was my doing."

"There are bruises and burns, but no man has died today." he admitted, before eyeing up toward the spirit pool, where Zhao's unconscious body lay, "Unless he did?"

"No, he will live to pay for his crimes, however you see fit, Chief... uh, nobody told me your name." she admitted somewhat awkwardly

"Arnook." Sokka clarified, making her nod.

"Chief Arnook." she acknowledged, "I am glad you were so... amenable to my offers. I do apologise for what occurred today, but I must stress, I am here to fight for peace. I do not mean to harm your people, despite the things I have heard of your backwards culture."

"Our what?"

"Treating women like dirt is not something that even the Fire Nation tolerates." she argued, "And the Southern Water Tribe, they're disgusted by your culture, though I'm sure Sokka already made that clear." she added, before stepping forward, "Though I see a woman before me, I assume she's your daughter?"

"I am." Yue confirmed, "You're... not what I expected."

"Well, people tend to think that about me when I'm not coming to destroy them." she argued, before turning to face her boyfriend, "Have you been dispelling rumours about me, or what?"

"I've tried." he admitted honestly, before turning his gaze to Aang, "But nobody really believes us."

"I think she just proved the stories true." Arnook admitted, "Not that I blame you for what you did. That man was going to try and kill the spirits, and you rightly defended them."

"Well, I'm not stupid, Chief. I know that those beings hold control over the forces of our world. Their power ought not to be reckoned with." she argued, Sokka stepping forward, having something in on his mind.

"And now, we can all forget that the spirits were ever there, and hopefully, nobody ever tries this again." he suggested, the Chief nodding.

"I believe that is best." he acknowledged, "Thank you for protecting the spirits. It was rather dangerous of you to face off all those firebenders... I can see you've been injured."

"I've faced worse." he admitted, thinking back to when he had nearly drowned, back when he had just met and fought his girlfriend, "And I have a feeling I'll face something similar soon enough." he admitted, turning his eyes to Azula, who tilted her chin up, obviously understanding what he was referencing.

"Well, the Dai Li aren't going to overthrow themselves and bring peace to the Earth Kingdom, are they?"


	19. Chapter 19

Azula could feel the sun rising on the horizon beside her, and like on any other day, she awoke, pulling her head up from the sleeping roll and glancing over toward the horizon, where the sun was obscured by a massing of clouds; it was foggy and cold out, though that didn't surprise her, given that they had only been flying for the night. The day prior, she had not had such an uneventful waking; she had been abruptly woken from her sleep by Ty Lee's cries and shouts, as they had been thrown in prison by Zhao. Just thinking about the Admiral made her snarl, and she took a deep breath, wanting to remain calm; she knew that he was imprisoned in the Northern Water Tribe, along with the crew of his ship.

She felt a tinge of guilt over having so many innocent crew members imprisoned, but she knew that that was the price she would have to pay to ensure the Northern Water Tribe didn't just imprison her for being demanding of them when she was clearly the one in the wrong. Her guards were safe however, and had set off around the same time they had on a steamer, though she was sure it would take them a few more days longer to reach the base. She was looking forward to both a spa treatment and getting to work on doing her job, or rather, the role she had assumed for herself. She had an army to command, and a country to liberate; that wasn't even considering the fact that she, Aang and the others were going to head east to Ba Sing Se, and that the young Avatar had to learn earthbending. Due to her actions at the North Pole, his waterbending training had been cut short, but he and Katara had already learnt much from their master, and she was sure that they would be able to continue working on their forms and techniques without his guidance.

She made a little yawn, and covered her mouth when doing so, not wanting to wake up anybody else on the saddle. She had had a fair sleep, the familiarity of Appa's saddle being something that brought her comfort, even if Sokka was turned away from her. His relative coldness and distance made a lot of sense, and she continued to feel guilty over it; she knew what she had done wrong, and no matter how much she tried to prove her worth, she knew that wouldn't really help her. Proving her worth was the whole justification she had used to make her moves on Zhao; they could have just as comfortably left him alone and just hoped that the Northern Water Tribe would tolerate her presence there with Aang. What she had really needed to do was be a good girlfriend, but she'd failed at that, even after all he had done for her.

She looked over toward her boyfriend, and wondered how long it would take for him to accept her again, and to trust her just as he had for all those months. She wished that she didn't want the throne so bad that she was willing to ignore his wishes to get it, but she did; it was at the very core of her being, a desire drilled into her by her father as a young child. There was no getting rid of it, even if she had dispensed with much of his ignorant worldview. Realising that she was a descendant of Avatar Roku didn't really make much of a difference in the end; it made her feel a little more weird about her relationship with Aang, but other than that, it didn't affect how she saw herself or her role to play in the battles to come. The throne would be hers, and she would fix the world; becoming the greatest Fire Lord in history had always been her aspiration, it was simply what that meant that had changed.

She decided that if she was going to be stuck on Appa's saddle for the next few days that she ought to find something to do; she realised that she really didn't have much around, other than perhaps mending her clothes, or even Sokka's, which had been damaged during their fight. Of course, that was his Fire Nation outfit, the one he had originally been given in Ba Sing Se, and not his Water Tribe parka and tunic which he usually wore; she was wearing her own parka, having exchanged it with her armour. Ty Lee was still wearing her warmer, layered robes which she had received before they left for the North Pole, and she understood why she would need them. Azula was only just pulling herself out of the saddle, and yet, she was already feeling chilly. She immediately picked up her parka, and pulled it over her Water Tribe robes, which were well suited for the climate, but not as good as the thick fur parka. She would almost say she missed its warmth and soft touch, having not worn it since just after Kyoshi Island, as the weather in the Earth Kingdom was substantially warmer than anywhere around the poles.

She knew that the first thing she ought to address was breakfast; she was feeling rather hungry, having expended a lot of energy the day prior fighting both the men on Zhao's ship and then the Water Tribe forces that defended the walls of the city. She immediately pulled herself out of the sleeping roll, closing it back up to make sure Sokka didn't get cold from all the cold air coming in; she then turned her gaze over toward the food bag, which sat by the rear of the saddle, which luckily for her, was in arm's reach. She picked it up, dragging it over to her, making sure to do so slowly, as not to make any loud or sudden noises that would wake the others. Reaching inside, she picked out some seal jerky, which she knew might annoy Sokka, but she was hungry, and couldn't be bothered preparing any food, even if it was technically possible with the help of either Aang or Katara's waterbending. She wasn't going to wake them up to go draw some sea water out into their pot, and then sit around and heat the pot up without burning either herself or the saddle. It just seemed like to much of a challenge, so she resigned to taking the jerky, knowing that her boyfriend might grumble at her about it.

She bit into the jerky, crossing her legs as she sat there beside the sleeping roll, eyeing Sokka as he slept there peacefully; Katara's healing had helped him with his injuries sustained from fighting Zhao's men, but they had actually had to go to a proper healer, who wasn't all too pleased about having a Princess of the Fire Nation in her tent. She healed the Water Tribe warrior nonetheless, having no qualms in knowing exactly how hard he and fought, and why he had; the Princess didn't want to tell that many people about the spirits and what Zhao had intended, but Aang decided to go on a speel about it just to assure her that the Water Tribe teen was indeed a 'good guy' as he had called him. She knew that her boyfriend was a good person, far better than herself; if she was really good, then she wouldn't have done what she had. A good person wasn't conceited and lied about their intentions to trick a man into befalling his own doom; if she was any good, she would have attacked him on the spot when she met him at the compound, and declared him a failure for his actions at Yu Dao. That was the fact of the matter, but it would be a little rich of her to call him a failure after what she had done herself.

She sighed, knowing that even if the jerky did actually taste quite nice, it really didn't distract that well from what she had done; her failures as an individual seemed to be mounting up, and she couldn't deny them. She could deny her incompetence when the Water Tribe warriors sunk her ship, because she had not known of their intent, and she could deny her weakness when a few Earth Kingdom deserters nearly killed her and Sokka, because they were both tired and outnumbered. She couldn't as easily deny her failings when it came to Yu Dao, let alone Zhao; it was her choice to try and trick him, and that choice had led to failure. The choice to ignore Sokka's wishes had led to her fears, and perhaps his own, becoming a reality; she hated that it had gone the way it had, but she knew she couldn't change it. She had to move forward, and continue on her march to ultimate goal; if she gave up again because of the pigheaded Admiral's actions, she'd never forgive herself.

Azula heard a yawn, and realised it had come from Ty Lee, who was rolling about in her sleeping roll, obviously just about to wake up; she decided that she'd wait for her to get up, and then perhaps they could have a conversation; she didn't know about what, but the Princess was sure she needed to start speaking or the thoughts she didn't want to speak about were going to come right out of her head like blood from an open wound. She was going crazy thinking just about everything that had happened, and how her actions had led to needless suffering, both for Sokka and for the Northern Water Tribe as a whole. The acrobat pulled herself up from her sleeping roll, and blinked a few times, before she turned her gaze to Azula, immediately realising that her friend was awake.

"Oh, hi, Zula." she addressed her, the Princess raising a finger to her lips, "Oh... sorry." she lowered her voice to a whisper, "We can't speak loud when everybody's asleep."

"Yeah, I thought it'd be obvious." the Princess rolled her eyes, before she took a bite from the jerky.

Her friend wiped the sleep from her eyes, before she shuffled over to sit beside her; Ty Lee was obviously interested in what she was thinking about, but she wasn't going to budge. Her innermost thoughts were going to remain just that, no matter how interested she might be in them. She didn't need a friend to critique her thoughts about herself; she already was criticising her own stupidity, and didn't need any commentary from the acrobat, no matter the angle. She tilted her head slightly, and looked out over the foggy, dim horizon, which obscured the morning sun, the light of which glimmered through the gray haze.

"It's only been a day." she mumbled, "A day." she repeated to stress the point; what they had experienced would not leave their collective consciousness anytime soon.

"And has everything changed?" she asked her, knowing that in some ways it had, although for the most part everything was the same as it had been.

The world still feared and despised Azula for the monster they thought her to be, and she continued to struggle with Sokka over what was right and wise, even though it seemed he was winning that argument, whether she'd openly admit it or not.

"Not really." she noted, almost sounding saddened by that, "Sokka's... not happy."

"I don't blame him. He's afraid. Fear holds people back. It used to hold me back, but I couldn't let it control me. It's my weapon." she explained, her friend's eyes widening.

"Fear... fear of what?"

"It doesn't matter what." she snarled, before crossing her arms, "Plus, you're smart. I'm pretty certain you can figure it out." she added with a snide whisper, Ty Lee turning away, almost in shame.

"Y-yeah... I think I do." she whispered softly, before placing her hands together, "I hope you find another way."

"Why?" she asked her, honestly confused why she'd want that; fear was a weapon, and anger was one too; she couldn't really control either emotion, but fear was something that could be sated by power, while anger seemed to only grow when she lacked it.

"Because you're more than your fears." she argued, raising her chin up, "You're Azula."

"And Azula is afraid of things. I'm a human being; even I can admit that now."

"What, you used to not even think you were human?" she asked her, amused by the suggestion.

"I thought I was above things like fear. My father's 'wisdoms', if you could even call them that, they told me to never be afraid, to always take control and power over every situation I found myself in. I was in denial, really. I'm not afraid of him, not anymore."

"Why?"

"Because he can't take away his love and adoration. I don't need it... and I don't want it. He just wants to control me." she argued, narrowing her eyes, "That's what he probably wanted all along, and I bought into it."

"Because you wanted him to love you?"

"I don't think Father is capable of love." she argued, "I mean, once I thought I wasn't... so maybe he is. But I doubt it. He just thinks strength, power and control can make up for the fact my mother left him. He probably thinks she despised her, and if... well, how she treated me was any indication, she probably did hate his guts."

"Wow..." Ty Lee mumbled, "This is the most you've said about him... ever."

"Because back then, I didn't understand what love was. I didn't know what real strength is." she argued, turning her gaze to Sokka's sleeping body, "And I didn't know pain... I mean, I knew a certain kind, but I never understood it. Zuko did. That's probably why he went back to the capital and nearly killed Father."

"He did burn his face." her friend mumbled, "I'm not saying he should be Fire Lord, but he was... pretty justified to do that. I mean, I'd never do that, even if I was a firebender, but that's because I'm me. I couldn't hate somebody enough to do that to them." she argued, making Azula laugh; she knew that her brother's scarring wasn't a laughing matter, but it was funny, at least in a way.

"You know, it wasn't even about hatred... at least I don't think it was. He thought my brother was weak, and needed to toughen up, but Zuko doubled down and begged. He could have fought, and maybe he still might have been scarred, but Father wouldn't have banished him."

"That might have... turned out for the worse."

"In hindsight, yes, but nobody has the benefit of hindsight." she acknowledged, "If Uncle had just won at Ba Sing Se, then all of this shit could have been avoided." she noted, slightly annoyed that her uncle's cowardice and then his subsequent back-flip on it by supporting Zuko's coup was the ultimate cause of all the crap she had been through- he could have stopped it all by just becoming the Fire Lord in the first place.

"Do you... do you think he should be the Fire Lord?"

"Of course not." she scoffed at her words, "Though, he'd probably be more tolerable than Zuko, if only for his actual political acumen. My uncle isn't incompetent." she argued, before taking another bite from the jerky, "Now can we shut up about Zuzu before I set something on fire?"

"Uh... yep." Ty Lee nodded, obviously nervous about the Princess trying anything of the likes; she didn't want to talk about her brother, not while she could only consider her own failings- she had to be able to trust her own abilities before she could even consider going against him, "Can I have some jerky too?"

The Princess reached over into the bag and pulled out another piece of jerky, "Only have one. Sokka will have a fit if he finds out we've been eating it all." she warned, the acrobat nodding.

"He does love his jerky." she agreed, before turning her gaze over towards the front of the saddle, looking out toward the cloudy sky ahead of them, "How long is this going to take?"

"Days at least." she admitted, "I wish Aang and Katara could have learned for a little longer, but we can't get everything we want, especially after... what I did."

"It was for the right reason, Zula." she assured her, "I mean, it was your fault, but you couldn't predict what Zhao was going to do."

"No, I could have. I was just too cocky, again." she argued, before taking another bite from her jerky.

"People make mistakes, Azula." she whispered, making a small smile, though it was bittersweet, "You think you should be above that, but nobody is."

"I just need to avoid them. I'm meant to be the smart one." she argued, scrunching her lips up, "And yet, here we are."

"We did as well as we could, Azula." she argued, "You can't change it."

"Oh, if I could, things would have gone very differently." she admitted, "But nobody has the benefit of knowing the future. You can only predict." she conceded, before she ran her hand through her hair, deciding that she ought to properly tie it up.

She grasped the hair bands she had sitting in her personal bag, and picked up her tresses, moving from hairline backward to bunch it all up; running the bands through her hair, she tied it all up into a topknot, the end of which flowed out as a ponytail. She then flicked her hair around, making sure she had it out of her face. Suddenly, she heard a mumble on the other side of the saddle, and turned her gaze over to see Aang pulling himself out of his sleeping roll; she would admit that the young Avatar looked rather unusual wearing Water Tribe clothes with his black hair, which was slowly getting longer, though it barely covered his arrow by that point.

"Good morning." he smiled at the pair, "Is somebody going to make breakfast?" he asked her; the Princess reached over into the food bag once more, and tossed a rice cracker his way.

He grabbed the rice cracker with his airbending, spinning it in a ball of air before he dropped it into his hands, "Oh." he mumbled, "I guess it's just rice crackers again."

"That's right, Aang." she nodded, "I cannot be bothered cooking anything." the Princess stressed, making Ty Lee chuckle.

"Well, maybe Katara might want to cook."

"I don't think she's going to be in the mood." Azula argued, "I did ruin her waterbending training."

"She's pretty good, you know." Aang spoke up, the two girls turning to face him.

"Well, I know she's good." the Princess argued, "I always knew she had the potential, and now she's been properly trained by a waterbending master."

"Pakku was a good master." he acknowlegded, before grimacing, "But he's... well, you certainly wouldn't have liked him."

"Why do I have a feeling he was avoiding me?" she rhetorically asked him, raising a finger to her chin, "I assume its because he's just as bigoted as the rest of his people and hates firebenders."

"Uh." Aang's eyes widened, his lips scrunching up, "It's actually... not that."

Ty Lee furrowed a brow, perplexed by his words, "If it's not her being a firebender, then what is it? Does he have a grudge against the royal family or something?"

"Nope." the young Air Nomad shook his head, "He's a member of the White Lotus, like Bumi."

Azula clenched her fists, and snarled with anger; if she'd known of his loyalties, she would have interrogated him about it while she was still at the North Pole, but it seemed that some people, that being Katara and Sokka, decided not to mention that fact.

"Sokka beat him up for it, if you're wondering. He sent a message to your uncle, and that's... well, I don't think that's very good." he noted, "What would he even get out of that? We're always on the move."

"Perhaps my uncle wants to find me. 'Talk it out', as they'd say." she raised a finger to her chin, "I won't have any of that, not while my brother sits on the throne." she decided, before narrowing her eyes, "The organisation must still want to 'deal' with me."

"You're an important person." Aang noted, "And you're my friend. Maybe they think we can all work together to make peace." he suggested, the Princess laughing at his suggestion, before she covered her mouth, knowing she couldn't be too loud.

"Oh that's just brilliant." she sarcastically quipped, "Next they'll want to make me shake hands with Zuzu."

"I mean... this is more important than you and Zuko. It's more important than anybody. The whole world's in danger."

"From your father." Ty Lee spoke up, her voice soft, but clearly afraid, "He's the real danger, even if he's in prison."

"For now." Azula raised a finger, "He'll be out soon enough. I don't want to have to deal with him, and hopefully I won't have to. Maybe Iroh will get the Agni Kai that was always meant to be."

"Always..." her friend mumbled, before her eyes widened, "Why would they want to kill each other?"

"My uncle wants to protect Zuko, and my father wants to get back at him for putting him on the throne." she argued, before placing her hands together, 'They're going to fight, eventually. It's inevitable now."

"And why not Zuko?" Aang asked her, "He fought Ozai before, didn't he?"

"And failed to kill him, despite the fact he had every reason to do so." she clarified, "Uncle, on the other hand, has no qualms about murdering people for the greater good. That's the one thing we do have in common."

The young Avatar cringed at her words and turned away, "Why does... why does everything have to end with people dying?"

"Zhao didn't die." she retorted, before narrowing her eyes, "Even though he was certainly asking for it." she warned him, her gaze turning to Ty Lee, "So they will fight, if my father does ever get out of that prison cell my brother threw him into."

"We broke out of prison easily." she argued, narrowing her eyes in thought, "Maybe he's just waiting for the right time."

"I'd prefer if my brother had broken his will to fight... but I doubt that's the case." she acknowledged, before sighing, "Is there something else we can talk about?"

"Going to the spa." the acrobat pursed her lips upward, making Azula snicker; she certainly was looking forward to relaxing a little after all they had been through.

"Well, there's not much to discuss. We're going to enjoy it, that's for certain." she argued, before laying herself back on top of her side of the sleeping roll, noting that Sokka was still asleep, "Perhaps you'll find yourself another stupid book to read."

"The book wasn't stupid, Zula." Ty Lee retorted, "It was actually really interesting, and tense. I didn't know what was coming next whenever I read it." she explained herself.

"Where'd you get a book?" Aang asked her, making her scrunch her lips up.

"Well, I bought it off a servant after I saw them reading it." she explained, "I told her I was interested, and she explained the idea of the story, and I said I just had to buy it off her."

"Ah, okay." he nodded, before he turned his gaze ahead of them, "I wonder how your people are going to react." he said his thoughts aloud, obviously directed at the Princess.

"Probably badly." she admitted, "But I know they'll accept me as their leader; they don't have much of a choice, and I have a plan that will benefit them. Nobody wants to be ruling over some backwards part of the Earth Kingdom, guarding against people who want them dead; they'd prefer to be protecting their country, their real country."

"Well, that's what we want. Four whole nations, not two." the young Avatar acknowledged their shared opinion, which made Azula cringe, remembering that the boy before her was the last of one of those four nations.

Remembering that was Fire Lord Sozin's fault only made her feel more conflicted, knowing that she herself was both his descendant, and a descendant of Aang's predecessor, Avatar Roku. That fact continued to disturb her, knowing that it must have been a purposeful thing; her blue fire didn't come from nowhere, and to think that it was associated with the power that Aang himself held made her more afraid of the power of the Avatar than anything else.

"I'd say three, given you're the last of one of them." Azula acknowledged, "Though, I guess if people want to become Air Nomads, they can, can't they?"

"Maybe." he shrugged his shoulders, "The spirit of my people can't be gone, even if the temples are empty. There has to be... something. Even without airbending."

"I hope so." Ty Lee acknowledged with a small smile on her lips.

"Hoping won't solve much." the Princess noted, saying something that she knew to be true, even if it was frustrating to think of, "Action is the only way that can be achieved."

The Air Nomads were gone, for no good reason, and it would take a lot more than just hoping for people to reinvigorate the lost nation for it to return; Aang might be able to teach people, and perhaps some would leave their old lives and join some new kind of Air Nomad society. Even without their airbending, there could be something; the Southern Water Tribe didn't cease to exist because they lost waterbending, though they certainly were teetering on the edge. It was very different with only one person to continue the legacy of an entire nation, but she knew it was better than nobody. Before Aang had returned, she thought the Air Nomads were gone for good, but now there was a glimmer of hope; she didn't feel so personally invested in it, but knowing the boy before her, she wanted him to succeed- he had to.

"If people want to help me, then I guess that'll make it easier." he made a small smile, the Princess raising her chin up.

"I believe I might be able to be of some assistance." she admitted, "But, not much assistance can come until I am the Fire Lord."

"I know." he nodded, "You'll be a good one."

"I will." she agreed with him, smiling, proud that the boy thought so; if the pacifist Air Nomad thought she was going to be a good leader for her country, then perhaps she really was on the right path.

"So..." Ty Lee mumbled, "What's next?" she asked, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

She assumed that other than securing her control over her forces, Aang getting Toph to be his earthbending master was an obvious aim. Getting all the way back to New Omashu was going to be a pain, but she knew it could be done, though she was not in the mood to waste more than a month flying back and forth, putting themselves in danger of capture by Zuko's forces.

"Breakfast." she heard Sokka speak up, which almost frightened her, having thought he was fast asleep; it seemed that they had been speaking too loud, after all, "But seriously, are we having breakfast or what?"

"Well, it depends. Are you making it?" Azula asked him, making him narrow his eyes.

"I can't bend the water or fire to make a proper meal, so that's a definite no from me." he argued, making her snicker; he raised a good point,, as he was certainly less capable of making a meal than either her or Katara, purely due to their circumstances of being located on Appa's saddle in the middle of the ocean.

She reached back over into the bag, and pulled out some more seal jerky, tossing it to her boyfriend, who immediately grabbed it as it was thrown his way, "Oh, yeah." he smirked, "I have jerky." he noted, before taking a bite from it.

"Problem solved." the Princess raised her chin up, thinking she had solved his question rather quickly.

"Why are you sitting out, anyway? Isn't it cold?" he asked his girlfriend, who rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't going to eat in the sleeping roll, unlike yourself." she argued, the Water Tribesman scrunching his lips up.

"Well, I don't have a problem with that. You wanna eat in the sleeping roll, you can." he assured her, making her scoff.

"I don't want to do it." she stressed, before rolling her eyes; she turned her gaze toward Ty Lee, who had a somewhat amused look on her face, "What?" she asked her, unsure what was so funny.

"Nothing, Zula." she smiled at her, before turning to face Aang, "Did you want to wake up Katara so we can actually make breakfast?"

"I..." he began to mumble, before his eyes turned down to the Water Tribe girl, who was rolled over, clearly not wanting to be disturbed, "Maybe not yet. She might want to sleep in." he noted, before he slid himself back into his own sleeping roll, "I'm going to sleep for a little longer. If Appa starts to nod off, try and hold the reins so he doesn't just fall and splash into the water."

"I don't want all our things getting ruined, so I'll keep that in mind, Aang." Azula agreed to his proposition, before she turned to face her boyfriend, who was still chewing away at his jerky.

His eyes turned to meet her own, and he scooched over in the sleeping roll, giving her the space she would need to get back in, "Well, are you going to sit out there and freeze your ears off or are you going to get back into bed."

"It's past sunrise." she observed, "I'm a firebender. Do I have to explain it to you for the millionth time, Sokka?"

"No, you explained it well enough that first morning." he acknowledged, making her smirk, remembering how afraid of her he had been when they first were stuck together in the forest, "But, you can just lie down."

"You really want me to lie there, don't you?" she prodded him with a smirk, though part of her knew she really shouldn't have.

"Yeah, yeah I do." he defiantly declared, before scooching over even more, taking another bite out of his jerky, "I'd like to snuggle."

"Could you be any more embarrassing?" she asked him, the Water Tribe warrior smirking.

"Well, I'm not embarrassed, and I don't care what Ty Lee thinks of our relationship." he argued, Azula cringing as she heard her friend giggle behind her.

"Cute." she simply acknowledged, "And tough. Wow, that's the best of both worlds."

"Shut up." she demanded, "I wish you had brought that stupid book with you so you could be reading that instead of listening to every single thing we say to each other.

"Not everything, just some things. The cute and funny things especially." she assured her, the Princess rolling her eyes, before she turned her gaze back toward her boyfriend, who was just lying there, already having turned his gaze away from her.

He was really trying to prod her, and Azula would admit, she wanted to fall for his ploy; she wanted that smidgen of intimacy that she so desired, after all the time they'd spent apart, and after all the wrong she'd done. She slid herself back into the sleeping roll, and pushed her legs back into position, where they ought to be, before she slid the parka off; she then laid herself down on her back, lying down beside Sokka, who didn't do anything; he didn't even say a word, just waiting for her to make a move.

"Is this what playing hard to get looks like?" she asked him, making him snicker.

"I don't know." he simply responded, though she couldn't discern whether he was genuinely uncertain or just playing with her.

She shook her head and turned her head around, placing it down on the cushioned end of the sleeping roll, before she pulled herself closer to her boyfriend, wrapping her arm around his waist; he took a deep breath out and giggled.

"I got you." he told her with an amused voice, "You really do like cuddling."

"Shut up, Sokka." she demanded, "Just let me have this." she asked of him, the Water Tribe teen turning around slightly so he could look her in the eyes.

"You really are a prideful woman, aren't you?"

"That won't change anytime soon, savage." she retorted, making him smirk.

Her insults had reached a point where they were almost endearing, and that confused her; she did originally intend to insult him, but by that point, calling him savage was a way to remind herself of what she had once been, and what she had thought he was.

"Well remember to be humble every once in a while. It'll be sweeter when you don't expect it." he suggested, making her roll her eyes.

"Humility? Who do you take me for?" she scoffed, before she pulled him tighter, nuzzling her head into his shoulder; he chuckled at her words, and turned his head slightly.

"How about a little kindness instead?" he gave another idea, and she pursed her lips upward, turning her eyes up so they locked; she knew he deserved a little kindness after all she had put him through, and she knew that being kind might make her feel a little more human- being a tough, stoic Princess certainly did get old after a while.

"Oh, I could do that, Sokka. I could."

* * *

Aang would admit, flying into a Fire Nation military base on Appa probably wasn't the brightest idea they'd had so far, but Azula had assured him that her followers would stay in line as long as they understood her presence; so, she had decided to make herself known by sending a fire stream up into the sky above them before the soldiers present got any ideas and tried to shoot Appa out of the sky. It seemed to do the trick well enough, and when they landed down in a courtyard, the guards present decidedly didn't attack them. The Princess stood tall and proud before her subordinates, and they knelt down toward her in deference, and she jumped off of the saddle, probably looking rather odd in their eyes; she had gotten out of her parka, but she was still dressed otherwise as if she were a Water Tribesman.

"If you haven't figured it out yet, the Avatar is our guest." she clarified, gesturing up to the young Air Nomad, who waved out to those present; their gazes momentarily moved to him, before everyone's eyes turned down, "I require the highest ranking officers to meet me in the chamber inside. I would like to discuss the matters at hand." she explained, one of them standing up.

"Of course, your majesty. They will be called upon." the man explained to her, the Princess smirking.

"Well then, do so. I don't have all day." she added, the man bowing, before he turned his heels; Aang guessed from his attire that he was some kind of officer, and he immediately moved off toward the main compound, where he assumed they would be going.

Azula turned around to face them, and raised her chin up, "Well, then, come on. I'm sure nobody's going to touch Appa." she assured him, the Avatar turning to face his other friends; Ty Lee was completely comfortable with their situation, and immediately climbed off of the saddle, though the two Water Tribe siblings were a fair bit less so.

"This is... new." Katara admitted, her brother placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, they're not going to do anything. I hung around these people for ages, and though... they didn't like me, they didn't dare to oppose me." he clarified, making Azula snicker.

"Yes, you got to abuse the authority you were given by association to me." she clarified his statement, making the others laugh, much to the chagrin of the Water Tribe warrior.

"Well, I did. Thanks for the power." he retorted, before climbing off of Appa's saddle; the other two followed on after him, and the Air Nomad kept a keen eye on the soldiers around them, who seemed rather unnerved by his presence.

He wondered if stories of what he'd done to stop the two fleets in the Mo Ce Sea from flying had spread about; it wouldn't surprise him if they thought that he was there to try and disable their weapons and wrest control back of their territories to the Earth Kingdom. He wasn't, knowing that Azula was going to handle the whole Earth Kingdom situation quickly enough; they needed to prepare, but the reinvigoration of the largest of the four nations would come sooner rather than later, and they'd be the ones to help it along.

The people before him, however, probably didn't know much of the Princess's plans, given she probably had to lie a lot to cover her intentions at the North Pole; now that she was going to come clean, things might change, and certainly not for the better- if those at the North Pole were reacting badly to his association with Azula, then he could only imagine the opposite reaction amongst the Fire Nation military. As they approached the doorway of the compound, the guards stepped out of their way, though they cautiously eyed Aang, and he tried his best to ignore their glares; he focused ahead, following after the other three, who were making their way into the centre of the building, down a wide hallway.

Katara leaned over toward him, obviously a little unnerved by all the Fire Nation soldiers, "This isn't safe." she told him, the young Avatar nodding.

"I know. But are they going to betray her?"

"I don't think anybody's going to try that, especially after she explains what happened at the North Pole." she acknowledged, before striding ahead, following the others up a staircase.

They filed on up, and quickly made their way onto the first floor of the building; the Princess was already leading them into the room she had spoken of, which they entered via two painted gold and red metal doors. The whole place seemed rather ornate, though not as much as the temple on Crescent Island; the hall was large, with a table sitting in the middle, lined with wooden chairs upon which they could sit. Azula took her place at the head of the table, and the others sat around her by the end of the table.

He guessed that her subordinates would be arriving soon, and then they'd end up having a proper discussion about their plans. With an army at her disposal, the Fire Nation Princess would be able to act her goals, and hopefully, help a smoother transition to peace occur; the Earth Kingdom needed to be made whole again, and only with the support of her forces could they do that. If they had remained out of her country, they might have run amok and caused even more problems than Ozai's loyalists already were.

"Well, I guess we're here." Sokka spoke up, "And now we've got to figure out what to do with all these soldiers."

"We don't need to do that." his girlfriend clarified, "We're simply giving some orders, and then we're going to plot out our own moves. The Dai Li need to get taken down, and we need Aang to learn earthbending as well."

"Well, we can fly back to New Omashu, can't we?" Katara asked, the Princess scrunching up her lips.

"I'd prefer not to go all the way back there. I need to consolidate my strength here and work on dealing with the various Earth Kingdom rebel groups; without their cooperation, I'm just going to be fighting them instead of getting done what really needs to be done." she acknowledged, "The colonies will be mine, and soon enough, we'll have gathered enough strength between us and Bumi's rebels to make a real move on Ba Sing Se."

"We're not going to invade, are we?" Ty Lee asked, "That just sounds like way too much effort."

"We won't need to invade." she clarified, "But we'll need to pacify the defending forces so we can ensure a smooth transition of power, so our allies can take power over the city, and ensure that the city doesn't fall into utter chaos."

"That would be bad." Aang noted, not wanting to imagine what might happen if the Dai Li was gotten rid of, only for the city to turn into a lawless anarchy; even if he didn't personally like rules, laws and tough governments, they needed to have something in Ba Sing Se- hopefully something a lot fairer than what he guessed the Dai Li government was like.

"Wait, so how are we going to get Toph if we don't got to New Omashu?" Sokka asked, the Princess turning her gaze to the young Avatar.

"You can fly by yourself, can't you?"

"Fly? Yes." he confirmed, "Appa might actually go faster with less people on his back." he noted, before cringing, "But I don't know if I'll be... safe. The Fire Nation... I mean, the other Fire Nation, they'll want to throw me prison after Crescent Island. I don't want to fight them alone."

"We're not all going." Azula declared, "I have a job to do, so if you all want to go with him, you can, but I'm going to make sure my men do what I need them to."

"We don't all need to go." Katara spoke up, "I can go with Aang." she offered, "I know how to cook, hunt and gather food, so we can avoid Fire Nation occupied settlements along the way. If we really have to go inside, we have our disguises."

"We do." Aang noted, glad they had bought those in the first place; if they hadn't bought their disguises, he had a feeling they would have a lot more of a dangerous journey ahead of them.

"And you can keep Aang practicing his waterbending while you're at it." Sokka spoke up, "It's actually a good idea. You two can handle your waterbending and Toph, and we'll do the... politics." he noted with a rather disenchanted tone, making the young Avatar raise a brow; other than Azula, he imagined that he'd be the most inclined of them to deal with politics, given he was a guy into 'big ideas' and 'big plans', as he had once phrased it.

"I thought you liked politics." he noted, the Water Tribe teen cringing.

"I never said I liked it. I like doing what's best for my tribe and for the world. At the moment, that's a hard question to answer at the moment." he admitted, "There's a lot of dangerous stuff going on, and we shouldn't make any mistakes."

"Was... me coming here a mistake?" he asked them, the Princess shaking her head.

"It was not. I need to tell my supporters what I'm doing; I want them to trust me, and I can't have them trust me if I'm not explaining to them the strengths I wield- our alliance being one of them."

"Our friendship." he corrected her, the Princess twitching an eyebrow.

"You're great at making friends now." Ty Lee observed with a rather smug smile, patting her friend on the forearm, "Maybe we can woo the Fire Nation colonies into making you their Fire Lord."

"I'm not exactly a people pleaser, Ty Lee." she argued against her idea, "I need to show them my power. I intend for a peaceful process, even if it is coercive." she acknowledged.

"I mean, Ty Lee has a good point." Aang spoke up, "Being the nicest, most likeable leader might win you some more friends."

"Being the nicest never won anybody shit, ever." she argued, "Sokka, what'd you tell me you told the Northerners who wanted to infringe on the sovereignty of your people." she raised her hand toward her boyfriend, whose expression darkened upon being reminded of that specific event.

"That Aang would kick their arses if they tried shit." he clarified, making the young Avatar's eyes widen.

"Wait I'm doing what?" he asked, the Water Tribe warrior raising a hand up.

"If they came south and started to 'help' our tribe, and then demanded control over our affairs, that you would intervene and ensure our independence." he explained his intentions, the Air Nomad boy sitting there, with his mouth ajar, unsure exactly what to say to that.

"I mean... I am meant to ensure peace and balance between the nations, but... that's... well, I don't even know what that is."

"Doing the right thing." Katara clarified, "Those people who claim they want to 'help' us just want to abuse our tribe for our poor state to enrich themselves." she argued, saying something rather similar to what Sokka had said after that meeting; it seemed that the siblings were in agreement on the matter, and it wouldn't be a massive stretch to assume that the rest of the Southern Water Tribe would agree with them.

"Don't worry about that." Sokka assured him, "It's not like anything's happening yet. I doubt Pakku's even organised anybody to leave the Northern Water Tribe yet." he noted, before turning his gaze to Azula, "So, we're staying here."

"There's work to be done, Sokka, and I'm sure you might be able to assist me." she noted the Water tribe warrior laughing off her words, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I'm not really that well versed in all of this. I mean, there was Ba Sing Se, but you were the one doing most of the work."

"Don't act like you weren't helpful." she argued, crossing her arms, "You made sure the city didn't unravel into utter chaos." she argued, before turning her gaze to Aang, "And now, together, we've got to make sure order can be restored to the Earth Kingdom."

"There's a lot of things we need to do." Katara observed, "But, we'll do it together."

"You just need to take your little trip south first, that's all." the Princess clarified, her eyes darting up the table; the Avatar turned his gaze around, realising that some officers were entering the room, all of them bowing toward Azula in respect.

"Your majesty." they all spoke to her with the kind of deference that made sense for her position; she was their Fire Lord, even if she hadn't been crowned, nor did she have a palace to preside over.

"Please, sit. I believe it is time for us to discuss the matters that face us." she directed the men, who strode along and sat down on the table.

Aang leaned over toward the Princess and whispered, unsure how he ought to be acting, "Is this going to be a serious talk?"

"Yes." she clarified, "So, don't saying anything stupid. We're here to explain and alleviate the worries of my subordinates." she clarified, speaking quietly enough that it was unlikely the officers would hear her, given they had sat themselves away from them.

He nodded, and waited as more men filed into the room; Azula didn't need to direct them, given they could already see the others sitting down. The Air Nomad boy awkwardly sat there, placing his arms onto the table and resting his chin on his open palms, glancing over to Sokka and Ty Lee, who were silently sitting there, both of them looking to make an effort to seem serious and composed in front of the guests. Once they had all sat down, or at least, what he assumed to be all of them, Azula rose up from her chair, and all of them did the same; Aang and the others did the same, and she rolled her eyes before gesturing for them all to sit. They did, and the officers followed soon after. A few moments later the Princess addressed the table, her voice cold and distant-sounding, a far cry from her hopeful tone that she had spoken with when considering their desires to fix the Earth Kingdom, and the world as a whole.

"If you cannot deduce it from the fact I have arrived here on a sky-bison and not on the ship which I left it, let me spell it out for you: Admiral Zhao has committed the heinous crime of treason of the highest order- imprisoning my associates and I with no basis other than his maddened fear." she explained, her words a misrepresentation of what had really gone on at the North Pole; she had always intended to betray Zhao, and now the young Air Nomad was unnerved by the suggestion she had always intended to lie- it was a blatantly fabricated lie for the greater good, but a lie nonetheless.

"Now, in his stead, I will be taking full control of all operations at this base, as well as any ships formerly under the Admiral's command." she explained her intentions, "The battleship that was sent north was lost in the battle that occurred as I tried to stop the Admiral from committing further acts that would tarnish any goodwill I hope to establish with the world. That is what I have brought you here to say." she explained, before dropping down into her seat, and with that, a deathly silence fell upon the table.

The word 'goodwill' obviously caught the officers by surprise, and Azula seemed to notice this; Sokka looked at her, obviously nervous that she might react badly, or even backtrack on her words because of the reaction. She didn't do either, and raised her chin up, calmly eyeing the men before her.

"Is there a problem?" she asked them, the officers shaking their heads, "I will fulfill my promise that I made in Ba Sing Se." she admitted, "I will liberate the colonies from my brother's reign, and then after that, the homeland. However I have decided, after much consideration of the danger a prolonged occupation would pose to our forces, that a peace treaty with the remaining forces of the Earth Kingdom is in order."

"A peace treaty, your majesty?" one of them asked her, sounding surprised by the idea, "What do you desire to gain from peace with those dirt-eating savages? We won the war. They ought to be grovelling at your feet." he asked her, Aang wincing at his insult toward the Earth Kingdom; he was very glad that they hadn't recruited Toph any earlier- she likely would have made some heads roll after hearing those words.

"Security, Colonel." she narrowed her eyes at the man who had addressed her, "We need security if we are to face off against my brother and all those who stand in the way of my glorious reign. Thus, we need to make peace with the Earth Kingdom and focus on our real opponents. The people of this country will continue to resist us and sap our strength as long as we try to conquer them; I simply suggest that we stop this, and focus our strength where it ought to be applied."

The young Air Nomad made a small smile, thinking that at the very least, the Princess's words sounded convincing; he thought it sounded a little wishy-washy, but most political things did, including the whole argument about the balance between the four nations. She was trying to persuade a bunch of people who would rather reconquer the Earth Kingdom that such an idea was a terrible one; she was giving a very different reason to what Aang would give, but it made sense, given their circumstances- they wanted to fix their country, so she was betting on that argument to get them to support her plans.

"Your proposition is wise, your majesty." another officer spoke up, "We have lost many good men fighting the Earth Kingdom. We have lost time and resources fending them off; peace would at the very least give us the breathing room to gather our strength, and make the right move at the right time."

"That is precisely what I desire." she pursed her lips upward, "The colonies will be ours soon enough, but patience is our best friend here. My brother obviously, from what military reports I've already looked over, has bolstered the garrisons of the colonial settlements and established a formal border between his forces and mine." she explained, before narrowing her eyes, "Do any of you have reports to inform me of the state of affairs across the country. I have been gone for over a week; there must be some reports that have come in."

"Our informants have learned from military chatter in the colonies that an uprising has occurred; your father's loyalists." the same Colonel who she had addressed before spoke up, "There is word that forces are being redirected from the frontier with the Earth Kingdom to subdue it. It's caused quite an uproar in the colonies, and perhaps, in the homeland as well."

"My father is making his moves." Azula acknowledged, placing her hands together as she rested her elbows on the table; her eyes momentarily moved to Sokka, before they returned to her subordinates, "These wouldn't happen to be friends of General Zhang, would they?"

"We don't know all too much about the inner workings of the loyalist forces; we have made contact with them, but they have been more than hostile. They made attempts before your arrival to try and get our forces to join them."

"But they failed." she observed, narrowing her eyes, "I wonder why." she noted; perhaps Zhao, who seemed to be a rather feared figure, had intimidated those potential defectors into holding the line.

If the story of Yu Dao was any indication, he was not above sacrificing the lives of his own men for his victories, something that disturbed but didn't surprise Aang in the slightest; there was many men like the Admiral, who had led the Fire Nation's war effort, and probably had partaken in the original destruction of his people. Those people were those he could almost say he despised; he didn't approve of killing, not under any circumstances, but he could see why people would want to see those people die. People like the man who had killed Katara and Sokka's mother.

"We have the respect of our men, and we have provided collective security for our forces. We have weathered the onslaught, and now, we stand ready to retaliate."

"We are not here for revenge. Although I will be blunt, though I despise my brother with every fibre of my body, this is not about getting back at our enemies. We will crush them, decisively, but with consideration that we are not here to destroy our nation, but to reunite it. We mustn't lose sight of our aims. You all know what happened in Yu Dao."

"A travesty." one of the men spoke up, "I..." he mumbled, before turning his eyes to the Princess, "Perhaps he had already committed treason then."

"Perhaps." Azula pursed her lips upward, obviously approving that somebody agreed with her mentality on that matter.

The Avatar's eyes widened, remembering that had been the whole justification against Zhao to begin with, and though he might say the Princess was making cruel use of the suffering of those people, it was a righteous justice in the end. They had suffered for no gain other than the Admiral's pride; the antithesis of all Aang stood for, and with that, he could smile, glad that he would spend the rest of his days in a Water Tribe prison.

"Revenge or not." the Colonel spoke up once more, "We will destroy our enemies, and our nation will be strong once more."

"Yes, yes it will be." the Princess agreed with him, before she narrowed her eyes, "May I ask, is there any news from the environs of Omashu?"

"The latest we have heard is that your father's loyalists are still in control of a number of colonial towns in the region. They might be poised to seize the city itself from your brother's rule." one of the soldiers explained, Aang grimacing slightly.

"Well, that can't be good." he noted, "Hopefully New Omashu is still there when we get back." he turned his gaze to the Princess who nodded.

"You two best be quick. I'm sure Hakoda's fleet will be moving north by now. The time has come for us to consolidate our strength- our collective strength." she explained, before dropping her hands down flat on the table, "The Southern Water Tribe are formally allies of all our forces. Navy ships must be informed to treat them with respect and dignity; if a single ship attacks any of their forces, then their ranking officers will be demoted by my order." she explained, the officers nodding, "Once we have secured the Mo Ce Sea, I also have a request. The vessels of the Southern Raiders are to be acquiesced and mobilised for our land invasion of the homeland." she explained, "This is of course, a long term consideration, but I believe that the longer my father's loyalists divide the strength of my brother's forces, the better a chance we will have to move in."

"Of course, your majesty." one of the men bowed toward her in respect, "The fleet will be informed of our alliance at once."

"There is something else." she added, "Once peace has been established with the Earth Kingdom forces, we are to assist them with mobilising and seizing control of Ba Sing Se from the Dai Li."

"Again." one of them mumbled, before turning his eyes up toward the Princess, "Sorry, I mean no disrespect, your majesty."

"No, I share your frustrations. The Dai Li ought to have been dealt with when I was there a few months ago, but I failed to annihilate them due to the political circumstances." she explained, "The Earth Kingdom is to be reorganised into a new state; this will be led by those who I can trust to be our steadfast allies, and they will help us deal any remaining Fire Nation forces loyal to my father from the continent; they will be given two choices- surrender to my command, or die."

"As it should be. You are their rightful Fire Lord." one of them acknowledged.

Aang was disturbed by the idea that thousands of men might die because of the very words she had just uttered, but he knew that wisdom would prevail; those who supported Ozai might change their minds once they saw what they were doing, once the Earth Kingdom was made whole again and Azula was in a position to reunite her country.

"Well, I believe that was all I needed to explain to you. I want troop and scouting reports brought to be as soon as they are received." she explained, narrowing her eyes in thought, "I want to understand the entire strategic situation so I can best judge our course of action. If any of you believe there are opportunities before you, do not relent to send a messenger hawk to me; your success is our nation's success, and our nation's success is my success."

They all rose up to their feet and bowed toward her in respect, "It will be done, your majesty." before she gestured toward the doorway; with that, they began to file on out, and Aang looked at his friends- they all seemed a little bewildered after what they had heard, though Ty Lee seemed to be the least unnerved by it.

When the officers left the room and closed the doors behind themselves, the acrobat giggled and turned to look at her friend, "The old Azula lives."

"Don't get too hopeful yet. I haven't derisively punished anybody other than Zhao... yet." she warned, before rising up to her feet, "I really need that spa treatment."

"Me too." she noted, before turning her eyes to Katara, "Wanna join in? I'm sure you'll like it."

"I recommend you do so." the Princess admitted, "You're going to need to take a little break before you and Aang head back off toward New Omashu."

"Well, if you say it like that..." she noted, before rising up to her feet, "Let's go to the spa."

"And what are we going to do while you have your girl time?" Sokka asked his girlfriend, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet up onto the table; she obviously didn't approve of that as she immediately pushed his feet back.

"I don't know... not agitate the soldiers in this base?" she asked him, the young Avatar's eyes widening.

"Wait a second! I've got an idea." he explained with a wide grin, "Remember how I said we needed to get a Pai Sho set?"

"Urgh, not Pai Sho." the Princess grimaced, covering her face with her right hand.

"No, no, it'll be fun. I can teach Sokka how to play. Monk Gyatso and I used to do it all the time, and I'm sure with all his brains he'll be pretty good at it." he explained, the Water Tribe teen obviously interested, Aang's encouraging words helping him to his side.

"Yeah, we can do that." he agreed, before scrunching his lips, "But where are we going to find a Pai Sho set."

"Zhao's office, perhaps." Azula suggested, "I'm not saying he plays it, but anything in there is yours to take."

"I mean, that's a start. We could just ask some soldiers if they have a set. I'm sure we could repay them."

"Ah, what, you want me to give you some bribe money?" she scoffed, before shaking her head, "I don't exactly have much. I just have the support and power of an army." she explained, before narrowing her eyes, "Perhaps if you ask politely to borrow them, you might have some luck. Maybe change into your uniform, just to stress the point."

"Oh, yeah." he pursed his lips upward, "Time to put on that disguise for a reason that isn't to trick people." he decided, rising up to his feet, "You coming, Aang?" he asked the young Avatar, who nodded; he knew he ought to leave the others to go do their spa treatment.

"Yep." he confirmed, before eyeing the others, "I hope the spa's nice."

"It will be." Ty Lee grinned, "Katara, you're gonna love it, trust me."

"I believe you." she raised a hand, before turning her eyes to the Princess, "So I assume you like spas?"

"Of course I do, I have standards for my hygiene. I'm Princess Azula, not a peasant."

"Huh, and here I was thinking you spent six-" Katara began to speak up, before her brother raised a hand, and his voice.

"Don't you start! Could you two be decent towards each other for one day?"

"You can't boss me around." she defied her brother, making the Princess scoff.

"You can also have a little wit. Angering me something you don't want to try, Katara." she warned her, creating some dancing flames in her right palm, "Got it?"

She raised her chin up, and refused to respond, making Aang snicker, before he followed Sokka over toward the door.

"Girls, am I right?" he elbowed the young Air Nomad, who chuckled at his words, before they were interrupted by Azula's voice.

"I'm not deaf, savage!"

"Yeah, but I'm not calling you a peasant. Katara is, however." he clarified, the two girls glaring each other down as the boys left the room.

"We'll just let Ty Lee deal with that one, how about it?" the Water Tribe teen suggested, making him smile.

"She's nice. She'll handle it, and then they'll all relax at the spa." he noted, before turning his gaze ahead toward the staircase, "I feel like we're going to have a good day."

"If you say it, it mightn't become true." the Water Tribesman warned Aang, who grimaced, not liking the idea of ruining their day because he openly stated he thought it might be good.

"I just don't want to fight anybody." he simply told him what he desired, "A day without fighting is all I need."

"A humble request." Sokka observed, "Well, we'll keep our mouths shut and ours heads up, be polite to the Fire Nation soldiers who may or may not want to throw you in chains, and hopefully, Azula won't have to throw any of them in prison."

"She would do that." he noted, making the Water Tribe teen chuckle.

"What can I say, she's an overprotective girlfriend."

"She mightn't like to hear you say that." he warned his friend, who raised a finger.

"She'd double down and say 'I have to protect him because he's an idiot'." he imitated his girlfriend's snarky, cold voice, which made him giggle.

"That's a good impression." he commended his efforts, which seemed to earn the Water Tribeman's approval.

"Really?" he beamed at him, "Maybe I should use it on her if she annoys me later."

"She'll set your pants on fire." he warned him once more.

"And then I'll chi-block her." he declared, making the young Avatar scrunch his lips up, thinking what he might do after that.

"And kiss her?" he asked, the Water Tribesman blushing and turning away.

"U-uh, I'm not- uh, going to answer that question." he stammered, making Aang grin.

"That's a definite yes from Sokka." he raised a finger, "Now, Ty Lee just needs to question her." he noted with a devious grin; perhaps the acrobat's suggestion was coming to fruition.

"Don't tell me you two are conspiring to make us make up for the North Pole." he crossed his arms, the young Avatar tilting his head slightly; though they were trying to find out if they wanted to do something romantic, and then perhaps guide them toward it, he knew that it would take their volition for anything to happen- after all they'd been through, he knew they deserved it.

"Well, it's not like anybody's forcing you. You're the one who's going to kiss her."

* * *

Katara would admit that the spa treatment she had had with Ty Lee and Azula was pretty good; she hadn't known what she was missing until she had received it, and she almost felt annoyed that she'd be going off with Aang. She wanted to go back to the spa again, but she knew that their goals were more important that her desire to get a little more pampering. Sitting in the spa room with the other two girls, she was just fixing up her hair, when the acrobat decided to speak to her, obviously thinking to include here in the one-way conversation she'd been having with the Princess.

"Katara, what do you think?" she asked her, the Water Tribe girl narrowing her eyes slightly, unsure what exactly they were talking about.

"About what?" she asked the other girl, who grinned at her.

"Should we get a proper place built for us to live in? You know, like a miniature palace?"

"Why would we need a palace?" she asked her, confused by the absurd suggestion, "Why would we need any of that if Azula is wanting to go... uh, 'liberate' the colonies?"

"I can hear the disbelief in your voice, Katara." the Princess narrowed her eyes at her, "Could you at least trust me for a moment? I'm not planning to set up a prison for all my political opponents or anything like that."

"Oh, so you're not doing that?" she raised a finger to her chin, "So, what are you going to do when somebody tries to attack you for taking all that Earth Kingdom land?"

"Well, that's what we want to avoid, right?" Ty Lee spoke up, standing up between the two girls, probably predicting that a heated argument was about to begin.

"We do, Ty Lee." Azula clarified, narrowing her eyes at the Water Tribe girl, not hiding her offence in her cold glare, "I am trying to make sure that these conflicts come to an end. Expelling the colonies, though solving one problem, would just create resentment in the Fire Nation. Somebody would overthrow me, and they'd be a lot less considerate than even Sozin was. He desired to bring prosperity- they'd want revenge. Imagine what you want to do to the Southern Raiders, except, it's all those colonial citizens who have lost their homes to the Earth Kingdom." she warned Katara, whose eyes widened with surprise; she was actually pretty well convinced by her words, which proved to her one thing at least- causing more suffering, even if not through the brutality of war, would beget more suffering.

"So... how do we keep the peace?" she asked her, the Princess sighing, raising a hand to her face; she was not exhausted, but rather facing the weight of the responsibility that lay before her.

"That's the thing I'll probably spend the rest of my life worried about." she conceded, before turning her gaze toward the door, "We ought to get out and find the other two." she noted, her eyes meeting the Water Tribe girl's, "Finish braiding your hair."

She rolled her eyes, not appreciating the demand, but she understood that she ought to hasten herself; she quickly finished off the braid, before tying her hair bands around the end. She picked up her hair loopies off of the table, and strung them through two strings of hair, which she tied into her braid, before glancing around, wondering if she'd done them right; she usually wouldn't worry, but that was because she wasn't doing her hair in front of people.

"Do they look right?" she asked the girls, who glanced her way, Ty Lee nodding with a smile.

"They're perfect." she grinned at her, "I'm kind of jealous of your hairstyle. It's so intricate." she noted, the Water Tribe girl laughing off her words.

"Oh, it's not the most intricate Water Tribe hairstyle around. Some of those girls at the Northern Water Tribe had far more complex ones than me." she noted, before stepping closer to them, the Princess seeming no less annoyed than she had been before, "Did I really get you in a mood?"

"No." she narrowed her eyes, turning them toward the door, "You piss me off all the time, Katara. I've gotten used to it."

"Your honesty never fails to surprise me."

"That's a new Azula thing." Ty Lee raised a finger, "Though, I guess you did like to reprimand people a lot when you were young." she observed, making the Princess chuckle.

"I lie just as much as I used to. The difference is, I try to be honest with you all." she noted, before grimacing slightly, though she forced her lips straight a moment later.

She was obviously thinking about Sokka, and what had happened between Ty Lee chi-blocking him and Zhao nearly killing the moon spirit; Katara wasn't going to blame her for the course of events, given how hard she had fought, and the fact they had won, in the end, but she seemed to be blaming herself, despite that victory. Her brother cold shouldering his girlfriend obviously wasn't going to end well.

"Let's just go." the Princess raised her voice, her obviously forced, serious tone catching both Katara and Ty Lee's attention, though neither of them commented on it as she moved toward the front door, opening it up.

The three girls made their way down the hallway, and the Water Tribe girl immediately had a question come to mind; even if she and Aang were going to leave that afternoon, she had no idea where he and Sokka had gone, if they had actually found a Pai Sho set to play with.

"Where are they even going to be?" she asked Azula, who scrunched her lips up, obviously not having a definite answer for that question.

"We ought to check Appa's saddle first." she argued, "I have a feeling Aang mightn't like sitting around a bunch of soldiers inside the compound."

Katara nodded, agreeing with her assumption; the young Avatar was the kind of person who would want to avoid his fears, especially when it came to the Fire Nation. Even if none of them were going to attack them if they had half a brain, that wouldn't soothe his unease entirely. She herself was looking forward more than anything to leave the base and the Fire Nation soldiers behind; that desire came not from hatred, at least not anymore, but from simple mistrust. The three of them continued down the hallway, reaching a doorway, which Azula opened at once; it led them out into a wider hallway, where she could see a few on-duty soldiers coming by. Unsurprisingly, they bowed to the Princess, who didn't seem to care for their deference; she probably got it a lot, just like Aang did, at least when they had met friendly groups.

The trio made their way toward the front door of the compound, where some guards stood ready to bar anyone unwanted from entering; they immediately stepped out of their way, and stood tall, not even acknowledging Azula in any way other than their serious postures, a stark contrast to the soldiers they'd just walked by. Katara had a feeling that the Princess had demanded they not bow to her, presumably to save her time as she entered and exited the compound; she was amused by the idea that she wanted to avoid deference, after all her posturing about authority and her rightful place as the Fire Lord. When they got outside, they all turned their gazes to their right, toward Appa's saddle, where they could see Sokka and Aang, the former in his Fire Nation outfit, the both of them playing what she assumed to be Pai Sho. They turned their way, and her brother immediately smirked, suggesting that he had been going well in their game.

"So, you're all finished with your spa treatment." he observed, before turning his eyes to the boy across from him, "Aang's just figured out how fast a learner I am." he explained, making Azula snicker.

"Oh, so you already beat him?" she asked, the Water Tribe warrior scrunching his lips up.

"Well, I haven't won." he admitted, before grinning ear to ear, "I'm about to, though." he declared, the young Avatar crossing his arms.

"You're not." he stressed, "I can still win this game."

"And are you a reputable Pai Sho player, Aang?" Azula asked him as she approached, making him cringe.

"Well, uh- huh- I don't really know. I know how to play." he explained, making her scoff.

"If you're no good then no wonder Sokka might win. That's a little unfair of him; perhaps he ought to go up against someone like myself." she suggested, making her boyfriend raise his head up, seemingly confused by her words.

"Wait, so you can play it?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously, "So what, you just hating on your uncle is the only reason you never taught me how to play this?"

"I have better things to do than Pai Sho." she argued, before raising a finger to her chin, "But I certainly could spare some time to prove to you that you aren't as skilled as you think you are."

"Everything's a competition with you two, isn't it?" Katara noted, elbowing the Princess, who pursed her lips upward.

"Well, it is. Competitiveness makes us stronger." she argued, before turning her gaze to Sokka, "And before you ask, Pai Sho is not a suitable replacement for sparring. I'm still going to kick your arse."

"But my burns." he cringed, making her roll her eyes.

"Katara and then some of the best healers in the Northern Water Tribe attended to your burns, Sokka. I don't think that's a reasonable excuse anymore." she argued, before her eyes turned back toward Aang, "Are you two going to finish up the game, or what? I assume you actually want to get to New Omashu at some point in the next hundred years."

"Ah-ha, very funny." he sarcastically acknowledged her jab about his one hundred years frozen in ice, "And yes, we will." he stressed, "You'll just have to wait a little longer."

"Hmph." she crossed her arms, "Well, I'm in no mood to watch." she decided, before turning her gaze to Katara, "Do you want to go get some supplies for your journey. I'm sure you could use some extra food so you can avoid going down into Fire Nation occupied towns."

"That'd be very helpful, Azula." she smiled at her, appreciative of her offer, "Where do we have to go for that?"

"To get some rations?" she raised a brow, glancing across the empty courtyard where Appa sat, before she gestured toward the gates of the compound, "I assume that I might be able to get you something from the storehouses. You don't want food that's going to spoil quickly like fresh vegetables." she suggested, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Uh, yeah." she agreed, before scrunching up her lips, "Maybe we should have lunch before we go." she suggested, the Princess pursing her lips upward; it seems she already had an idea on that front.

"Oh, you're lucky I already thought of that." she noted, before turning her eyes up to Aang and Sokka, "You two better come back to the meeting room once you're done. I've got a meal getting made for us." she explained, "Both meat and vegetables, if either of you were concerned." she added, the two boys nodding.

"Uh-huh." the Water Tribe teen nodded, before turning his eyes down to the Pai Sho board, "Lemme think about that part later."

"Well, I assume Aang's going to want to eat before he leaves." she crossed her arms, the young Avatar nodding.

"I'll win quicker, and then we'll be there." he assured her, the Princess turning around.

"Lee, are you coming to help us carry some rations?"

"Of course I'll help. Katara and Aang aren't going to go hungry on our watch." she assured her, smiling at Katara, who nodded, simply acknowledging the help she'd provide.

The trio began to pace off again, approaching the gates, where the guards stationed immediately moved out of the way, saluting Azula as she stepped past, allowing them straight out to the outside of the compound. The Fire Nation base was a multi-layered fortress of sorts, though the defences didn't seem like they'd hold up in an actual battle. Not that Katara had seen many of those herself, but if the fight near New Omashu was any indication, the Earth Kingdom probably could take the very base in which they stood, if they had the manpower and supplies to undertake such an attack.

"How much money did you guys have left?" the Princess asked her, the Water Tribe girl cringing.

"Oh... not much." she admitted, "I hope Bumi gives us some more so we can get food on the trip back."

"Well, I don't know how exactly to get money from my subordinates here. The local forces here mostly tax food and commodities, not money. Perhaps some of them are scrounging it up to barter with the locals, but I'm unsure if there's any of it stored around, let alone mine to use."

"I wouldn't worry about it." she assured her, before narrowing her eyes, the word 'tax' reminding her of a certain story she'd heard, "Uh... actually, can I ask a question?" she made an uneasy face, remembering the refugees they'd met before they got to the North Pole.

"What is it?" she asked her, the Water Tribe girl turning away, "Do you know where the prisoners are here?"

"Prisoners?" she furrowed a brow, "Like, Earth Kingdom prisoners?" she asked Katara, who nodded, "Well, I mean, yes. There's a few labour camps under Fire Nation control, most of them working on recycling scrap metal into weapons, armour and parts for my new airship fleet." she explained, the Water Tribe girl's eyes widening at the last thing she mentioned.

"Sorry, fleet?" she looked at her with surprise, Azula pursing her lips upward.

"Indeed. I commissioned War Minister Qin to gather the resources to undertake such an operation. We have a slight issue in that he's among the prisoners on the ship. He didn't try to oppose me, but like everyone else, he's stuck in a Water Tribe prison at the moment." she explained, before narrowing her eyes, "What about the prisoners do you want to know? Did you want me to free them?"

"Yes, actually." she confirmed, "I met a- well, we all met some Earth Kingdom refugees, whose village was destroyed by your supporters. Two parents have lost their son and two boys lost their mother; they're not dead, I assume, but prisoners..." she explained, before her eyes widened, realising there was a more foreboding interpretation which reminded her why the Southern Raiders came south again, "or slaves."

"Oh." she turned her gaze around; she almost seemed ashamed, or even disgusted by what she had just realised, "I'm a hypocrite, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are, Azula." she agreed with her words; after what had happened with the Southern Raiders she thought the Princess might immediately try to have the prisoners freed, but with a little more consideration, the Water Tribe girl realised that the danger of antagonising her officers, especially Zhao, was probably too dangerous at the time, "No, I shouldn't have said that." she corrected herself, "I assume you'll do something about that now that Zhao's out of the way."

"That I will." she confirmed, "I'm... sorry for not doing anything yet. I really ought to address things like indenturement." she acknowledged, "I will try to have those people resettled in their villages, and hopefully, I can get the refugees who fled back to their homes. If they do that, then the Earth Kingdom will be able to have some actual people to rule around this area. I'd prefer them to actually have a government here instead of my men upping and leaving it to literal bandits."

"That would probably be worse." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "What are you going to do about the whole resources problem, though?"

"Inciting a revolt in the colonies to declare me the Fire Lord is my best bet at this moment. Without the resources of the local population here, I'll have nothing more than a big army on a limited supply of food." the Princess noted with a slight grimace, "We have a limited time-frame, especially if the locals get eager to... assert themselves." she warned, the Water Tribe girl awkwardly turning her eyes away; she felt conflicted over the idea that Azula might unintentionally lose her feud for the throne, because she felt inclined to do the right thing.

"That would be unfair." she noted, before narrowing her eyes, "What about the reparations to the Northern Water Tribe?" she asked her, the Princess chuckling.

"Greedy bastards." she sighed, before glancing ahead of them, toward the storehouses they were approaching, "I'll send some things north as soon as I can spare them. I'd prefer to at least get those men back; I'd be a terrible Fire Lord if I left all of them imprisoned- serving Zhao is their only crime."

"He's a terrible person. I can understand why people would want his cronies in cells." she conceded, Ty Lee making an audible sigh.

"That just sounds... a little unfair." she admitted, "If the circumstances had been different, they would have been fine." she argued, the Princess chuckling.

"What can I say? Zhao doomed himself, and with him, all his men." she argued, before striding ahead of the pair, toward the doors of the storehouse; she pulled on some kind of mechanism, unlocking the door, before she slid it open.

She turned around and gestured for the other two girls to follow her; they did, and made their way inside the storehouse, which was full of shelves, themselves covered with boxes and packages of dried food and other supplies.

"Now, what would you like to eat, Katara?" Azula asked her, the Water Tribe girl raising a finger to her chin.

"It doesn't really matter, honestly. Just something that is going to last us." she decided, the Princess nodding, before she turned around, eyeing about the shelves.

"Rice crackers it is." she concluded, before running her hands across the various packages; she picked up one box, about the size of either of their heads, and she tossed it over into Ty Lee's hands; she took the package, raising it up and down, with a perplexed look on her face.

"Huh, this isn't very heavy." she noted, the Princess nodding.

"Precisely. We'll need to take a fair bit if they're going to last the few weeks it'll take." she argued, her friend smiling.

"Well, we better get some more." she concluded, before Azula turned around and grabbed another package, giving the next one to Katara.

"Maybe we should take some other than rice crackers." she argued, "I mean, a little variety won't hurt." she noted, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Okay, how about some pig-cow jerky? Or komodo rhino?"

"I don't like the komodo rhino stuff." she admitted, "Remember the-" she began to ask her, the Princess raising her hand up.

"Yes, you made me breakfast that one time."

"I've made you breakfast at least two dozen times over the past two months." she argued, the Princess cringing.

"Well, I'm giving you all this free food, so don't complain." she retorted, before striding down the aisle, picking up a few boxes into her hands, "I know Aang won't eat this." she observed, "Is there anything he'll like?"

"Dried fruit?" she guessed, the Princess nodding, before gesturing down the aisle.

"I think there might be some further down. I'm going to get another package of rice crackers and take all this back to Appa." she decided, the Water Tribe girl nodding, before she strode on past her to go find some dried fruit.

She glanced around the shelves, reading the various markings on the boxes and packages; it took a few moments, but she did find a box that had 'dried fruit' on it, and she picked it up, before realising there was another box behind it on the shelf that was marked the same. She picked that box up as well, before turning around to see Ty Lee, who had picked up more packages of rice crackers, stacking them in her arms. The Princess had already left the storehouse, and Karara realised she ought to get moving; they had to have lunch, and then they'd be leaving.

"You got all you need?" Ty Lee asked her, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Yeah, I do." she confirmed, "Hopefully we'll be able to scrounge up some more stuff on our trip south. I don't know if this is going to last us the whole time."

The other girl smiled and turned her heels to pace toward the doorway, "Well, you might be able to get some more food. You can always steal, if you have to."

"I'd rather beg." she admitted, "But honestly, I don't want to do that. Relying on people's goodwill just seems a little... unfair." she added the acrobat scrunching her lips up.

"Well, that's what we've done so far." she acknowledged, before narrowing her eyes, "Are you worried they might get fed up with you? Or with Aang?"

"People don't like thieving and donating, especially when they're not in a good place themselves." she acknowledged, "I don't want to earn the ire of the Earth Kingdom, and I'm sure Aang doesn't either."

"We're going to help them. That's what Azula says, anyway." Ty Lee assured her, before her smile faltered, "She's... well, she's been in a bit of a mood."

"I can tell." Katara admitted, "She's been off ever since I met her at the North Pole." she noted, "I know she's worried about what Sokka thinks of her, and I don't blame her. She stuffed up."

"She knows that." the acrobat spoke up, glancing up ahead of them toward Azula, who was almost back at the compound gates by that point, "I'm sure they'll make up."

"Most of their fights have been over very petty things." she acknowledged a thing she had observed over the few months she'd known Azula, "If she's really made him angry, or distrusting, it's going to take a lot of work to fix that."

"Azula always likes a job to do." the other girl observed, chuckling lightly, before she raised her chin up, "Are you okay with leaving your brother?"

"I think he can handle whatever Azula wants him to do." she spoke her mind, before grimacing, "It's her that I'm worried about."

"Wait, really?" she asked, the Water Tribe girl nodding, "Why?"

"Because she's got a lot of expectations and people counting on her. I think Aang's probably feeling about the same."

"Sokka's got expectations too." Ty Lee argued, "I'm sure he's wondering what your dad thinks of all you've done."

"Our dad... how do you even-" she began to ask, confused by how the other girl even knew about Sokka's relationship with their father, before her eyes widened, "Azula. So, she knows Sokka's worried about Dad?"

"Well, that's what she said." she clarified, "I don't think she has much hard evidence, but I trust her to be able to figure out what he's thinking, of all people."

"I hadn't even thought about Dad." Katara admitted, "I think he'd be proud of what Sokka's done. I hope he's proud of me."

"You've been trained by a master waterbender. That's something to be proud of, isn't it?" she asked, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"I think I'm... actually pretty good." she admitted, "I guess Azula was right about that."

"She's got a knack for bending." Ty Lee noted, before smiling, "And it's good you're a great bender; now Aang has a master, and you have an excuse to practice."

"That's true." she smiled, "I wish I'd just learned earlier. I wish that there were other waterbenders."

"Maybe there are." Ty Lee noted, "Maybe little kids, who aren't old enough to realise it, or to have been targeted by those Southern Raider guys."

"I hope there are." she admitted, "I just don't want to be the last one."

"And they can be your students. You could even start a waterbending school. Wouldn't that be great?" she asked her, the Water Tribe girl imagining herself teaching some children waterbending forms, and all of them perhaps not being the best students- rowdy, impatient and bored, which amusingly enough, reminded her of how Sokka had trained the young boys in their village to be warriors.

"That would be great, Ty Lee." she smiled at her, knowing that even if she didn't have the best students, she could surely teach others to continue their waterbending art in the South Pole, as it ought to be, "Thanks for the idea."

"No problem." she grinned at her brightly, "I'm more than happy to give advice."

The pair continued on toward the gates of the compound, which were waiting open for them, the guards already having moved back out of the way for Azula; the pair strode on through, and Katara immediately noted that the saddle was empty, suggesting Sokka and Aang had gone inside already, given the Princess had told them about lunch. The Water Tribe girl knew then that she ought to just get the supplies up onto the saddle, before they all went off to have some lunch; she'd certainly prefer to be eating than carrying things around, and that was certainly a better way to spend her last bit of time with her brother, who she wouldn't be seeing for a few good weeks.

The three of them strode over to Appa, and each put their boxes up on the saddle, each of them having to climb up and place the boxes and packages up by the rear of the saddle, along with the other supplies. Azula, being the fastest, was done first, but decided to wait for the other two, crossing her arms and putting on a discontent face. It was almost like she wanted to be annoyed; that amused Katara somewhat, but she didn't comment on it. She jumped off of the saddle, and looked at the Fire Nation girl, wondering if she ought to say anything.

"What?" she simply asked her, responding to her idle stare; Katara shrugged her shoulders, before chuckling.

"Are you really in that bad a mood?" she asked her, knowing that having an argument was better than standing there awkwardly.

"Do you expect me to be in a good one?" she asked her in return, the Water Tribe girl's rather carefree mood faltering.

She realised that there was one reason that the Princess would be in a bad mood and that was Sokka; she obviously knew he wasn't going to be trusting her, after what she had pulled, and they hadn't seemed to be that intimate. They had slept in the same sleeping roll again, but for the most part, she thought her brother might have been a little on edge, given their circumstances.

Azula was now going to be a real leader, and with that, she had responsibilities; whether she would run off from him again for 'his safety', Katara didn't know, but she certainly wouldn't recommend it. She knew that was a surefire way to get her brother to give up on her; he was dedicated to the Princess, but he certainly wasn't that much of a fool- he asked for, and obviously deserved some mutual respect.

Once Ty Lee climbed down from the saddle, Azula gestured toward the front door of the compound, "Let's go get some lunch." she told them, her tone uncaring and rather snide; the acrobat obviously noticed that her friend's mood had shifted, and she looked to Katara, leaning over to whisper at her.

"What did you say?" she asked her, and her shoulders slumped down, realising the situation was out of her control.

"It doesn't matter." she admitted, "I just... they're not out for a good time." she simply told her, before following after the Princess; lunch might distract her from the very fact she had observed.

An unraveling of the bond between her brother had consequences, and she certainly didn't want it influencing her decision-making. Azula was far too powerful and important to be making any more mistakes, based on faulty thinking and ideas she had about solving her problems, whether that problem was her rivals or her relationship with Sokka.

"She should be happy." Ty Lee mumbled as she followed behind, before grimacing, "This... this is my fault." she concluded, clenching her fists as she looked up to the sky above her, "I shouldn't have listened. Sokka should have come with us."

"And then..." the Water Tribe girl began, before shaking her head, knowing all too well what Zhao might have done if he'd been there, "No. I prefer this over having a dead brother." she decided, knowing that the situation they'd been dealt, though annoying and frustrating for all parties, was clearly better than that scenario; she preferred her brother being a little cautious and mistrustful of his girlfriend than him being dead.

They made their way into the compound, following after Azula, who was already winding down the hall, out of sight; she tried to keep her pace, and heard her footsteps going up the stairs. She obviously didn't want to continue any conversation with Katara that would simply agitate her; she didn;'t either, and kept her distance, making her way up the stairs slowly, Ty Lee striding up beside her.

"This could have all gone so much better." she decided, "And... and it still can be better." she added, with a more hopeful face.

"What do you mean?"

"Zuko doesn't need to die." she spoke her mind, addressing the matter very bluntly; though she had no skin in the game, she knew from what little she knew of Azula's brother that he probably wasn't as bad as she made him out to be, and undeserving of what might be coming his way, "Azula's going to fight him, and after all that's happened, she won't hesitate. But that doesn't need to happen. We can find a way."

She remembered what Pakku had told her, and she narrowed her eyes, wondering whether that confrontation was truly inevitable; there was another way, but she didn't know if she was brave enough to dare suggest it.

"We can't... we can't betray her trust. If we even suggested something else, she'd think we were conspiring against her." she decided, "And if we said that, I think Sokka would choose her over me. Her over everyone. He was there."

"I know." Ty Lee acknowledged, "If that stupid fight hadn't have happened, then maybe they could have made up."

"I don't think that was going to happen." the Water Tribe girl admitted, "Sokka told me exactly how she reacted when she found out about her father's 'death'. She decided it then and there."

The acrobat's eyes widened, almost looking sad at the suggestion, "Why?" she mumbled, "Urgh, this family frustrates me."

"Well, we just have to work with it." Katara conceded the fact of the matter, before she strode over to the door leading into the meeting room; she pushed it open, and saw Aang and Sokka already eating their lunch, and Azula was just sitting herself down.

The two boys looked their way, and the young Avatar grinned with his mouth full of food, "You guys have got to-" he began, before chewing, "try some of this."

Her brother didn't even address them, just getting into his meal; the two girls sat back down where they had at the earlier meeting, where there were plates waiting ready for them. The Water Tribe girl got a spoonful of rice and placed it on her plate, before taking some of the fried vegetables and putting them alongside; they were well cooked and slathered in some kind of spicy sauce, which didn't surprise her. All Fire Nation food was seemingly fried and topped with an assortment of spices.

"This does look good." Ty Lee admitted, before sniffing one of the meat dishes, "Mhmm... are we going to eat food like this all the time?" she asked her friend, who furrowed a brow.

"Perhaps not all the time. It's not like there's a plethora of supplies to go around, let alone spices and fine meats. If this were the palace, I'd be more inclined to say yes." she noted, reaching over to take a spoonful of rice onto her plate.

Katara picked up some chopsticks that had been set out beside her plate, and took some of the meat into her mouth; she would admit, despite the spiciness, that it tasted pretty good. She smiled, and began to eat her meal properly, wanting to enjoy it and get going. She knew that the sooner she and Aang left, the quicker they'd be heading south. She knew above all else that the young Avatar mastering the elements was vital for their plans.

"So, what are you going to do while we're gone?" Aang asked the others, Sokka turning his gaze up from his plate, revealing his cheeks to be stuffed full of meat.

He made a mumbling noise, and turned his eyes to Azula, who wiped her lips clean with a cloth, before speaking up, "We'll make sure our alliance is not under-utilised. The local Earth Kingdom rebels will be very useful in our plans, so I hope that we can get some of them here to discuss the future of these lands."

"Well, I hope I get back quickly. I know they might want me to assure them you're trustworthy." he conceded, and after a few moments of silence, he raised a hand, "You are." he stressed, the Princess chuckling.

"Thanks, Aang." she simply replied, before returning to eating her meal.

"And we'll have more delicious food while you're away." Sokka added, making the young Avatar scrunch up his lips.

"Are you trying to make me jealous?"

"Well, are you? This stuff is delicious."

"We've only got rice crackers and dried fruit." the Water Tribe girl noted, making her friend grimace.

"Urgh..." he sighed, disappointed by the suggestion, "I guess I better eat a lot, then." he noted, reaching over toward the bowl of fried vegetables, which the Princess grasped, moving out of his grasp, which amused Katara greatly.

"Don't be foolish. You'll get yourself a stomach ache." Azula warned him, making him laugh.

"Why are you telling me what to eat? You're acting like you're my... uh..." he trailed off, awkwardly looking away as he laughed off his own words; he was probably going to call her out for acting like his mother, though he obviously hadn't known his own mother, which made it a rather odd comparison.

"Ahaha..." Sokka snickered to himself, before pointing to the young Air Nomad, and then toward his girlfriend, with a smug, shit-eating grin.

"Well, looks like you've been adopted."

* * *

The last thing Sokka expected Azula to do was invite a bunch of Earth Kingdom commoners to her compound, but that was exactly what she had done; he had stood with Ty Lee, watching as they walked through the gates, the on-duty soldiers standing on duty, eyeing them with an unhealthy amount of suspicion. The messages to the villages had only been sent out two days prior, but they were heeded at once; perhaps Azula name-dropping Aang on the messages she sent out had a lot to do with it, despite the fact that he wasn't there to partake in the meeting that was about to happen. The Princess herself was sitting on a makeshift throne, set up in the courtyard, allowing her to receive the commoners in the open instead of forcing them into a small and stuffy room.

The acrobat leaned over toward Sokka, awkwardly watching as the numerous men and women filed past, "This is... going better than expected."

"I guess they might have thought they'd get to meet Aang." he guessed, before scrunching his lips up, "That's not happening, though." he noted the fact of the matter, before turning his gaze up toward his girlfriend; he would admit she was looking rather regal, at least compared to how she had tended to more humbly dress herself, even when they had been staying in the compound.

She was wearing her gold lined armour, the closest thing he'd seen her wearing to what she had worn the night they met on her Royal Barge since the day itself. Her golden headpiece signified her rank and assumed title; he guessed it wasn't as ornate and massive as the Fire Lord's, though he couldn't be sure, seeing that Zuko wasn't wearing the headpiece at the Agni Kai. She was wearing a fair bit of make-up too, but that wasn't surprising; she wasn't trying to look normal, but rather, supernatural and above those who stood before her. He didn't think that was the best way to earn their trust, but he understood she had a very different idea in mind to achieve that very aim; some trimming of the military tree was in order, and she had a great excuse and reason to do it- war crimes, ever numerous in the Fire Nation military, and her forces were no exception. Of course, they weren't as bad as the Southern Raiders, but they were by no means clean of the sins that had been committed in the Hundred Year War.

Ty Lee elbowed him, catching his attention, gesturing over toward the Princess, who was flanked by her guards; they had arrived only a day prior, but they were back to work, and they stood imposingly around Azula, ready to protect her, if need be. The security probably wasn't really necessary, given her firebending skills, but he could understand their use as a threat of force rather than being practically necessary. He knew that they were obviously a little on edge, especially after what had happened on Zhao's battleship; they had been duped by the Admiral, gassed and thrown in prison cells, while he went to kill the moon spirit. The danger she could have been in, especially if they'd been facing a more ruthless opponent than the Admiral, was something they couldn't ignore- especially the Captain. Though he couldn't see Renshu's face, his posture said everything; he was unwilling to make the same mistake again, and would do everything he could to protect the Princess.

The two of them made their way along the side of the crowd, moving to file up past the guards and standing at either flank of the Princess, ready to give her advice if need be; he was unsure if Azula wanted his advice, especially when she was trying so hard to reassert her authority, despite the rather conflicting decisions she'd made. Openly telling her subordinates about her intention to withdraw had obviously stirred them up, even if nobody was publicly complaining. None of them were present, though he was sure that the soldiers standing around on guard might spread word of whatever was uttered by his girlfriend in the next few minutes.

"I see that there's a lot of you here." she spoke up, earning the attention of the commoners, whose gazes turned to focus on her instead of all the soldiers that surrounded them, "I thank you for coming here, and I understand that this is a dangerous place for you all to be. I apologise for the fact that the Avatar is not here to help mediate this discussion, but we will have to do this without him."

Sokka eyed the commoners, noting their uneasy, if not outright afraid expressions; the Princess waited out their silence, before she became impatient, raising her hand up, "Please, I'd like to hear whatever you have to say. Your grievances against my people are as important to me as they are to you; as long as I rule these lands, you are my subjects, and as such, I seek to rule in your interests." she stressed, which seemed to soothe their unease, even if only a bit.

It was weird to hear her say something like that in public, which made him realise how much times had changed; the Princess was no longer living in the South Pole, hiding from the world- she was a real contender for the throne of the Fire Nation.

One of the commoners stepped forward, an older man, who seemed unfazed by the Princess, unlike most of his fellow compatriots, "Why... why do you have our people in chains?"

"I have already ordered my men to organise the freeing of any Earth Kingdom prisoners who are labouring under their control. I assure you, they will be back in their villages soon enough, if they continue to exist."

"Many people have fled. They are afraid of the Fire Nation, and rightfully so." the man warned her, "How can you say you are any different to those who came before you?"

"Well, I'm really not that different." She admitted the blunt fact of the matter, "I am here to become the Fire Lord, and the only difference that exists between me and the men who controlled this compound before me is that I desire to ensure peace between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom once I withdraw and reunite my country." she explained, "That peace can only be achieved when there is trust between our peoples, and I will attain that."

"The refugees aren't going to come back until you all leave." another of the commoners spoke up, "The Fire Nation killed our soldiers, and stole their land and homes. We're the lucky ones."

"We will be going to meet with the local warlords... those who protect the refugees who fled these lands. They will be able to return to and rebuild their homes, and I will personally ensure that they are safe in doing so. Our military resources will be refocused to liberating the Fire Nation colonies, those lands where many people, loyal to my country, are more than willing to serve me, unlike yourselves." she continued to explain her intentions, which Sokka already understood well enough; he knew that she would have to do much, and they'd have to do it all together, and he knew that the danger of conflict was still high.

"They need to be punished." one of the commoners, a young woman, spoke up, "They've stolen our wealth, and attacked innocents. There can't be peace until there's justice."

Azula raised a brow, before she looked the woman in the eye, "I understand your anger. I know somebody who feels rather similar." she noted, momentarily eyeing her boyfriend- she was talking about Katara, of course, "The perpetrators of the crimes against your people will be punished accordingly. Demotions and hard labour are in order, and your villages will be paid back for the taxes my predecessors enforced upon you." she explained, "You are in need of better housing, textiles, tools, crops, materials, and the technologies my people can provide. Of course, I don't expect to just give all of these away for free, but simply at highly reduced prices. These resources will give you all the opportunity to rebuild, and ensure that there is no ill will between myself and the people I expect to succeed me."

"Do you want us to... make a government?" one of the men asked her, "We haven't had a governor in decades."

"I understand that, and I believe that you could make use of some new ideas. The age of the Earth Kingdom as you might have known it is gone. Governance ought to be in the hands of those who understand the lives you live on the land here; I desire to see you elect some of your own to form a council of sorts. One that could represent the villages under my occupation, and in future, undertake diplomacy with rebels and warlords in the region, to ensure that this popular sovereignty is not eroded and forgotten after we inevitably part ways."

"That sounds... better." the old man, who had spoken first, acknowledged with a small smile on his lips, "Where did you get this idea? You Fire Nation folks don't seem to have much... discourse."

"The Southern Water Tribe." she admitted, making Sokka smugly smirk; he knew that his people had some good ideas that could be applied elsewhere- dignity and respect was one of them, but the idea of elder councils could clearly be applied in other parts of the world, especially on a more local level like in the province they were occupying, "I have learnt much in my months with them. There is much the Four Nations can learn from each other- that is something everyone ought to appreciate." she added, before grimacing slightly; the Water Tribesman was a little confused as to what was bad about what she had just said, but she seemed to have taken her own judgement in a bad light.

"You're... not what we were expecting." one of the men spoke up, stepping closer to her throne, "We were told you were a merciless fighter who tried to kill the Fire Lord."

"I am." she raised her chin up, narrowing her eyes at the man, "But I am not just that. Fighting, however good I am at it, is not the only way to solve problems." she spoke up, before she momentarily turned her gaze away; Sokka could tell she was trying her hardest not to look his way- she was obviously referring to the fact of what had happened with Zhao, and how it was completely unnecessary, "So, do you accept my proposition?"

"For a council?" one of the commoners asked in clarification, the Princess nodding, a silence falling upon the crowd; soon enough however, they began to nod, looking amongst themselves to confirm their opinions- there was a clear majority of those present who wanted to at least try and work with her, and that was good enough, in Sokka's eyes.

"Brilliant." she smirked, before placing her hands together, "Now, I know there are more specific grievances that you all must have, and I will have all of them transcribed, and I will personally deal with them. That is what I offer to you... and in exchange, I hope that there can be peace amongst us all."

Sokka saw the brightening of their expressions- the hope that was in their eyes; he was glad that they could see Azula's words as genuine. They were not empty, but considered, after all she had been through, and all she knew. He had told her about the refugees they had taken to Gaochao, and she had already assured him that she would be dealing with the matter of forced removals and labour as harshly as she could. The Fire Nation military needed to learn that they couldn't just push people around and get away with it, and weirdly enough, it seemed to be the future Fire Lord who would be doing it, not Aang, the one person the world might expect to have the authority to do so.

"Your soldiers destroyed a shrine to one of the local spirits a few months ago." one of the commoners spoke up, an elderly woman, who seemed about as old as his grandmother, but just as lively, "There's been disappearances, and my friends and family have spoken of unusual things going on in the woods. We need to have this shrine rebuilt, and... we need the Avatar to commune with the spirits, so those that have disappeared might return."

"I see." the Princess raised her fingers to her chin, "Write that down. I need to speak to Aang about any spiritual matters once he returns." she acknowledged, before furrowing a brow, "And what village are you from?" she asked, the old woman's eyes narrowing.

"Chunxi." she explained, the Princess nodding.

"Well then, I will have the Avatar sent to your village to investigate that matter as soon as he returns." she assured her, before raising her hand, "Do you know who destroyed the shrine?"

"Um... the man with the scar." she explained, making her chuckle; Sokka was not surprised in the slightest by the idea that Zhao would have purposefully destroyed a local shrine- angering the spirits might have actually been part of his plan, to strike fear into the hearts of the locals.

"Well, you're in luck then. He's already being punished." she assured her, "I can't imagine what labours the Northern Water Tribe are forcing him through, but I can't imagine them to be pretty."

"That's assuming he can walk." Ty Lee spoke up, making the Princess raise a brow, "You shot him with lightning, remember?"

"Fair point." she conceded, before turning her eyes toward the commoners, "Who has anything else to tell me?"

"Some soldiers from... well, I think they were from the colonies. They fought with your soldiers around my village." one man spoke up, "Many houses were burnt down, and though we were able to save most of our things, many men and women are without work, and are going hungry."

"Which village?" she asked, the man looking down, seeming saddened and frustrated by what had happened.

"Hungu."

"Oh." the Princess's eyes widened, as did Ty Lee's and Sokka's; that was the village Azula's men had been staying in- something told the Water Tribesman that their presence there may have had something to do with Fire Nation forces attacking.

"Mister Deng." one of Azula's guards stepped forward, catching the Princess's attention, as well as that of all the commoners; he drew his helmet off, "I apologise for what happened to the village. We should have been there to help you. Do you know why they attacked you?"

"Sh-Shan." the man's eyes widened, "You're a... wait..." he mumbled, before shaking his head, "Was the Princess in the village? Is that why you left?"

"Yes." Azula answered his question for him, her guard stepping back as she decided to take charge of the response for him, "I was looking for my guards, who had been living in your village, working as labourers." she explained, before narrowing her eyes, "Do you know why Hungu was attacked? Did those soldiers indicate what they were looking for?"

"The Avatar, I think. They were showing posters of him... and you... and you, and you." Deng explained, gesturing to each of the group, before his eyes widened, "W-w-wait a minute. That kid with the headband. That had to be him."

"Yep." Sokka nodded with a snicker, "I guess the disguises weren't that effective." he commented, his girlfriend rolling her eyes.

"Shut up, Sokka." she demanded of him with a terse voice, "They wanted the Avatar?" she asked, Deng nodding, "So, this is my fault." she conceded, "I'll have some men sent in non-combat roles to help rebuild your destroyed houses and structures. That's the least I can afford you all."

"Thank you, your highness." he smiled at her, bowing in respect before he stepped back.

"What else?" she turned her gaze to the commoners, one of them stepping forward, a middle-aged man with a long moustache and graying hair.

"Your highness, ever since the Fire Nation started fighting amongst themselves, we've been unable to travel very easily to towns nearby, because they're under occupation. The tariffs are inordinate, and we can't do any business. It's hard enough to feed ourselves, and when we can't buy the goods we're missing, it makes life a struggle."

"Good news, that specific issue is going to be solved very quickly." she assured him, "My forces will be moving to overthrow the garrisons of border towns with as little violence as possible. Once these forces are captured or expelled, any tariffs in place will be removed, and free movement between here and the frontier colonies will be possible. I see little need for such avenues of funding. Taxation, of course, is something I intend to enact upon my subjects, but only upon those who can afford to lose the money." she explained, the man bowing toward her in respect.

"Thank you, your highness." he dropped himself down, the Princess pursing her lips upward, before he stepped back.

Another woman stepped forward, this one a little younger than the last, with an uneasy look on her face, "Your highness... I, uh... didn't really want to ask this of you, but, I feel that you are honourable enough that you might consider it."

"What is it?" Azula narrowed her eyes at the woman, "Did my soldiers do something to your village?"

"My husband owns a tavern." she explained, "And my daughters work there, along with myself. We have been mistreated by the soldiers, and they have made advances on my daughters. I wish that they might be reprimanded and know the dignity my children ought to be deserved." she explained, the Princess raising her chin up.

"Which soldiers do this? What's the group occupying your village?"

"They're men from the twenty second division. That's what I've heard. I don't know their names." she explained, the Princess nodding.

"Hmph." she raised a finger to her chin, "Well, I'll see if that matter can be dealt with. Of course, I'd need to find those responsible, and see if their... unhelpful behaviours can be corrected." she explained her intentions, the woman's expression brightening.

"Thank you." she bowed toward her, the Princess shaking her head, annoyed by her deference.

"There's no need to thank me yet." she stressed, arrowing her eyes in thought, "And your village?" she asked, the woman's expression shifting.

"Oh, Lanshiku is its name. It's just to the south of this base, in the valley." she explained, the Princess nodding, before raising her hand.

"Please, who else has something to ask of me?"

One of the commoners stepped forward, "Uh, when will we have access to these goods and resources you spoke of?" he asked her, the Princess raising a brow.

"Well, as soon as I can enact the price-fixing and procure the goods. I assume that our expedition into the frontier colonies will allow us to buy such things, which will be available for you all to buy once we have procured the resources necessary for our own campaign." she explained, the commoners nodding, "Is that it?" she asked, nobody daring to speak up; Sokka was unsure whether she'd just scared them into shutting up, or they were appeased with what she had already offered them, "Well, if that is all that you wanted to discuss, I direct you to go eat, rest and drink before you leave on your journeys back home. If you have any more issues arise after this, speak with any of my soldiers. The messages will come back to me, and then I will deal with them accordingly." she gestured behind them, the commoners nodding, before they all began to move back on out toward the gates.

She turned her gaze over to Sokka, and then to Ty Lee, "Well, I think that went rather well."

"We've got some problems to solve." the acrobat noted, "But they don't seem that bad... other than the spirit one. That sounds bad."

"Well, we'll let Aang deal with that." the Water Tribesman spoke up, before a silence fell upon them; he glanced at the pair, before eyeing the Princess's guards, "Are we going to stand here like a bunch of idiots or are we going to do something?"

"Oh... that's bold of you to say, Sokka." his girlfriend prodded him, almost sounding amused by his words, though her expression showed that she was clearly not, "I believe we were going to do some training once all of this was wrapped up."

"Oh, yeah." Sokka's expression faltered, "Back to kicking my butt, it seems." he noted, before scrunching his lips up, "Could we at least have some tea or something before that?" he asked her, the Princess nodding.

"I'll allow that." she conceded, before turning around to face her guards, "I want you all to get changed into your sparring gear." she explained, "You may rest for a short time, but I want to be back out here as soon as this is all packed up."

"Of course, your highness." Renshu bowed, before glancing around at his subordinates, "You heard her, men. If you want to actually kick your legs back for a bit, you've got to get changed."

"Yes, sir!" the men saluted him, before they all began to file on back toward the front door of the compound; Sokka turned his gaze back around to his girlfriend, who continued to sit on her rather simple-looking wooden throne.

"What is it, savage?" she asked him, as blunt as ever, "Did you have some comments on my handling of the commoners?"

"No, actually, I thought you did it pretty well." he noted, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"That's still a comment, dummy." she chided him, before chuckling, "Seriously though, did I say anything weird?"

"Nope." Ty Lee assured her, "You were a little intimidating at times, but you've got to be intimidating if you want to be the Fire Lord." she noted, "And your aura was good."

"I'm pretty sure nobody else can see or cares about those." Sokka argued, making the Fire Nation girl cross her arms, seeming offended by his words.

"Auras matter, Sokka, whether you like it or not. If you have a bad aura, you're not going to be likeable." she argued, the Water Tribesman rolling his eyes; she obviously was deluded when it came to things like that, but of all things, he didn't want to have an argument about it.

"Urgh." he raised his hands up, "Whatever, just don't mention mine." he asked her, the Princess chuckling, before she rose up from her throne; she patted him on the shoulder, and leaned over to whisper to him.

"Something, something, gray." she joked, the Water Tribe warrior clenching his fists; she was mocking him, and he didn't enjoy it in the slightest.

"Hey, come on!" he growled, "I thought you were meant to take my side with this stuff." he argued, the Princess shrugging her shoulders as she strode on over toward the door, turning around and smugly looking his way.

"Well, I just take any opportunity I can to frustrate you."

"Good one, Azula." her friend grinned at her, raising both her thumbs up at her, "You actually read it right." she clarified, making Sokka roll his eyes.

"Yeah, that's because it's made-up." he argued, before pacing after his girlfriend, "We're getting changed, right?"

"Well, I don't expect you to be sparring in full armour, Sokka." she noted, before raising her chin up, "Unless you'd like to be a punching bag, that is."

"No, I'm going to chi-block Ty Lee's back so hard she won't be able to walk for a week." he argued his own idea of what he was going to do, making the acrobat tense up.

"Ha-ha..." she made a nervous laugh, "Really funny, Sokka." she sarcastically noted his intentions.

"Don't expect to get away with tricking me this time." he warned her, just wanting to stress his desire to get back at her, before he eyed his girlfriend, who was clearly unnerved by the conversation; of course, she wasn't afraid of Sokka, but of what she had done- that was right of her, in the end, after what had happened with Zhao.

She immediately moved toward the doors of the compound without another word, which didn't surprise him in the slightest; he and Ty Lee walked on after her, and the acrobat nervously looked at him. When they walked through the doorway of the compound, she grasped him by the shoulder, stopping him from continuing on in toward their quarters.

"Was that necessary?" she asked him, the Water Tribesman raising his chin up.

"Azula might be good, but she's not always right. I think she ought to remember that." he argued, before sighing, "And I might piss her off, but that's the price I'm willing to pay."

"I guess... you're a good boyfriend." she noted, "A bad one wouldn't even care."

"Y-yeah." he straightened his back, wishing that he could be as confident in his actions as she was in her belief of his righteousness; for somebody who chi-blocked him and left him splayed next to a campfire, she seemed to hold a lot of respect for his resolve, "Can we go now? I need to get out of this stuffy armour.

"Didn't you wear it for like a month straight?" she asked him, the Water Tribe warrior rolling his eyes.

"I never said I liked it." he argued, before pacing on into the compound, walking by some on-duty soldiers, who saluted Sokka, presumably because his armour indicated a non-existent rank; unless, future Fire Consort was a rank, then he would continue to simply be Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, warrior and friend of the Avatar.

He momentarily glanced back toward the acrobat, wondering why she might be so willing to respect him, given how much she already respected his girlfriend. He guessed it may have had something to do with the fight with Zhao, given how badly he'd got himself hurt, not to mention that he had fought most of his men off alone. He had done exactly what Azula wanted him to, even if she didn't want him to get hurt; it was ironic, he noted, that after all the effort she had made in trying to get him away from danger, that she had inadvertently set him on a course to face the Admiral head on.

He had wanted to fight the cruel, callous man, but he honestly would have preferred if they'd come to the compound together the first time, and stripped him of his authority at once. That would have saved them all a lot of anguish; perhaps he wouldn't have even had to go to the North Pole and meet on the pig-headed pricks there. The one thing he was proud of was beating up Pakku, if only because his grandmother was deserving of the vengeance he had handed to her former betrothed. He hoped to soon enough see his grandmother, and his father too; he didn't know when he'd be returning to the South Pole, but he'd like to do it sooner rather than later- he missed them, and he was sure they'd miss him and Katara too.

He and Ty Lee continued on down the hallway, and he noted that Azula must have already headed off to the bedroom; he decided that even if he ought to address things with her, given how uneasy she'd gotten after his comments, he should get changed first. She would be getting changed herself, but she had a closet area separate from the sleeping area where she'd be doing her things. When he reached the door of the room, he unlocked it, and momentarily eyed the acrobat, who was looking at him as well; she looked like she wanted to say something, but was holding her tongue.

"Just spit it out." he prodded her, "Are you afraid I'm actually going to hurt you in sparring or something?"

"You might." she admitted, before shaking her head, "That's not what is important. Azula is."

"Ah, I see we have a common interest." he smirked, before glancing over toward his door, "I'll handle it. Don't worry, Ty Lee." he assured her; she seemed almost a little suspicious of him, but she nodded, and made a small smile.

"Thanks, Sokka. I- I think you know what you're doing." she noted, her nervous tone noticeable; she didn't want Sokka to ruin his relationship with Azula, or vice versa.

"I sure hope I do. Being an idiot at this point would make me a hypocrite." he noted, slightly amused by the possibility, even if he seriously wanted to avoid it; he didn't think he was in the right all the time, but when it came to his stance on what had happened, he wasn't going to budge, or as he had come to understand such a position- he was going to 'Katara' it.

He pushed the door open, and stepped into the bedroom; he could see some of Azula's armour pieces sitting on the bed, and the curtains in front of the closet hid her from his view, but he could hear her moving around. He didn't address her yet, knowing he ought to at least get dressed before he even said anything. If he was lucky, she'd shout at him for being a dickhead, and that'd start an argument where he could get his point across rather easily; in Sokka's opinion, that was easier than blunt and getting straight to the point himself. He stepped over toward his bag, which sat nearby the bed, with his clothes waiting inside; he was going to change into his ordinary Water Tribe tunic and pants, knowing that that was a better outfit to spar in than full armour. Though the armour did provide good protection against firebending, he knew that it was straining to wear, and when he really wasn't in much danger, it was pretty pointless to leave on.

Grasping his sides, he untied the chest plate, and once it was loose enough, he was able to pull it up and off of his shoulders. After that, he took his thigh guards off, placing them down beside his chest plate, before he knelt over, needing to loosen his boots before he could slide them off. He untied the bands that held them in place, before sliding each of his boots off. Sokka then reached into his bag, taking out his tunic; he realised that he really didn't need to change out of his undergarments- burning his actual clothes sounded like a terrible idea, which he certainly wanted to avoid. He decided to keep the undergarments on, but exchanged his heavy, layered boots for his usual fur lined ones, which were much lighter, and allowed him to stay agile and, if need be, kick his opponents with ease.

Sokka quickly slid his boots on, and tightened the bands at the top to make sure they'd stay firmly on his feet; he then picked up his boomerang, which he had had in his bag, and slung it over his shoulder; he then stepped over to the rather expansive double bed, and sat down on the end of it, knowing that Azula would be dressed soon enough. He wondered what she was thinking, after he'd perhaps annoyed or scared her with his words earlier on; he only wanted to stress the point that tricking him was no longer an option- he would not stand for any lies, or any kind of arrogance from her. He expected the usual cocky Azula, but he didn't want her cockiness to extend to the point at which she might believe she knew everything right for him and their relationship.

He had to have a say in it as well; that was what made it a real bond, and not a relationship of servant and master, which is certainly not what he desired it to be. In fact, it had be the one thing he had stressed when they first became acquainted, knowing that she might want to abuse their partnership to her own ends; she had, but he didn't blame her for her prior actions, and at the very least, she had worked with him, instead of undermining his well-placed desire to fight by her side and protect her from those who sought to harm her.

"Why am I not surprised?" he heard his girlfriend rhetorically quipped, "You're just sitting there, waiting for me to say something? I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yeah, you are." he noted, moving his eyes up to meet her own, momentarily scanning her attire.

He was wearing her usual sparring outfit, which was rather similar to the other Fire Nation garbs she had been wearing since they arrived at the compound, barring the fact that she lacked the armour and fancy golden tips to everything; the only fancy thing about her current attire was the headpiece, which he assumed she wasn't going to stop wearing just because she wasn't receiving people in her formal duties as Princess.

"Well, are you going to tell me why you think I'm going to have you killed or something absurd like that?" she narrowed her eyes at him, "You're acting far more paranoid than usual."

"I'm always paranoid, Azula." he retorted, before chuckling, realising they had in common, "Well, I guess we're both paranoid." he added, before straightening his expression, "I don't think you're going to do anything that absurd."

"Of course I won't." she assured him, "I'm not insane, Sokka." she stressed, before narrowing her eyes, "Unless... you think I've gone crazy. Honestly, I don't know what would have cinched that."

"Maybe the fact you went off and tried to trick a man into becoming a prisoner of the Northern Water Tribe, with nothing but your charm and wits." he decided to be blunt, given that would stop her walking around the issue and make him look like he was the one in the wrong; she tensed up, not stepping any closer to her boyfriend, who narrowed his eyes at her, "Huh, so are we going to talk about that, or what?"

"You know I don't like talking."

"No, you do like talking, just not about things that make you uncomfortable. I know you're as awkward as anybody else when it comes to things that really matter to you."

"Fixing the world matters to me, Sokka." she argued, making him chuckle; that was a bit of a false equivalency, given she had little personal care or connection with the people whose lives would be affected by her actions.

"Okay, Azula, let's be honest. That isn't for altruistic reasons. It's a means to an end, and yeah, I think you'd be a great Fire Lord, but let's not act like you're here to be the nicest, kindest, most helpful FIre Lord who ever graced the earth."

"Wow, you sound like Ty-" she began, before rolling her eyes, "Ah-ha... always one for jokes." she noted with a sarcastic voice, realising that he had been mocking Ty Lee and her at the same time.

"That wasn't a joke Azula. I'm trying to be honest, because I know honesty is better than tip-toeing around the fact you left me there in that campsite. Yeah, you kissed me, and yeah I know why you did it, but that doesn't make it right or fair."

She looked at him with a nearly solemn face, clenching her fists, before she turned around, "What, are you trying to make me feel guilty about this? Everything's fine, Sokka. I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this."

"And now you're lying to yourself. I saw your face when you got to the Spirit Pool. You know it's not fine." he argued, hoping she'd just address the fact of the matter; she was smart enough to know that hindsight proved her to be in the wrong.

"Urgh." she snarled, before turning around, pointing at him accusingly, "Why do I have to love you so much, huh?! You're making everything so much harder."

"That's the trade-off, Azula." he simply acknowledged it for what it was; their bond made things harder, but he wouldn't give it up because of that, "I love you too, but you've got to actually... stand by it. I'm not going to follow you around the world if you're just going to kick me off and go kill Zuko, just because you think I'm not capable of making my own mind about things."

"I know you're smart, Sokka." she told him, nearly chidingly, "You're too damn smart. If you weren't smart, maybe you wouldn't have seen all that stupid shit coming. If you were smarter, you would have come and killed Zhao before any of this happened, and I would be even more grateful to you. I wish I could have done it differently... but I didn't."

"So yeah, you made a stupid mistake." he admitted, "Another one, but this time, it was really in your control." he stressed, "But I don't want you to make it again. Please." he asked of her, rising up from the bed, stepping closer to her, "I don't want to lose you, Azula."

"I..." she stared him down, lost for words, averting her eyes from his own, "That's why I did everything I did."

"I know." he assured her; he wasn't going to ignore that she had gone after Zhao in the way she had with the intention of ensuring Sokka's safety, even if in the end, her methods had led to him facing the Admiral and his men off by his lonesome.

He reached out, and placed his right hand firmly on her shoulder, "Please, don't go again." he asked her, clenching his grip, "I can't... if he'd killed you... I never would have forgiven myself." he admitted, trying to hold the tears back from his eyes.

He had nearly lost her, and the story of her ending up in a prison cell, completely unaware until she woke on the cold metal ground told him that it could have happened; if Zhao was feeling just a little bit more assertive and afraid of Azula, then he might have just thrown her and her men overboard and let them drown.

"And if he had killed you, then I would have been right, Sokka." she narrowed her eyes at him, "I- I failed, but... you're still alive, aren't you?"

"I know I am, but that's not what's important here. You went off and did all that stupid shit... for what? To have to pay reparation to those Northern bastards. They don't even deserve it... but I guess they're entitled to something after you destroyed their wall." he admitted, making her chuckle lightly.

"I know they don't deserve it, but I prefer to have my guards here than in a Northern Water tribe prison." she noted, before grimacing, "I put their lives, Ty Lee's life and my own life in danger because of my own arrogance." she addressed the fact he had wanted her to spell out, "I'm... I'm sorry, Sokka. I'm not worthy... I've never been worthy, and it took me being a selfish bitch to realise that."

"You are selfish, Azula, but that's not so bad." he admitted, making a small smile, "That makes every act of generosity you make all the more genuine. You do what you think is right, and you give what you need to, to those that deserve it." he admitted, "And I'm thankful. You actually liked a guy like me. You didn't kill me back on the ship, or in the forest."

"I don't even... I don't even know why. I guess I just wanted to get back at you and prove that I could civilise a savage like you."

He pursed his lips upward, realising that the opposite had occurred, in the end, "And you failed. I made you into a savage. Tribal democracy and all." he proclaimed proudly, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Now, now, I'm just willing to acknowledge good ideas when I see them." she raised a hand up to stress her point, Sokka crossing his arms, thinking that contradicted how she had viewed the Southern Water Tribe, and by extension, the rest of the world outside of the Fire Nation.

"You barely thought my people were people."

"Barely a civilisation." she corrected him, "You were always people, but I never cared for people."

"Only those who could serve you." he noted, before chuckling, "I guess that part didn't change."

"At the South Pole, we serve each other." she noted, "I... well, I see the merit in it."

"Thanks, Azula, for not being stubborn as I thought you'd be." he conceded something he thought he ought to have earlier; she really had taken things better than he thought she would.

"You're acting like I didn't complain. I did... almost every day." she reminded him, making him laugh.

"That you did." he conceded, "I wished you'd shut up, but then again, if you did, you wouldn't Azula. Can't pass a day without a good argument."

"I will agree to that." she nodded, before eyeing him intently, "So, are you still angry with me, or am I going to go beat you up?"

"I was never angry, Azula." he argued, "I'm just... frustrated... and afraid."

"You..." she mumbled, before smirking, "You'll never have to be afraid by my side. I promise."

"That's the kind of promise I like to hear." he smiled at her, before leaping in to hug her tightly; she obviously hadn't expected it, but she clasped her own arms around him.

After a few moments of silence, he felt her chin touch his shoulder, and her breath on his neck, slow and calm, "I... I missed this." she admitted, making him smile, feeling just the same way.

"Me too." he told her, and leaned his own head on her shoulder, not breaking their hug just yet; he wanted to trust her, and he knew that she understood her mistakes- he couldn't be absolutely certain, but he was certain enough that he wasn't afraid.

Needless fear was going to get in the way of them working together, which is what he had always wanted to do; hugging her wasn't really cooperation, not in the sense that he understood it, but he knew that the embrace was a step toward reaffirming their bond. She had grasped his back, and pulled on it tightly, holding him from breaking off the hug, which he hadn't intended in the first place.

"Am I... am I going to be able to do it?" she questioned, her tone sounding not nervous, but simply doubtful- she was not omnipotent, and really didn't know if what she was intending was going to give her the outcome she desired.

Sokka didn't need the context for her question, and smiled at her in reassurance, "Of course you will be able to, Azula. You're Azula. You can do anything you set your mind to. The thing is, we've gotta take the plan that ends with us winning, not making a fool of ourselves." he explained his thoughts on the matter, knowing that he couldn't lie about it; if they were set on a plan that was flawed, they would suffer from it, just as she had with her plan to trick Zhao.

"What's winning to you Sokka?" she asked him with a more serious voice.

"Your victories lead to my victories." he argued, "Peace will make my nation stronger. It will make the world stronger."

"I'm going to betray everything my father taught me to do." she admitted bluntly, which didn't surprise him; they both knew she was going against him, that much was obvious after she had chosen to help Aang to begin with, but now she was acknowledging that she wasn't even following his teachings anymore.

"And is there anything wrong with that? Bad ideals make bad plans, and they make bad Fire Lords. That's why you're going to be a great one. You can make the big decisions for yourself."

She pulled back from their hug slightly and cleared her thought, "He taught me that, actually." she noted with a slightly nervous look on her face, "Of course, he thought that after a long reign, I'd be succeeding him, and not know anything but his ideology, and do exactly what he would."

"Well, that was very stupid of him." he observed, "If he was smart, he would have told you to grovel to his every whim."

"That'd make me Zuko." she argued, the anger in her voice immediately appearing upon mentioning her brother's name, "And he got his face burned for that."

"I don't think that's the same Zuko you fought at Yu Dao." he noted, before chuckling, "I guess that proves everybody changes."

"No, not really." she shook her head, "Am I really that different to the girl who decried you as a savage and a coward?"

"Not really." he agreed with her, "You're just wiser." he decided before grinning, "And cuter."

"I'm not cute. I'm a Fire Lord in the making." she argued, making him snicker.

"Sorry? You're not cute? What do you call putting on all the armour to make yourself look tough? You're definitely cute."

"Shut up, Sokka." she snarled, "You think I want to be a dainty little girl?" she asked him rhetorically.

"No, you want to be a powerful Fire Lord." he noted, before pursing his lips up, "My Fire Lord."

She dropped her mouth slightly ajar, "You know, you really know how to improve my mood." she noted, sounding almost amused by his words.

"Genuine flattery." he stated what he had just done, "Because you know I mean it."

"And I mean it when I say I love you, savage." she argued, making him grin.

"I love you too." he assured her, before smugly smiling, "Ah, that feels much better than the tent."

"Oh, really? And you think a heart-to-heart conversation is better than what we do in our sleeping roll?" she asked him, placing her hands on his shoulders; he had a feeling her suggestiveness was leading somewhere, so he decided to defuse it with a joke.

"You know I love sleeping too, Azula." he quipped, making her roll her eyes.

"If I'm your Fire Lord, then you're my idiot." she argued, making him grin at her; being called stupid by her side was a lot better than believing himself a genius by his lonesome.

"Being the most useful idiot in the world is better than being a smart nobody." he proclaimed, before grasping her by the waist and kissing her once more; she almost pre-empted him, but he got the upper hand, and pushed deeply into their embrace.

"You want so little, Sokka." she admitted, panting slightly after their make-out, before pursing her lips upward, "I ought to reward you for your humility."

"Oh, I like the sound of that... but I know what you'd like even more than that." he noted, remembering what she had intended for them to do before they started their conversation.

"To beat the shit out of you?" she guessed correctly, the Water Tribesman gesturing to the door.

"Precisely, your majesty. I'm gonna chi-block Ty Lee and show your guards who's boss." he proclaimed, making her roll her eyes.

"Well, the other part can come after. Depending on how well you fight, I might consider my strategies." she explained, making him raise a brow.

He was a little confused by what she meant by strategies, before he realised she was referring to their other kind of 'fighting'; it was a battle that was a lot less painful than the stuff he was used to. He smirked, looking forward to seeing what she might do after he had a good spar with the everybody; ever since that last time they all sparred, he hadn't had a good fight against his girlfriend, and thought he ought to give her all he could, just to make what followed be all the more satisfying.

"Oh, those strategies."

* * *

Ty Lee loved the spa so much that she was actually concerned that they might eventually leave the compound to go do their jobs, which had somehow turned into being the pallbearers of justice and liberation for the world, which her amused quite a lot, given Azula's former disdain toward such wistful thinking. She was sure they'd be doing great things, but until they started, she was more than willing to train and spar with her friend, and then enjoy every moment she could be pampered. Big, filling meals and long spa sessions had been great for the few days they had already been at the compound, and she was sure that it could only get better once Azula got in a better mood.

She could tell when they sparred last that she and Sokka must have resolved some things, because she was far more enthusiastic, or to put it bluntly, vicious, when it came to their sparring. With any other person she might think it was because she was angry, but Azula fought with suave confidence when she was in a good mood. It was when she was uneasy or worried that she would falter and restrain herself. Sparring however, was pretty far from her mind as she felt her back get massaged by the servant who had been attending to her; she turned her gaze over to the Princess, who seemed rather relaxed, with her long black hair flowing down past her shoulders in front of her, while she lay down on her chest, a servant rubbing a herbal ointment into her skin.

"This is great." she simply commented, the Princess making a slight nod, before she sighed, taking a deep breath out.

"I will say, they've gotten better over time." she conceded, the servant who was rubbing her back looking heart-warmed by the usually snarky Princess's comment.

"Thank you, your highness." she acknowledged her words, which seemed to surprise Azula; she probably just wasn't used to servants actually speaking to her.

"It's just an observation." she clarified, obviously not wanting to ruin her image of aloof stoicism, "Continue." she commanded the servant, who did just that.

"What's Sokka doing if we're here?" she asked her friend, wondering what her boyfriend might be up to; he obviously had his own hobbies, the primary one being the consumption of food, though she understood that he was more inclined to intellectual activities than she had expected him to be- it made sense, of course, given that if he and Azula were in a relationship, she expected them to have some things in common.

"Probably annoying the Captain and the guards with his new passion for Pai Sho." she noted, before rolling her eyes, "You know he wanted to play it with me this morning. That was a good way to start a fight."

"A waste of time?" she asked, the Princess shaking her head.

"No, actually, it's just a really easy way to remind me of my annoying uncle who ruined my life." she clarified, before shaking her head, "Or was it Zuko... I'm unsure who's really to blame."

"Ozai?" she dared to suggest, making the Princess snicker.

"Oh, he played a part, but he wasn't the one who shot me with my own lightning." she reminded her; even if her father's actions had ultimately led to Zuko's rebellion and later, his duel with his sister, he was the one who decided to shoot the lightning back at her, not Ozai.

"I can see why you don't like either of them." she admitted, knowing that even if her anger towards her brother was a little blown out of proportion, it was reasoned and justified; he might have accidentally killed her if the attack had been any more effective.

Azula didn't respond to her words, which left an awkward silence between the pair as they both got their backs massaged; she wondered if she ought to say something, just to draw her friend's mind away from her family, given how much anguish it gave her, both physical and emotional.

"Have you got any news from those Earth Kingdom rebels you wanted to meet with?" she decided to ask her about her work, given that it was the one thing she seemed to be constantly focused on- a good distraction, if anything.

"Nothing yet." she tilted her head up slightly, her eyebrows furrowing, "I'm unsure if they're going to be that receptive to my message. I believe Aang might be necessary to bring them to the table."

"Well he and Katara won't be back for a bit." she noted, "That doesn't help."

"It certainly doesn't." she agreed with her point, "I'll go talk with Sokka. Perhaps we can take a short trip to the rebels he met with before they got to the North Pole. They might be willing to trust him after he helped them out." she noted, reminding Ty Lee of the story the Water Tribe warrior had told them when they had been flying south on Appa, explaining exactly what they'd done since they split up.

There were refugees, fights with the Fire Nation, and random muggers; not to mention they were trying their best to hide from the Zhao's fleet, which they seemed to do so successfully. She wondered if perhaps the Admiral had known about Aang flying north, and had considered that in his plan; that unnerved her, the idea that they were played from the very beginning, and that the betrayal he made on the ship was inevitable.

"That's a good idea." she smiled at her friend, before glancing ahead of herself, toward the windows, through which the afternoon sun shone into the room, "The last thing we need is to fight people. I mean, we will be fighting, but your plans won't go very well if your men are fighting the Earth Kingdom, your father's loyalists and Zuko's forces all at once." she noted, the Princess chuckling.

"Yeah, that's the whole plan, Ty Lee. This base, no matter how safe it might seem, won't be so for long if we're facing enemies on all sides." she argued, before her voice became more serious, "We need to solve the colonies problem, sooner rather than later."

"You aren't going to repeat what you did last time, are you?"

"My plan was actually quite good. I just didn't anticipate Zuko showing up in person. I doubt he'll be doing that if he's going off to get married to Mai." she noted, making Ty Lee smile; the thought of one of her best friends getting married was something that made her think the world wasn't as bad as it seemed sometimes, though the fact she had no chance to see it happen was greatly disappointing.

"We're going to sneak in there, aren't we?"

"I'd prefer to avoid doing the dirty work myself this time. I'll plan those operations, and make sure they are foolproof. Without Zhao to come in and ruin things, there's less things we have to worry about."

"Oh... what about the reparations?" she asked her, remembering that after what they had done at the North Pole, the Chief was expecting some compensation for the damages they incurred on his tribe.

"I'll get onto that quickly enough. We can't do much until we secure our borders and make peace with the rebels." she argued, before sighing, "There's much to be done, Ty Lee."

"That sounds like you don't want to be here in the spa." she spoke her mind, "This is great. Just relax a little, and don't worry about it. I'm... I should just stop talking, shouldn't I?"

"Hmph." the Princess mumbled, before turning her gaze away from her friend, "I'd like the massage to wrap up so my hair can be done." she told the servant, who nodded.

"Of course, your highness. I'll get right to it." she assured her, moving to grab a towel from the nearby table to wipe her back down, before she would presumably turn over and begin cleaning the Princess's hair.

Ty Lee felt a little guilty in that by making conversation, she had brought the stresses of leadership to the forefront of her friend's mind; she just wanted to have a lighthearted chat, so they weren't worrying about the struggles they were facing, or were going to face in future. She wondered what better things they could talk about; there wasn't much going on at that very moment that they could discuss, so she decided to pull something out of thin air.

"What do you Aang and Katara are doing right now?"

"If they're not on Appa, they better have a good reason to be so." she narrowed her eyes, "I can imagine them getting into trouble, like the day we came to your circus."

"Oh... robbing a store, and getting chased out of town by the guards." she recalled that rather unusual afternoon; there had been a mixture of emotions and generally, just confusion abound- Sokka pretending to recruit her to fight Zuko was a little funny in hindsight, but it was utterly confusing at the time.

"We're just lucky we have a sky-bison." she piped up, "I can't imagine we'd have done very well running out of there." she noted, before narrowing her eyes, "Do you... miss your sisters?"

"They're pretty annoying." she bluntly acknowledged, which amused her friend; whenever Ty Lee wasn't cheery and nice, Azula found amusement, though she always had good reason to not be happy about something, "I love them, I really do, but it's like being stuck with a bunch of myself. I swear they were driving me crazy."

"I can't imagine what it would have been like having a twin, let alone six sisters." the Princess admitted, "But I can see from your experience... you had good reason to run off to the circus."

"We all did, really." she noted, knowing that her sisters were just as desperate as she was to stand out, and be their own people, "I just wish they had gone their separate ways and found their own things to do instead of just going after me, honestly."

"You're not that lucky, Ty Lee." the Princess acknowledged, "But now you're here, and you can be whoever you want to be."

"Your bodyguard and relationship therapist." she argued, making the Princess roll her eyes.

"I don't want your advice with Sokka. I can easily ruin my relationship without you having to do it for me." she argued, making the acrobat wince; perhaps the feelings of fear were still raw in her mind, thinking that Sokka mightn't trust her any longer, and that it had cut their relationship to pieces.

"You didn't ruin it, Zula." she assured her, "You two actually look like you were getting along." she smiled, truly believing what she had said; she wasn't just trying to make Azula feel better about herself, but acknowledging the dedication they held for each other, "And by getting along, I mean trying to beat the crap out of each other."

"I'm Azula." she simply told her, "That's what I do. Fighting is the best way to bond."

"Sounds like that tactic took a while with Katara." she noted, making the Princess roll her eyes.

"Well, she didn't make it easier, and I, for one, didn't want to be friends with her." she proclaimed, before glancing back over toward the servant who had been cleaning her back, "Do I roll over now?" she asked, the servant reaching over and showing the Princess the gown she had been wearing for their spa session.

"Here's your gown." she simply told her, Azula accepting it and wrapping it around her body as she turned herself over, covering her otherwise naked upper body with it; Ty Lee made a concerted effort to not look her way, not desiring to make her feel uncomfortable with any unwanted gazes.

Once Azula had her gown back on, she lay herself on her back, letting her hair flow down off of the end of the massage table, down toward a steel pot that had been filled with water; that's what her hair would be cleaned with. Ty Lee glanced over toward the servant who had been attending to her, and raised a brow, wondering if she ought to get her to move onto the hair so she could finish up around the same time as her friend.

"Could you do my hair now?" she asked, the servant nodding and reaching over toward her own gown.

She handed it to Ty Lee, and she immediately pulled it over her shoulders, before wrapping it underneath her; she rolled around, and noticed in the corner of her eye that Azula was looking at her, though she immediately averted her gaze. She tied the gown up before laying her head back, deciding not to comment on what the Princess had done; it was rather innocent anyway, and she wasn't going to make fun of her for perhaps unintentionally leering at her. She let her hair fall down behind her, ready for the servant to wash; she waited patiently, but quickly enough, the servant had moved around behind her head, and began to wash her hair with the water and some herbal product, which fluffed up in her hair, and made it feel a little lighter, despite the heaviness that came from the water.

She then glanced back over toward her friend, recalling what they had been talking about before they had moved to get their hair washed, "So, I guess you did make friends with Katara in the end."

"Well, I taught her the very basics of bending, and after that, she seemed to tolerate me." she acknowledged, "Waterbending is very different to firebending, but the core principles are rather similar."

"Huh, so I wonder what it'll be like when you teach Aang firebending."

"Hopefully he's still set on learning the elements when he gets around to it. I'd prefer a poor student over a disinterested one." she noted, before chuckling, "But of course, even he can see the power of firebending. It's the best element for offense, and given we're going to be fighting people, sooner or later, he'll need all the offensive capabilities he can get."

"Aang's a pacifist." Ty Lee observed the fact of the matter, "Do you expect him to become like Sokka and be really violent?"

"Sokka isn't that violent." she assured her, "He has resolve. Some people aren't willing to fight with their all, because they think they'll hurt somebody."

"Like Aang." she brought up the same point once more; they couldn't change his mindset, but at the very least, they could show him the merits of using his strength- if he wasted it, then that'd be negligence that could ultimately affect the fate of the war.

"He'll see. I think he already knows it, even if he's unwilling to act." she admitted, before narrowing her eyes, "Anyone can grow."

"You're right." Ty Lee smiled at her, making the Princess smugly scoff.

"Of course I'm right, Ty Lee." she stressed her infallibility; even if she seemed to have learned her lesson when it came to the debacle with Zhao, her arrogance was one thing that didn't seem to fade easily; the Princess let out a deep breath as she had her hair washed, "I know he's just a child... but so was I. I became a firebending master out of necessity."

The acrobat furrowed a brow, remembering how her friend had talked about her firebending training when they were younger, "Impressing your father was a necessity?"

"Yes. I didn't want to end up like Zuko."

She chuckled, realising that all of Ozai's mistreatment toward his son had ultimately made him stronger, and obviously allowed him to become the Fire Lord; without that struggle, she couldn't have imagined someone like the Zuko she knew becoming a firebending master, and capable of defeating his sister a duel, "In hindsight, that must seem a little stupid."

"Well, I didn't know I was going to meet Sokka, let alone help the Avatar." she admitted, "My life took a turn for the unexpected." she simply observed, before raising her hand up to her face, "This was not what I wanted."

"But you're not unhappy, are you?" she asked her, actually concerned her friend might be having second thoughts about everything she had done; it wasn't like she had much of a choice in her path ahead, but regret was something she didn't want to weigh on her friend's soul, "You haven't betrayed anyone, Azula."

"Well, I did." she simply retorted, before narrowing her eyes, "And I'm unhappy with how stupid I can act at times. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised. I fell for Sokka of all people."

"You just need to let us help you a little bit more." she suggested, "Things go better when you have people you can trust by your side."

"I can agree to that." she nodded, before glancing over toward her, "Thanks for coming with me, Ty Lee."

"It's no problem, Zula." she grinned at her, "I knew you would need help, even with Sokka by your side. Zhao was a mistake, but we can grow past that. I'm sure he'll forgive you."

"I think he has." she admitted, "But forgiveness doesn't mean he'll forget." she added with a tense voice, "He thinks I might go off again without him."

"You won't, won't you?" she asked, nervous that she might be headstrong enough to try that again.

"There's only one circumstance I'll let that happen, and I think you might know what that would be." she vaguely worded herself, which confused Ty Lee; she seemed to be referring to a potential Agni Kai duel with Zuko, but given his skills, she doubted that he wouldn't be useful, in the case the fight became dirty.

"Sokka could help against Zuko, you know? He's not incompetent. He's actually a-" she began to argue in the Water Tribesman's favour, before her friend raised her hand up to silence her.

"No, I'm not talking about Zuko." she stressed, her voice sounding less angry and more afraid, "I'm talking about Father."

"You... you don't think he'd-" she began, before cutting herself off, knowing that she shouldn't say it out loud.

"Yes, Ty Lee. I think he would. If there's one thing I don't want, it's that happening. That's why if I do face him, I want Aang with me instead."

"I mean, he is the Avatar, so I can see why you'd think that." she noted, "Restoring balance and all that."

"It will be the poetic comeuppance Avatar Roku never would have been able to predict." she smirked, "My ancestors have become one in me, and I will end the conflict that Sozin started." she assured her, before narrowing her eyes, "And I've got to figure out that stupid technique Zuko used on me."

"Shooting your own lightning back at you?" she asked, the Princess nodding.

"I don't know how it works. Given firebending and lightning generation both come from the manipulation of one's chi, I assume that it has something to do with chi pathways, but I can't be sure. All I know is that my brother wasn't harmed by my lightning, and that's important. If I could take a lightning bolt to the chest from my father, then I'd be unstoppable... if Aang could do that... well, he'd just be all the more stronger." she acknowledged, narrowing her eyes in thought, "Perhaps you could help me with that."

"You don't have any lightning to redirect, though." she observed, before scrunching her lips up, wondering if anybody in her group of guards had the power to wield lightning, "Can any of your guards generate it?"

"I don't believe so. It's a rare skill, and requires a lot of training to master. If you aren't in the right state of mind, your lightning will falter and hurt you in the process." she explained as she raised a hand up, "I've never had that problem, but I have a feeling that it could arise... avoiding that is my aim."

"I wonder if..." she began, before considering if the potential scenario if Sokka had joined them might have made her feel so anxious about Zhao that when push came to shove, she mightn't have even been able to generate lightning.

Before she could suggest her point to Azula, a knock on the door interrupted them, and the Princess raised her head slightly, "Urgh, this better be important." she grumbled to herself, before cleaning her throat, "What is it?" she spoke loudly enough that whoever was behind the door could clearly hear her.

"It's me." she heard Sokka's voice, making Ty Lee's eyes widen, curious as to why he had shown up.

"Come in." the Princess allowed him, and with that the door opened, "What's happened that's so pressing you had to interrupt our spa session... unless you wanted to join us, of course."

"Uh, no, I don't." he assured her, before straightening his posture, "It's Kori and Sneers."

"Wait, what?" Azula rose up to a seated position, making Ty Lee cringe, noticing that her wet hair was getting on her gown.

"Yeah, I know, it's a bit of a surprise, but they're here. The gate guards stopped them from coming into the compound because they didn't have any documentation or reason to be here. I told them it was alright and let them inside." he explained, before glancing at both of the girls, "Uh, so, did you want to speak with them?"

"Why are they here, Sokka?" Azula stressed with a rather serious tone, "They can't have just come all the way from Yu Dao to meet me. That'd be absurd."

"They didn't." he clarified, "They fled Yu Dao a few months ago, after the military cracked down on their group, who were agitating for a dropping of martial law and installation of a new government. The colonies sound like they've been in a really shit situation as of late."

"My brother's trying to retain a stranglehold on power." the Princess deduced, before shrugging her shoulders, "Of course, I don't blame him. I'd do the same thing if half the country wanted me dead."

"Uh, your highness, your hair is... uh..." the servant behind her tried to warn her, Azula's eyes widening as she noticed the wet patch on her back made by her hair.

"Urgh, this is the worst time for an interruption." she growled.

"Well, when you were topless would have been worse." Ty Lee corrected her, making the Princess blush, and her boyfriend turned his eyes away, obviously a little embarrassed by the suggestion.

"Shut up, Ty Lee." her friend snapped at her, before sighing, "Dry my hair so I can leave." she asked the servant behind her, who nodded, stepping over to grab a towel.

"Of course, your highness." she accepted her command with no complaint, and got to work on drying her hair, while Azula's eyes moved to meet Sokka's.

"You didn't properly answer my question, Sokka. Why are they here?"

"They heard about your arrival a few weeks ago, and decided to come and travel here, to ask for your help."

"Well, I believe it's going to go the other way around, Sokka." she clarified, "We're going to need their help to secure Yu Dao, at some point. Their movement might be of great use to us, if they're still associated with it."

"They didn't say." he admitted, before turning around, "I left them in the meeting room. Is that alright?"

"It's fine." she assured the Water Tribesman, before glancing over to Ty Lee, "I told you about Kori and Sneers, right?"

"They were there in Yu Dao, and they helped you and Sokka escape after the duel." she recalled what the Princess had told her.

"Yes, they did. I will admit, Zhao's insane move did provide us with some great cover, but the whole fiasco has probably irreversibly damaged our reputation in the city. If I could have better controlled him, none of that would have occurred, and Admiral Liang's forces couldn't have reached Pohuai before Sokka and I could return." she noted, before shrugging her shoulders, "Not that it really matters now. What matters is that we utilise whatever means possible to secure the colonies.. I want to avoid a violent confrontation. If there's any way I can get them to support my brother over me, it would be that."

"That's true." Sokka nodded, before sighing, "Sorry for interrupting your spa session. I know you're probably as worn out as I am after sparring."

"It has been quite relaxing, but work comes before pleasure here. I will speak with our friends, and hopefully, we can gather some intelligence from them. It would be helpful to learn more precisely what is going on in the areas under my brother's rule."

"I wish this just could have come up a little later in the day." the acrobat dejectedly mumbled, before sighing, "Could you dry my hair too?"

"I'll get right to it, my lady." the servant assured her, before she turned her eyes over to her friend.

"This is good news, I guess."

"Well, we can actually do something productive instead of just waiting to hear if the Earth Kingdom rebels attack my men on sight." Azula admitted, before glancing over toward her boyfriend, "We might be a while."

"I can wait, it's okay." he assured them, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Perhaps he wants a massage too." she joked to Ty Lee, who giggled.

"Yeah, Sokka, do you want one or not?" she asked the Water Tribesman, who shook his head.

"I don't have any time to get a massage." he argued, before crossing his arms, "I'm focused on making sure we actually get somewhere."

"And by somewhere, he means in control of the colonies." Azula added, making her boyfriend smirk.

"That's right." he agreed with her, before glancing at the two of them, watching as they had their hair dried, "So, what have you two been talking about?"

"How did you know-" the acrobat began to question, before she realised that there was a rather obvious answer to her question, "Nevermind." she mumbled, and as she remained silent thereafter, the Princess decided to answer his question.

"We just talked about what's ahead of us." she simply explained, not mentioning the fact they had a discussion of her very concerns about Sokka and facing her father; she obviously didn't want to bring that up with him, lest it bring about needless anguish and fear, "I need to do some things before we face our enemies."

"Like what?" he scrunched his lips up, confused by her vague wording.

"Learn how to redirect lightning." she clarified, making his eyes widen.

"Sorry?" he asked her, sounding more than a little concerned by the idea of her learning such a skill, as it entailed that she might actually have to use it.

"It's a precaution. I'm not going out of my way to fight my brother or father, but I know it's a possibility, and sooner or later, we're going to be heading to the capital." she clarified.

"It doesn't help that we don't have any idea how your uncle invented that technique."

"Well, what did it look like to you, Sokka?" she asked her; usually Azula would be rhetorical in asking such questions, being as self-assured as she was in her knowledge, but she did seem to actually want to hear his opinion.

"Well..." he mumbled, raising a finger to his chin, "I guess it was kind of similar to the forms Aang and Katara learned from Master Pakku."

"Waterbending?" Ty Lee raised a brow, "What does lightning have to do with waterbending?"

"Lightning is a purer manipulation of one's chi than ordinary firebending." Azula spoke up, "Waterbending seems to mostly involve the flow and redirection of strength and energy."

"Like the Kyoshi Warriors." Sokka observed, making the Princess narrow her eyes.

"Huh, I guess their fighting style was somewhat similar in mindset." she noted, before shaking her head, "That's beside the point, Sokka. If lightning redirection is somehow related to waterbending forms, then perhaps... well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe Katara can teach me."

"Oh, how the tables have turned." he smugly grinned at her, "Well, I guess the master does eventually become the student."

"You haven't beat me yet, Sokka." Ty Lee piped up, "Though... you're getting better." she conceded his skills when it came to chi-blocking, "And honestly, you've got some cool moves."

"Water Tribe style." he raised a hand toward her, "It's something you've just gotta get enculturated with."

"Like Azula." Ty Lee noted, making the Princess look at her with slight confusion, "What? Tell me the last Fire Lord who could probably kill their own food?"

"I don't think that's anything to brag about, Ty Lee." she retorted, "I'd prefer not to be a peasant. Plus, don't you remember dragon hunting? I'm certain my grandfather knew how to kill them."

"But people didn't eat dragons, Azula." she argued in return, before grimacing slightly, "They didn't, right?"

"Of course not." she stressed, assuring her that they didn't actually eat them, "That'd be absurd."

"Anyway... the point is, if you learn to 'waterbend' fire, you might be able to redirect lightning." Sokka drilled down to the point that they were actually trying to discuss.

"Precisely." she nodded, "As much as I would hate to degrade my element by learning the forms of another, this is a necessity." she stressed, the Water Tribesman making a small smile.

"Well, hey, it's an excuse for you and Katara to bond some more and not hate each other's guts."

"We don't hate each other's guts." the Princess retorted, before turning her head slightly to glance at the servant who was drying her hair with a towel, "Is it dry?"

"I will tie it up at once, your highness." the servant assured her, and began to do just that.

The Princess turned back to face her boyfriend, "I think I've earned her respect."

"Well, it took a while to do that." he noted rather bluntly, before making a small smile, "I have a feeling you and Toph will get along well though... whenever she gets here, that is."

"What's this Toph like, anyway?" Ty Lee asked them, not knowing much about her other than the fact she was intended to be Aang's earthbending master.

"Short, blind, and really snarky." the Princess summarised her character, making Ty Lee giggle; she seemed like a person she'd like to meet.

"Great at bending too." Sokka added, "She beat up the Freedom Fighters so bad it wasn't even funny." he noted, before smirking, "And she kicked the butts of those Fire Nation soldiers."

"And she's a human lie detector." Azula added, "Which, given I was trying to hide my identity, was not helpful in the slightest, though I guess when it's being used against my opponents, it'd be rather useful." she smiled, obviously wanting every advantage she could make out of the potential addition to their group.

"Well, everybody's going to get along fine, assuming that they get back here." he noted, before the Princess rose up from the table she'd be lying on, as her hair was done.

She immediately climbed off of the table, standing barefoot on the floor. She then turned her eyes to the assemblage of clothing that sat in the corner of the room; she had to get into her actual clothes, but to her luck there was a small changing room, which had been converted from a closet, that she could use.

"I'm going to get changed. Ty Lee, hurry up, and once you're dressed, we'll go speak with Kori and Sneers." she explained, the acrobat nodding.

"Gotcha. Sokka and I can hang out and have a little chat." she suggested, the Princess scoffing, before she approached her clothes and boots, taking them into her arms, before she turned her gaze to her boyfriend.

"If she hits on you, you have my permission to chi-block her, Sokka." she explained, making him snicker.

"Alright then." he nodded, the acrobat sighing with frustration, not wanting to be accused of something that she wasn't going to do.

"I'm not going to." Ty Lee stressed, the Princess smugly looking at her, pointing a finger her way to warn her, despite her denial.

When she went off into the change room, Ty Lee turned her eyes over to the Water Tribesman, who decided to sit himself on the table which his girlfriend had been laying on., "So, Ty Lee, how are you going?"

"Uh, fine. I wish this spa session could have gone a little longer. It's okay though. We have to tomorrow to do that." she argued, before glancing back behind her, noting that the servant had started to do her hair.

"Don't worry, I can braid it myself. It's a ritual at this point." she assured the servant, who smiled at her, handing her the bands which she would use to tie up her braid.

She sat herself up, and turned to face Sokka as she grasped her hair, pulling the first of the bands through to leave her with a high ponytail, which she was about to braid, "What about you? Azula thought you might have been giving the guards strife."

"Oh, well, I guess I kind of was." he acknowledged with a humoured face, telling her that their was a story to be revealed.

"How?" she asked, knowing where the question might lead.

"Well, they were gambling, and I decided to join in on their game."

"Did you do any good?" she asked, not knowing if Sokka was skilled at such things.

"Well, of course I did. It's all probabilities, but they weren't very happy that I was going so well, so I promptly left their game. That's when I went out and found out that Kori and Sneers were here." he explained, the acrobat nodding as she began to braid her hair.

"I found another book today."

"Ah, was it anything like the one Azula was complaining about?"

"No, this one's very different. Supposedly it's based on a real story about a man who moved to colonies many years ago, and became a merchant... but not a very nice or fair one."

"A pirate?" he asked, sounding very interested at that idea; she felt sad to disappoint him, but it wasn't that kind of story.

"Not really. Just very... underhanded." she clarified, "It's an interesting story though."

"Find any interesting ways to swindle people?"

She snickered at his suggestion and shook her head, "I'm not going to swindle anyone. I already have my charms."

"Ah, yes, flirtation. That must be a tried and tested skill by this point for you." he noted, before narrowing his eyes, "I don't know if I'm very good at that."

"What, is Azula the only girl you've ever wooed?"

"Uh, yeah." he nodded, making an awkward face, "I mean, I've tried before, it doesn't mean I've succeeded, though."

"Oh, I'm sure you might have had some luck if you weren't... well, I don;'t imagine there's much people at the South Pole."

'Not really. There's sometimes feasts between villages, and that was the only time I'd ever see girls my age." he admitted, before making a cringed face, "I'm such a loser sometimes, honestly." he raised a hand to his cheek, "I can say really dumb things."

"Well, I can understand how you feel. I just got a lot of practice though. With the circus, we were always going to new places, meeting new and interesting people." she noted, "I guess it's similar to what we've been doing since I joined you, except we didn't have anything like a sky-bison."

She glanced down, noting that she had finished her braid, and slid the bands into place before tightening them; she then turned around, facing the door of the change room, "Zula, are you nearly done?" she called out to her friend.

"Give me a second." she responded with a slightly annoyed voice, the acrobat glancing back around at the servants who had been attending to them.

"I think you two can go now. Thanks for the spa session."

"It's not a worry, my lady." the girl who had served her bowed toward her, "We are more than willing to serve the Princess and her friends." she made a conciliatory smile, before she and the other servant girl strode over to the door and exited the room, leaving them alone.

"I don't think I'll be getting any practice." Sokka noted with an amused expression, "For Azula, fighting is flirting."

"I heard that, savage." the Princess spoke up, making both of them snicker at her snarky reaction.

"I'm not wrong." he argued in return, Azula stepping out of the change room a few moments later, wearing her usual robes.

"Fighting is about being productive, not about... that." she argued, not sounding very confident in her claim.

"Yeah, that face proves I'm right." he smugly proclaimed, the Princess pointing toward him accusingly.

"Do you want me to beat your arse right here, right now?" she growled at him, Ty Lee getting off the table, standing between the two of them.

"Now, now, we don't need to fight. We've got to speak with your friends, remember?"

"I'm not a forgetful idiot, Ty Lee." the Princess turned her gaze toward her, "Go get changed."

"That's what I'm going to do." she assured her, leaning over to pick up her own clothes before she paced over to the change rooms with everything she needed.

She strode over, and opened to the door, glancing back toward the other two, wondering what they might talk about while she was inside; perhaps they'd get all romantic and make out. That made her giggle, and she closed the door behind her, hoping that they could enjoy themselves a little. She knew they deserved as much time as they could ask for, after all the time they'd spent away, and all the struggle they experienced against Zhao.

She immediately untied her gown, before dropping it down on the ground below her; she then took her chest band from her pile of clothes, and tied it around her bust. Once that was secured in place, she quickly pulled her top over her arms and head, and then stepped into her skirt, pulling it up to her midriff.She then took her wrist bands and slung them on, before she took her shoes and slipped her toes into them. Twisting them around a little, she got them snugly inside, and then glanced around at her attire, finding that she looked just as she was supposed to.

She preferred to comfort wearing the same clothes as often as she could, mostly because she liked that one little bit of stability in her life. She had another set of clothes which she could exchange for the outfit she was presently wearing, which was currently being washed by somebody; it honestly was great to have somebody do her laundry for her, after spending three whole years doing it herself, or with only her sisters to help, or even worse, doing their washing for them.

She picked the gown up off of the ground and stepped out of the doorway, noting that the others were ready and waiting for her; the Princess nodded, acknowledging that she was done, "Well, you were quick, Ty Lee."

"It's the same clothes every time. I've gotten pretty quick." she explained her speed, gesturing to the door, "Are we going?"

"Yes. Let's get to Kori and Sneers. I'm sure they're bored out of their brains." she noted, "Unless some servants decided to feed them, in which case they might be occupied."

"They don't just go around giving out free food to your guests, do they?" Sokka asked her, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"They might just assume they are important because you let them in. Servants are very good with inferences. It's a big part of their job." she clarified, being a good source on servants after having spent most of her life around them.

The trio then left the spa room, and immediately headed down the hallway, all of them knowing where to go; Sokka had quickly learned his way around the place, though it wasn't that hard, given that he only really needed to go to a few places- where they ate, where they slept and where they trained. They moved hastily, led by the Princess, who must have been a little self-conscious in leaving guests unattended for so long; despite her arrogant cockiness, she could still understand the norms and expectations of etiquette, even though she was probably the one person who could forgo it due to her rank. Their path to the stairs was unimpeded, as no servants or guards were patrolling the halls.

"Wait, so Kori and Sneers are a couple, right?" Ty Lee asked, having assumed that from what her friend had told her without any explicit confirmation.

"Yes." Sokka confirmed, "They're a bit like us actually."

"The only thing in common we have with them is that we're from different nations." Azula argued, "Though I guess we both have political aspirations." she noted, "There's a few similarities."

They paced on up the stairs, and quickly bee-lined right to the meeting room, the Princess opening the doors at once. Before them, sat two teenagers, one of them a lithe girl of Fire Nation appearance with tied up brown hair and bangs, and a stocky Earth Kingdom boy who had shaggy hair and straight-cut bangs; she assumed that Kori was the girl and Sneers the boy, given she couldn't imagine the names going the other way around. The two of them looked toward the Princess and her boyfriend with surprised, and clearly happy faces.

"Azula! You're alright!" Kori beamed at her, "It's good to see you again." she approached with wide arms, suggesting that she wanted to hug her.

The Princess raised a hand, suggesting that she didn't want to hug her, "It's good to see you too, Kori. I see you are healthy and well. Sokka told me you were forced out of Yu Dao."

"Yeah." Sneers nodded, his expression suggesting that it wasn't a very nice experience, "The Fire Nation Army got a little more intense after that whole battle."

"We thought you might have got caught, but when we heard about the Princess fighting with Avatar near New Omashu, we couldn't believe it." Kori added, scrunching her lips up, "So it's true, you're friends with the Avatar?"

"Yeah, we are." Sokka nodded, "His name is Aang, and he's a good kid." he explained, before turning his gaze toward Sneers, "he's gone with my sister back to New Omashu.... speaking of which, oh, I forgot to mention I saw your friends again. They're in New Omashu, fighting with the other rebels."

"Ah." Sneers raised his chin up, "Did Jet react to... uh, you know." he gestured to the Princess and the warrior, both of them cringing at his suggestion.

"Yeah, I had to beat the shit out of him." Sokka clarified, "Which is actually a good thing, because I'm pretty sure if Azula was there she might have tried to kill him." he noted, the boy making a cringed expression.

"People never change... well, actually, Jet never changes." he admitted, Ty Lee furrowing a brow.

"Who's this Jet guy? You've mentioned him before, Azula."

"Oh... you'd definitely try to flirt with him, and he'd probably try to stab you, because you're Fire Nation." the Princess deduced, making Sokka cringe.

"Urgh, that's both disturbing to think of and very realistic."

"Anyway, uh, we heard you were here, and we had to come and see you." Kori spoke up, before narrowing her eyes, "You weren't happening to want to liberate the colonies still, were you?"

"Oh I certainly intend to." she confirmed, "Is my brother becoming more hard-line on dissent?"

"Yeah, he is." she nodded, before scrunching her lips up, "Oh, and I'm pretty sure he's gotten married."

"Ah yeah." Sokka nodded, "I guess you missed out on that, Ty Lee."

She pouted slightly, wishing she could have been there for Mai, "Well, I guess I should have seen that coming."

"Oh, yeah, this is Ty Lee." the Princess gestured to her friend, Kori's eyes widening.

"Wait, you're the girl Mai mentioned." she noted, with a smile, suggesting that she was on friendly terms with Mai.

"You know Mai?" she asked, "She's one of my best friends... and I guess the Fire Lady, now."

"Well, my father, the Mayor, housed her and the Fire Lord when he came to Yu Dao. It also happened that I was helping out Azula." she explained, before glancing toward Sneers, "She helped us out. By that I mean she knocked out an Imperial Firebender." she clarified, the acrobat grinning; that did sound like something Mai would do.

"Yeah, that's Mai." she beamed, glad to be able to hear of her friend from somebody else, even if she hadn't seen her for nearly three years.

"So... now we've acquainted ourselves, maybe we can talk about what actually matters." Azula suggested, Kori crossing her arms.

"Overthrowing your brother?"

"Not too fast. How about we get your city back for you first?" she suggested, making the other girl smile brightly.

"Well, that's what I'm here for."

Sokka stepped between Ty Lee and Azula, placing his hands on their shoulders and pulling them closer, "Ah, the power of friendship. Isn't it great?"

"You know what's more powerful?" Sneers asked them, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"Lightning redirection?" she asked, making him step back, a little confused by her words.

"Uh, no. I was going to say making a good impression." he noted, before he pulled a scroll off of his belt, and unfurled it, "And the Blue Dragon has made one hell of an impression." he told them, Ty Lee's eyes widening as she read the scroll; it was obviously some kind of poster, which essentially called on the people of the colonies to overthrow their local governments to instate rule under their rightful Fire Lord Azula.

The Water Tribesman reached forward and took the scroll out of his hands, allowing the two girls to get a closer look at it. Obviously somebody wanted her in power, and what was more interesting was a drawing of Zuko, in his regal glory, at the base of the poster, which had a number of small incisions and burn marks on it; they were obviously made by the people who supported the manifesto, publicly marking their approval by 'killing' the effigy of the Fire Lord.

"Did you-" Sokka asked, before Kori cut him off.

"No." she answered his question before he even had a chance to ask it, before she smirked "That's the best part. We didn't have anything to do with this. But we know who does." she revealed, the three of them looking at each other with similar expressions.

They were all sure that whoever had gathered this popular support for Azula was an ally just waiting to be utilised. Ty Lee was not surprised in the slightest when the Princess pursed her lips upward, placing her hands together as she eyed the couple.

"Oh, I'm listening."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for taking so long to finish this chapter. My schoolwork as been a draining exercise, and I took a temporary hiatus in early August to recollect my writing, given that I had just finished the first arc of this story. Since the start of August, I have stopped mandating word counts for each day, due to the stress imposed on me, and thus it has taken longer than expected to finish this chapter. Expect updates to be heading back toward regularity from here on out, though perhaps not as fast as I was in the past. By the end of October, I will be returning to a normal pace of writing, so after that point expect a chapter every two weeks at the latest (dependent on the actual length of the chapters).


	20. Chapter 20

Aang was sure his bandana was covering his arrow, so he didn't worry as he and Katara strode down the street, in their Fire Nation disguises, pretending like they were just ordinary Fire Nation youths. The town they were in was one they had visited a few weeks prior while searching for Azula's supporters, located on the edge of the Fire Nation colonies; the place seemed rather peaceful, and the streets were bustling with commerce, so he felt a little less nervous than he might have if he was walking down eerily empty streets. They had been flying for three days straight, only stopping to sleep, so Aang thought that taking a small break to go down into the town wouldn't hurt. They didn't have much money, so he was sure they wouldn't be buying much, if anything.

He knew taking a break might improve Katara's mood, given she'd gotten rather dour after all their flying; her expression suggested her mood was already lifted, which was a surprise, given they were in a colonial town. He knew how much she mistrusted and disliked the Fire Nation, but it seemed that perhaps that bias had faded somewhat after all the time they'd spent with Azula and Ty Lee, the former being as Fire Nation as they came. A firebender and not afraid to speak her mind, tough and willing to do what she believed in; in a few ways, she reminded him of his friend Kuzon, who he didn't know the fate of, which was a thing he was starting to notice about everyone he used to know. Other than the Air Nomads, and Bumi, he didn't know what had happened to any of his friends from his old life. He didn't want to dwell on it, knowing that he had good memories, and didn't want to tarnish them with fears that the Fire Nation might have ruined them.

He didn't want to focus on those thoughts, and instead turned his gaze back over to the Water Tribe girl, "Did you want to get some food? You know, a treat?"

"A treat for what? Sitting on Appa all day?" she asked him, not sounding convinced that she was deserving of anything for that.

"I mean, you're keeping me company. It would have been kinda boring for it to just be me, Appa and Momo." he argued, the Water Tribe girl chuckling.

"I guess it would've been. What do you want to get?" she asked, the young Air Nomad scrunching his lips up.

"I don't know. Maybe some pastries. I like pastries." he gave an idea, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Well, I think you're more versed when it comes to food than I am, so I'll let you choose." she decided, glancing around the street, cautiously eyeing the civilians that walked by them, "Do you think we look right?"

"We're fine, Katara." he assured her, "They worked last time, they'll work this time."

"Maybe they know that you have hair." she whispered, the young Avatar cringing slightly.

"Maybe I look really normal? Like don't I just look like any random kid?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, you don't look like what you used to." she noted, before smiling, "You know, hair suits you, Aang."

He self-consciously touched his scalp, "Wait, really? I thought it was getting messy."

"A little scruffy, but that's not too bad." she noted, before narrowing her eyes, "I don't think I could stomach changing my hair."

"Didn't Az-" he began, before stopping himself; mentioning the name of the Princess in public wouldn't be a very good idea- unlike himself, he was sure that many people knew her by her name, and not by her title, even if they associated the two together, "Didn't our friend get her hair cut by Sokka."

"Yeah." Katara nodded, "It looked a little weird, honestly. It was a lot shorter than what it is now." she noted, "I don't think she'd ever had short hair."

"What about Sokka? Has he had different hair?"

"He used to shave the sides of his head, but then he started doing his hair so he looked like Dad." she explained, Aang's eyes widening with surprise; he thought it was a little funny how Sokka's hairstyle looked very similar to Hakoda's, though it made a lot of sense, given he obviously looked up to his father, just as he had to Gyatso, "Oh, and he had a beard when he and Azula showed up at the South Pole."

"Wait, a beard?" his eyes widened, "So, like a big bushy one?"

"Not very bushy, that's probably why he cut it off." she clarified, before glancing up the street, "Where do you think they'd sell pastries?"

Aang furrowed a brow, "At a shop or the market. The market has to be down this way." he concluded, knowing that the street was leading them into the centre of the town, which he could clearly see from the edge of the town when they had landed on Appa; they'd hidden him in a nearby grove, and hopefully, nobody would come and bother him- if his sky-bison got into a fight with some firebenders, he would be seriously worried for his safety, "We better be quick. Things might go badly if somebody finds Appa."

Katara's eyes widened with surprise, obviously not having considered that possibility yet, "That wouldn't be good." she agreed, before glancing ahead, "Let's just be quick to find those pastries then."

The pair continued on down the street, forced to weave around to avoid walking into other pedestrians, but he could clearly see where they were going; the street was straight, and was leading them right into the middle of the town. He glanced around the street, not seeing any stalls yet, guessing that they were all situated in the centre of town; he remembered the town only vaguely, as they had only stopped for an afternoon to check around for information before flying off again on Appa. He was sure there was a market in the centre of town, like the other colonial towns he'd visited so far.

"What kind of pastry do you want?" Katara asked him, making him raise a brow; he didn't really know what kind of flavour they'd have- he assumed fruit and spices would be inside, but he hadn't had them in a while.

"I don't know. I think I'll just ask what's good." he suggested, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"I'd like something sweet." she simply decided, glancing up the street, "I don't really like spicy food."

He raised a finger to his lips, hushing her, "Don't say that out loud. They'll know that you're Water Tribe then."

"I'm sure some people mustn't like spicy food." she argued in return, "It'd be a bit weird if everyone in the country had the same taste in food."

"I mean..." he raised a finger, before dropping his hand, not finding a good argument against that, "Well, you're right."

"There it is." she pointed ahead, where he could see the canvas of the market stalls, "The market."

The pair continued their way toward the market, and with it the massing of pedestrians that were walking through it; that slowed down their pace considerably, but quickly enough, they were walking past market stalls, Aang eagerly looking around for the kind of stall that would sell the food he wanted. He couldn't see any stalls that were selling pastries specifically, but could make out a few street food vendors; he was sure there'd be one, but he would have to look around a little longer to find them. When he looked toward Katara, he noticed her grimace; she straightened her face as soon as she realised he was looking at him, but that only made him feel guilty.

"Are you worried about all the people?" he asked her, and she looked away.

"I don't want us getting found out, Aang." she simply told him, quietly enough that the other market goers couldn't hear her.

He nodded, before gesturing down to their right, past a large fountain which sat in the centre of the market, "Let's go around. If we can't find anything, we can just go back to Appa." he assured her, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." she agreed to his proposition; he knew that she didn't want to be stuck on Appa's saddle all day, but neither did she want to put them in needless danger.

Aang didn't want to put them in danger either, and he learned well after Kyoshi Island that keeping his identity secret was for the greater good. People knew he was still around, and he would be their symbol of hope, if need be, but that didn't mean that he was going to walk around the Fire Nation colonies spouting about how he could help the Fire Nation achieve peace. He'd just be riling up all the wrong kinds of people; the kind of people who supported Azula's father, specifically.

They strode on down through the market, and as he was walking along, he noted a few kids bickering in front of them, making some fuss that he didn't understand the context of; he and Katara tried to walk around them, but suddenly, he found himself nearly tripped over by a boy rushing past him. The young Air Nomad reoriented himself, just short of falling flat on his bottom, and rolled his eyes, only to realise that the boy had reached into his pocket; Aang turned around, and noticed that he had stolen his bison whistle, obviously not realising what it was.

Before he could even try and demand it back, his friend stepped forward, raising a hand up toward the boy, "I'd drop that if I was you." she warned him, the young Avatar cringing; he didn't want to get into a fight.

"This is just a whistle." the boy observed, before throwing it back to them, "Can't even snatch useful things." he dejectedly acknowledged as the Water Tribe girl grasped the whistle with her right hand, before handing it back to Aang.

"Maybe don't steal off of other kids." Aang suggested, before another kid ran past them; they didn't even get a chance to try something as he was tripped over by Katara swiftly moving a leg out, his face smacking right into the stone tiles of the street.

Aang cringed at his groan of pain, but his friend seemed a whole lot less phased by what she had done, "Seriously." Katara growled with frustration, gesturing down the street, telling the two boys to get lost, "Go annoy somebody else."8

The boy who had taken the whistle looked at her with awe, "Wow, you're cool." he noted with an impressed voice, making her smirk slightly, before she turned her heels.

"Let's go, Aang." she grasped the young Air Nomad by the shoulder, and with that, they were off again, heading through the market.

It didn't take long for him to notice a stall selling pastries, which he could see a kid eating nearby; they looked good, and he dragged his friend toward it. Her expression shifted to one of interest as she too noted their appearance, and the fresh, sweet smell they gave off. There was a small line at the stall, which was a little annoying, but he knew it wouldn't last too long.

"At least we found it." he noted, before glancing behind him, having noticed something odd in the corner of his eye; he could see a few town guards, who just looked like ordinary Fire Nation soldiers, though they somehow seemed a little less scary, though that probably had to with the lack of armour.

They were on patrol, from what he could tell, and walked right past them, Aang tensing up, trying to act like nothing was wrong with him being there. They didn't seem to look his way, but they were looking for something, it seemed; Katara grasped his hand, obviously nervous as well, and she audibly sighed with relief when they continued on through the market.

She left go of his hand, and murmured under her breath, "Maybe this is too dangerous."

"Nobody's noticed us." he assured her, "We're fine, Katara."

"It's just us." she added, glancing back around the street, "I'm better at bending than I used to be, but I can't fight... a whole town guard."

"That's not going to happen." he argued, before smiling, glancing over toward the stall, noting somebody was moving out of line, getting them closer to his goal, "We're just going to get some pastries and go back to Appa."

"They smell good." she conceded, "When was the last time you had one of these?"

"I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure Gyatso and I had some. The monks always made good ones." he explained with a smile, hoping that one day, he might be able to make pastries as they had in the temple, so he could enjoy that food again; he was sure, given his knowledge, he could probably do it, but he didn't have the time or the means at present to do so.

"Well, I guess it's nice to have something like that again." he noted, before chuckling, "I miss my Gran-Gran's cooking." she admitted, "Back at the North Pole, that was similar, but it just didn't have that same feeling."

"Huh, I see what you mean." he nodded, understanding her sentiment of missing the cooking she was used to.

He felt a little guilty, not really knowing how long they'd be spending together; he hadn't really considered how long she might be stuck away from the village she had lived in her entire life. the Water Tribe girl mightn't return to her home for some time, and he knew that wouldn't be very fair- unlike Sokka, who would probably just go wherever Azula did, Katara obviously missed the place she had come from, and would want to go back as soon as she could. At times, he wanted to go back to the Southern Air Temple, but he knew that it wasn't going to be the same as he remembered it. Maybe one day, there could be some semblance of normalcy; new Air Nomads, however they might arise, to fill the empty halls of his home.

"You must really miss your... everything." she acknowledged, grimacing slightly, obviously understanding the pain and sadness he felt over what happened to his people.

"I- yeah, I do." he nodded, before smiling, "But I've got new things to look forward to."

"What, having some blind earthbender beat your butt every day?" she asked him, making him snicker, knowing that from what he already knew of Toph's temperament, it was more than likely she'd do that to train him in his earthbending.

"I mean, she's probably going to do it." he conceded, "But, I know she'll be a good master."

"I don't know, Aang. Can you handle it?" she asked, raising a finger to her chin; her smug expression suggested that she thought he might wuss out of Toph's training, whatever it ended up being.

"I can handle it. I could handle Pakku, I can handle her." he argued, raising a fist to stress the point, before he glanced over, noting that the person at the stall was watching them; obviously with no context to their conversation, she seemed rather confused by their words, and made a cringed smile.

"Uh, did you want to buy some pastries?" she asked them, the pair nodding before they stepped closer.

"Yes, yes we do." he assured her, before glancing around at the pastries, "What flavours do you have?"

"Uh, well, I have apple, wildberry, cinnamon apple, spiced nuts and plain nuts." she explained, Aang glancing over toward Katara, who scrunched her lips up in thought.

"Uh, wildberry, I'd say." she decided, turning to face Aang, who had already decided.

"Cinnamon apple." he simply stated his choice, the woman smiling at them both.

"Just one pastry each?" she asked, the young Avatar glancing down, and saw that they were rather big, about the size of his two closed fists.

"Uh, yeah, one." he agreed to that proposition, also noting the money problem.

They really didn't have much, and Azula didn't have much to give to them other than what she could scrap together from around Zhao's office, seeing that he couldn't object to her taking it; it still wasn't much, only a few gold and silver coins, and he was in no mindset to be spending it all.

"That's eight copper pieces." she explained, the Water Tribe girl taking the requested money out of her pocket, and handing them to the woman, who smiled, before placing each of their pastries in paper bags, which she handed to them.

The pair glanced toward each other, and nodded, glad that they'd gotten what they wanted; the Water Tribe girl glanced up through the market, and furrowed a brow, "Maybe we should avoid the kids who tried to steal from us before." she suggested, the young Avatar nodding.

"Sounds like a good-" he began to explain, before he heard a loud bang, glancing toward where he heard it, looking at what seemed to be the town hall; suddenly a bright flash of light came out from the windows of the building, before they were shattered, soon to be followed by a powerful blast of shattered glass and smoke.

Aang dropped down at once, and being unprepared to bend the blast away, he was thrown down to the ground, curling up to try and keep his extremities safe from the explosion. He blinked a few times, and noticed that his ears were ringing, and though his side hurt from being tossed to the ground, he wasn't injured, from what it seemed. He glanced around and noticed that his eyes hurt, though he put that down to the smoke and dust in the air; he could see heavy smoke billowing out of the building that had exploded, and noticed debris had been flung out everywhere. Worse was that he saw Katara splayed on the ground, seemingly unconscious; his eyes widened with fear, and he noticed that there were many people on the ground and injured, not to mention the numerous stalls that had been blasted over and apart by the explosion.

"Katara!" he cried out her name, grasping her by the shoulder and shaking her; turning her head around, he noticed that there was a gash on it, and though it didn't seem too bad, there was blood coming out, and she groaned with pain, her eyes seemingly forced shut.

He wondered if he could try and heal her with waterbending, but he didn't know if he could do it; he'd never tried it, and he didn't want to do it in public. He could hear screams of fear around him, and panicked people racing about, some dazed and others outright running for their lives, probably fearing another explosion might occur. He had no idea what had happened, or why it had happened; all Aang could do was try and help his friend, so he grasped her underneath her arms, and pulled her up, hoping to get away from the building.

"Urgh, my head." she groaned with pain, the young Avatar cringing, hoping only to get her away; she moved a little, but her motions were slow and clumsy.

She reached out to her right, and he noticed that she had dropped her pastry bag; he found it a little funny that she was reaching for that, given the circumstances, but he did not laugh. Instead, he reached over and picked it up himself, before slinging his arm over her shoulder, helping her up, hoping that if they could get over to the fountain in the centre of the town square, he could try to inconspicuously heal her with the water there.

"Aang." she softly murmured his name, "Wh-what... what is going on?"

"Something exploded." he told her bluntly; that was all he knew, and glancing back to the smouldering town hall, he could only think the worst- maybe somebody had attacked it, which meant they might be in serious danger.

He continued to help her along toward the fountain, forced to move past the people who were approaching the town hall, presumably to help those others who were injured by the explosion; he could hear cries of pain, and he didn't want to look back. He wanted to help those caught up in the blast, but he couldn't do anything until he helped Katara. She was his friend, and at that very moment, helping her was what mattered.

"Urgh..." the Water Tribe girl groaned, raising her left hand to her bleeding forehead, "Blood." she mumbled, "I need to heal myself." she deduced, the young Avatar nodding.

"We're getting to the fountain, don't worry." he assured her, glancing ahead, where he noticed some town guards, armed or with their hands ready to firebend, rushing toward them; they made their way past, heading toward the town hall, and Aang grimaced, unsure what they were about to run into.

Suddenly, the ground shook underneath them, and he tightened his grip on Katara's shoulder, making sure she didn't stumble over; her eyes widened with fear, glancing backward, Aang doing the same as he looked over to the town hall, noticing that pillars of dirt and stone tiles had been thrust out of the street, striking the guards that just came past them.

"E-Earthbenders." she gasped, "It's earthbenders."

The young Avatar's eyes widened realising that she was right; earthbenders were fighting the guards, which meant he could only come to one conclusion- rebels had set off the explosion. He continued to help Katara along, moving as fast as he could with her shaky steps toward the fountain, noting the fearful looks on the faces of the commoners around them. He glanced back, and noticed that the guards were being forced away from the town hall, and toward the market; his heart was beating in his chest like a drum. He didn't want to activate the Avatar State of all things, knowing that with so many people around, it could only go terribly, even if it did stop the fighting; he took a long, deep breath as he helped his friend sit down by the edge of the fountain pool.

"Water." she murmured, before reaching her hand into the pool; Aang dropped the bags of pastries down and reached in himself.

"Let me do it. I can figure it out, Katara." he assured her, taking a small blob of water into his palm, which was covered from view by clenching his fingers over it, before placing his palm over her forehead.

Spreading the water out a bit, he was able to begin moving it around, and after taking a few breaths, he noticed that the water under his hand was glowing slightly; he assumed that meant it was working, given that was what had happened when Katara healed Pakku. The Water Tribe girl blinked a few times, and glanced back toward the town hall.

"We've gotta get out of here, Aang." she told him, "This is too dangerous."

"But what about all the injured people, we should at least try and help them. They didn't deserve this." he told her, the Water Tribe girl cringing, before she nodded, agreeing with his point.

Aang retracted his hand away, noting that the gash had closed and the blood had stopped leaking out; here was still a mark, but he was sure that the healing had worked, at least enough that his friend wasn't completely out of it. She pulled herself up, grasping the edge of the fountain, making a small smile.

"Thanks, Aang." she simply told him, before reaching over into the fountain, pulling some water up to her palm, so she too could heal people who were injured.

He was about to move to help some people; when suddenly the ground shook again, and some pillars shot out of the ground ahead of them. His eyes widened as he saw the pillars get broken up by firebending, but a few boulders flew out past the guards, one of them heading right toward him. Not knowing what else to do, he drew out the water he had already had in his hand, making it into a thin, dish-like shape, before flinging it forward, slicing the boulder in two before it could reach him or Katara. The Water Tribe girl looked at him with surprise, impressed by his waterbending; it was more a reflexive reaction than indicative of any great skill- she was definitely the more capable waterbender of the pair.

"That's a waterbender!" he heard one of the civilians call out, pointing at Aang accusingly, his eyes widening.

He didn't know what to do but try and justify himself, "I'm going to heal and help those people. Is there something wrong with that?" he asked the people who were looking at him, clearly worried for their own safety.

They looked at him nervously, and Aang wondered whether he could do anything to dissuade them from reacting with force; the Fire Nation didn't like other nations, he already knew that, and he knew that they might react poorly, even if they didn't know he was the Avatar. Surprisingly enough, they didn't try to do anything, just stepping back, letting the pair walk back over toward the injured civilians who were clearly in danger from all the fighting that was going on between the firebenders and earthbenders.

Aang immediately rushed towards a few injured civilians, with his water in hand; he wasn't trained in healing, but he knew he had the capability of doing it, like any waterbender, so he tried to do what he could. They were apprehensive to see waterbending, but when he knelt down beside an injured woman and placed his hand over the gash on her arm, her expression shifted to one of surprise; she had obviously never heard about the healing capabilities of waterbending. Aang wouldn't blame them, given he didn't know of it himself until he came to the North Pole; he put that down to not having gone to either the North or South Poles before he was frozen, and he assumed no Fire Nation people were going to understand the breadth of waterbending either. She turned to face the other injured civilians, and gave a reassuring smile.

"It actually helps." she acknowledged, before turning to face him, "Thank you." she simply nodded at the young Avatar, who shook his head.

"Don't thank me. It's the least I can do." he assured her; even if they didn't know he was the Avatar, he wasn't going to just ignore his duties- he was meant to help people, and that was something he already understood, even back when he had run away from the temple.

He turned to face the other civilians, who seemed a little less uneased after the woman's positive response, and a boy offered his hands up, which Aang noted to be covered in cuts; he gestured back, away from the town hall, knowing they ought to get away from the fighting.

"If you can walk, please, get away from the fight." he pleaded with them, and a few of them heeded, though clearly some were too injured to do a thing.

Aang spread the water over the boys hands, and it glowed, making his eyes widen with surprise; a few moments later, the cuts closed up, and he looked at them with surprise, watching as the blood was washed off by the water.

"They're fine." he gasped, the young Air Nomad nodding and gesturing back toward the fountain.

"Get yourself safe." he asked, and his request was heeded; even if he wasn't being seen for who he really was, that didn't mean that people couldn't respect his wishes, even if he was just a kid- he was a kid with abilities that could help protect innocents, and they obviously understood that.

A young man, who was limping, barely able to get off of the ground, pulled himself closer to Aang, who immediately moved to help him; grasping him by the shoulder, he helped the man move behind the remains of a stall, keeping him covered from the flames and dust that came out of the fighting between the firebenders and earthbenders. He could not see who was winning, but he didn't really care; what he wanted to do was make sure the innocents were safe. He noted that Katara was helping others get back, and to their collective luck, they seemed to be heeding her advice and accepting her help, even if they knew she was a waterbender. Some of the civilians were obviously Earth Kingdom, and thus, probably a little less disdainful towards those from the other nations, but most of them weren't; despite that, they could understand a friendly gesture when they saw one. He could only hope the whole Fire Nation could see his intentions as clearly when he and Azula tried to make peace between the nations.

"Spirits this hurts..." the man he had helped to cover groaned, and Aang cringed, immediately moving his water to the man's leg, which was already bruising; he motioned his hand up and down his shin, and the man's eyes widened, surprised by the effect of the water, "That... that actually worked." he gasped, "At least, I think it did." he noted, glancing down to his right leg, which he grasped.

"I sure hope it did." Aang made an awkward smile, before gesturing back toward the fountain, "Get as far away as you can." he told him, the man nodding.

"I will." he assured him, stumbling over toward the other market goers who had already moved as far away as they could, though many were watching intently, obviously worried about what was going on.

"Aang!" Katara cried out, and he immediately turned his gaze over toward her, and saw that two guards had grasped her by her arms.

"Hey!" he pointed at them accusingly, "We're just trying to help!"

"Get the waterbenders!" he heard a guard speak up, the young Avatar grimacing; there was a very easy way to get them off of Katara, but he was afraid to make the move.

He swallowed his fears and grasped the back of his head, taking the knot he had tied around his bandana, and untied it at once, pulling the orange piece of fabric off of his forehead, tying it around his wrist instead.

He flicked his head upward, making sure the guards could see his face; a few moments later, he got the expected reaction as one of the guards pointed his way with a fearful face,

"That's not a waterbender!" he exclaimed, "That's the Avatar!"

"That's right!" he proclaimed, before reaching over to a broken stall.

There was a wooden pole right beside him, which must have originally held up a canvas; he broke it off, and spun it around, holding it in both hands, "Come and get me." he prodded them, before tilting his head toward the fountain, "Please get the pastries. We paid for them." he gave Katara the only advice he could think of on the spot, before spinning his staff around and sending an air blast toward the guards, knocking them right off of their feet.

Katara broke free of their hold, using the momentary distraction Aang provided to her advantage; he continued to spin his staff around, bending the air around him into a funnel, which she sent out right toward the guards who had turned their attention his way, knocking them over. They groaned with pain, and at least for a moment, seemed out of it; he turned to face his friend, who had picked up their bags of pastry, and he pointed to the nearest street that went off in the direction they had came from.

"Get to Appa!" he shouted out, and she heeded his command, running as fast as she could past the civilians, who didn't try to stop her; he turned back around, and readied his staff, knowing that the guards mightn't give up so easily.

"So I assume Zuko doesn't like me much anymore." he casually commented, the guards looking at him with confused faces; he was surprised how much that unnerved them, given that he referred to the Fire Lord with no deference whatsoever- he was just Azula's brother, after all, and not somebody he saw as some unstoppable leader, "That's okay, I did kinda beat up his sailors." he conceded his own fault; he had not made it easy for the Fire Lord to want to cooperate with him when he'd intervened in a fight between his forces and Ozai's, without even picking a specific side.

The guards took firebending forms, and sent a number of fireballs his way; he used his airbending to funnel the flames around him, the closest he'd get to the amazing form he'd seen Azula use at Kyoshi Island; he reminded himself that when he got around to learning firebending, he'd need to know how she did that. He then reached out with his left hand to the fountain, and pulled some water around him, forming a thin stream, which he split up into two water whips; after all, smacking two firebenders at a time was more effective than just one. He was able to hit two of them over, but one of his water whips was broken apart, and he decided to shift the other into a water shield. It held off the fire blasts they sent his way effectively enough, and he then tossed it over to his right, splashing the entrance of the town hall, stopping whatever fires had been smoldering after the explosion. That seemed to surprise the guards, who probably hadn't gotten it through their heads that he really just was trying to help.

Spinning the pole around, he sent a cutting blast of air into the guards, throwing them right off of their feet, before he smirked, "Okay, I'll be going now." he decided, raising his hand to the civilians who looked on with surprised and confused expressions, "I hope you guys are okay." he simply acknowledged, knowing that they were the ones who had suffered at the hands of the seemingly random attack by the hands of some Earth Kingdom rebels.

He actually hadn't seen any of them yet, and he assumed that they might have used the cover of Aang's distraction to withdraw. He wouldn't blame them for doing so, but he truly wished they chose another means of resisting the Fire Nation; it was just a terrible thing to scare and injure civilians when they could try and rally support to push the Fire Nation out, if that's what they truly desired. He raced off in the direction Katara had gone and weaved under a fire stream that was sent his way; it was a lot less impressive that the ones he'd faced as of late, so he had no issue dodging it and sending another air blast back toward the creator of the attack. He immediately dashed on down the street, racing past the civilians who had come around to see what was going on; they were shocked by his presence, and moved out of his way as he sped along as fast as he could; he could see Katara down the street, noting that she was fighting off some more guards. He whistled to her, getting her attention, and she jumped out of the wya, before he conjured a funnel of air with the wooden pole, sending it right down the street; the guards didn't stand a chance, and were blasted right off of their feet, and as soon as he reached her, the pair began to sprint together down the street.

"Good job, Aang." she smiled at him, "You beat up the other guys?" she asked, the young Avatar nodding.

"I did." he assured her, "We better get to Appa quickly."

"And we were just trying to help." she grumbled, clearly disenchanted by the reaction they had received.

"At least the people aren't afraid of us; they're who we've got to persuade to accept peace, not the army." he argued, the Water Tribe girl glancing back toward the men he'd knocked over.

"Yeah, that part's Azula's job."

* * *

Pulling her hair up, Azula made sure that not a single strand was loose from her topknot, tying it up by the top of her head; she was trying to ignore the fact Sokka was looking at her, but she wouldn't blame him- she was pretty after all, and she was sure it wasn't just her arrogance inner-voice that thought that. She then picked up the headpiece that sat on the table beside her, and put in her hair; it's gold colour that glittered from the light of the candles in front of her, which she could see on the mirror she was eyeing herself through. The Princess put the headpiece in place, and tightened the topknot, keeping it in place, before she turned around to face her boyfriend, who had been standing there with his arms crossed, already dressed and ready to go; he was wearing his own armour, and had a bag slung over his shoulder with the basic supplies he'd need.

Remembering what they were doing made her smirk; perhaps she had always wanted it, to relive a little bit of the adventure where they had fallen for each other. That little bit of romanticism in her mind was squashed by the overwhelming desire she felt to attain her goals; the real reason they were going to travel west was to meet with her supporters, who Kori and Sneers assured her they could lead her to. She would be travelling by komodo rhino with Sokka, Ty Lee and all her guards, out through the wilderness for a number of days, though it was a shorter trip than the one her friends were taking on Appa.

"You look perfect." Sokka assured her, pre-empting any question she might have had about her appearance; she knew that she looked perfect, but having him reassure her made her almost laugh- he just knew what to say.

"Oh, and you look fine. You could have shaved, though."

"What, don't you prefer I look a little more rugged?" he prodded her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"You look fine the way you are." she argued, the Water Tribesman raising a hand to his chest, actually flattered by her words; they weren't intended to do so, but she wasn't going to complain over his fawning face.

"Oh, thanks, Azula. I know I can count on you not to mock me when it counts." he smiled at Azula, who rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well you better not mock me in front of whoever we're going to meet."

"I wouldn't dare. I'll play tough for you, just to scare the shit out of them."

"I'm sure they know who you are, Sokka." she warned him, knowing that his intimidation game could only go so far.

"But they won't know my temperament. Given everybody's assumptions about you, they probably would think I'm some kind of hardened, murderous bodyguard cross lover."

She raised a brow at his suggestion, thinking it was a rather blunt, but astute description, "I mean, you are that."

That didn't seem to go down well with Sokka, who obviously believed otherwise, "I'm not murderous, and I think I can still crack some pretty good jokes." he argued, before tilting his head toward the door, "So, are we going?"

"I shouldn't give Ty Lee any more time to be able to flirt with my guards." she noted, making him snicker.

"What, is she really going to do that? Aren't all of them grown men?"

"Not all of them are that old, Sokka. Most of them were prodigious firebenders, chosen for their innate skills at a young age to serve their country. Some of them used to be soldiers too, but most of them aren't any older than twenty five." she clarified that point; some of them were clearly in the age range for Ty Lee's flirtations, and though she wasn't going to reprimand her for doing so, she would prefer that they kept some professional distance- she needed her guards to remain on focus, after all.

"Well, maybe that's why I can get along with them."

"You barely talk with them."

"Men don't need to talk to bond." he argued, the Princess rolling her eyes; she didn't want to discuss the relationship he held with men who most likely mistrusted or outright disliked him for most the time he was with them- of course, after Yu Dao, things were different, but they mightn't have changed that much.

She turned around, and blew out the candles on the table, before she paced on over toward the bedroom door, "Let's just get to the stables already." she told him, and with that, he followed after her, right out of the door.

Hopefully, by week's end, they would get to her supporters' base of operations, which was located just outside of the colonial city of Shengchang, which was located a far bit inland from the more trade-oriented cities on the shores of the Mo Ce Sea. Its more isolated location made her hope that her brother's forces mightn't be as numerous and prepared in the area, given it was probably less of a target, not really being necessary for her nor her father's supporters to control if they desired to block Zuko from controlling the colonies. She didn't intend to occupy the city very soon, given her rather precarious situation at that very moment; however, she did know that it would likely be her first target, as a staging ground for later expeditions to liberate the colonies from her brother's rule.

As they were about to reach the doorway at the end of the hall, her boyfriend spoke up, "You know, you don't have to act like you're not excited to get out of this place. Go out on a little trip through the wilds for old time's sake." he suggested rather assumingly with a smug look on his face, making her raise a brow; she was unsure whether he wanted her to express her emotions a little more frankly, or if he just wanted her to be excited.

"Excited?" she raised a brow, "I'm not excited to ride a komodo rhino out into the middle of nowhere." she retorted, before striding on out of the door, her boyfriend following right beside her, raising a finger up.

"But you're excited to do it with me." Sokka clarified his point, making her turn her face away, hoping she wasn't blushing; he had obviously figured out that she was feeling a little bit nostalgic about their adventure together, or perhaps, it was that he was just as nostalgic as she was.

"Shut up." she tried to deny it, "I'm pleased to know that I might have friends in the colonies willing to assist in our plans, not about going out there." she argued, "I know, for one, it's not safe, for either of us."

"Safety never stopped you, Azula." he argued, his confident face faltering as he realised the implications of his own observation, "That's actually... a bit of a problem."

"I'm working on it. My judgement is only improved when I have someone to critique my every move."

"Only the dumb ones." he argued, before making a nervous hum, "Uh... you're not dumb."

"You don't need to tell me that, Sokka. I know you're the stupid one in this relationship." she quipped in return, before scrunching her lips up, knowing she was being a bit harsher than deserved, "Relatively." she added rather softly, not actually thinking he was an idiot; he did idiotic things from time to time, and sometimes acted rather immaturely, but he was clearly a smart man, and sometimes, he was wiser than her.

Approaching the front door of the compound, the guards who were stationed there bowed toward the Princess, and opened the door for her, allowing her and her boyfriend through; she glanced back toward him, and realised he was obviously trying to think up a response to her insult.

"And you're the best firebender in the world... relatively." he quipped in return, making her roll her eyes; just when she wanted to be respectful, he threw her insults right back in her face.

"Why do you have to be right about things that piss me off?" she snapped back at him, her serious glare not phasing him one bit.

"Knowing your limits is a good thing, Azula." he assured her, the Princess pursing her lips upward.

"They're not limits, they're just areas for improvement." she argued, knowing that eventually, she would surpass even those firebenders she knew were stronger than her, such as her uncle and father.

"Wow, that's more positive than the kind of shit Katara spouts. Congratulations, you out-Katara-ed Katara."

"This has nothing to do with Katara." she retorted, before raising her hand up, warning him to be quiet as they approached the front gates of the compound, where the guards once again opened the gate for her.

"Good luck on your journey, your majesty." one of the guards saluted her, and she nodded in return to his deference.

"And to you all." she simply gave a polite courtesy, before she and her boyfriend continued to pace along, turning right to head in the direction of the stables.

She remembered what he had assumed of her attitude, and scrunched her lips up, not wanting to think herself that similar to Katara; she was always dedicated to becoming a stronger, more capable person, whether that was in regards to her firebending or any other skill she had.

"I'm always about becoming stronger, Sokka. That doesn't make me Katara." she argued in return, "And plus, I'm not going to deny her dedication. She is just as intent on becoming a powerful waterbender as I am a firebender." she noted, giving credit when it was due.

What she had seen at the North Pole hadn't been much, but it had shown her how quickly the Water tribe girl had improved, with her tenacity and drive. That kind of growth and focus reminded her of herself, and even if she had been much younger when she was at the stage Katara was at, she still found it to be inspiring, given that it showed nobody needed tutors like Lo and Li, or the watchful eye of the most powerful firebender alive just to become a master. She almost regretted her childhood, thinking how it could have been much better spent out in the world, learning as she had with Sokka, even if it was by herself. She had needed that knowledge and experience, even if she didn't realise it at the time.

"Thank you, Sokka." she simply addressed him, which seemed to come as a surprise.

"Wait, thank me?" he placed a hand on his chest, feigning surprise, "Oh, you shouldn't've."

"I'm not making fun of you. You really have opened my eyes to a lot of things." she admitted, making him smile softly at her, obviously appreciating her comments.

"That's... okay." he assured her, his voice a lot less boisterous than it had been before, "People don't deserve to live their lives following what somebody else wants of them." he added, "You're just free now, I guess."

"Oh, and how I stupidly abused that freedom." she acknowledged her mistakes once more, making him wince, though he seemed to be happy that she was honest about it, "I'm going to do things right this time, Sokka."

"With me or the colonies?" he asked, making her snicker, not having realised the two possible meanings of her words.

"Both. I like to multi-task." she decided, making her boyfriend snicker, shaking his head.

"And I assume I have to do half the work, being your 'assistant' and all."

"Oh, I would say so. You still get the credit though." she argued, smirking in thought of what her crowning as Fire Lord might be like, with Sokka standing behind her, there for her moment of glory.

She would speak of her struggles, and her growth, and what that meant for her nation, and she'd tell them of what he meant to her, even if it wasn't a lauding proclamation of love. That wasn't what was important, at least to the world; what was important was what he had taught her, and how they had grown together.

"One day, the world will see you and all you've done Sokka."

"Yeah, I'd prefer if people called me by my name instead of just calling me 'the Water Tribesman'." he admitted, making her smirk.

"Oh, of course, you'll have an easier to remember title- the Fire Consort." she clarified, making him snicker.

"Ah, that just doesn't sound right." he admitted, making her narrow her eyes, curious as to why he wouldn't like it; she assumed it had to do with his disdain for her nation and general pride as a Water Tribesman.

"Because you don't like the Fire Nation?"

"Because I'm Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. I think I'm as far from being the Fire Consort as your father is from being Earth King. I mean, it could happen, but it's just a weird thing to think about." he explained his thoughts with the oddest of comparisons, making the Princess shake her head, finding the absurdity of her father calling himself the Earth King utterly stupendous.

"My father would never accept the degrading title of Earth King, even if he rules the Earth Kingdom." she argued, before glancing ahead of them, taking note of the stables in the distance.

Sokka seemed to catch where she was looking, and a few moments later, turned back to face her, "So, you're gonna give out some orders, and then we'll leave."

"What else do you expect me to do? Run a puppet show for my guards?" she mocked him, making the Water Tribesman cackle.

"Eheheheh..." he snickered, looking down as he tried to stop himself from laughing any louder, "I promise, you won't have to do that again."

"I wasn't going to ask for your permission." she retorted, crossing her arms, "Try and act serious again, for the sake of my office as Princess. I would like to retain a shred of respect amongst my men." she argued, the Water Tribe warrior nodding, giving her a joking salute.

"Yes, your majesty. I wouldn't dare disobey your orders." he sarcastically assured her, the Princess raising a hand up toward him.

"If you make another smartarse comment, I'm going to set your hair on fire."

"If you're fast enough to do it." he argued, making a confident smirk as he placed his hands on his hips, "My chi-blocking shouldn't be underestimated, Azula."

"Don't test me, savage." she warned him, "I will not relent to beat your face into the dirt in front of all the guards." she warned him, noting their presence by the front of the stables, which was in sight.

"But don't you want them to respect me." he asked her, the Princess smirking.

"Wrong. I want them to respect me." she stated her intent, before she strode on toward the stables, her boyfriend not relenting to follow, shifting his posture slightly to try and seem a little more composed than he probably was in reality.

The Captain was the first person to address her, stepping away from the stables and gesturing inside, "Your highness, we have all the komodo rhinos ready and packed. We're still waiting on Ty Lee, I believe."

"Oh, so she isn't here." the Princess's eyes widened, before she shook her head, "I swear that girl needs to learn some scheduling sooner or later." she voiced her frustrations, before eyeing ahead, noting that Sneers and Kori seemed ready to go, with their own komodo rhino.

They had travelled to the base by foot, so they were obviously happy they had a steed to use. On the return trip, they would be taking the komodo rhino back, and the Princess assumed that her guards had figured out who would have to double up while they were travelling with the couple.

"She won't be long. I'm sure she knows the cost of disappointing your highness." Renshu added, making Sokka snicker.

"Oh, I think she does." he agreed with him, before stepping forward, "So, if we're taking that komodo rhino back with us, which of us is going to share one."

"Well, I assumed given her size that Ty Lee would be travelling on a saddle with one of us. Since it'd be unprofessional for us guards to ride with her, I thought-" he began, the Princess raising a hand up.

"Yes, I see." she acknowledged what he thought before he even uttered his idea, "Sokka, you'll ride with Ty Lee."

"Wait, what?" he grimaced, "Azula, she might- uh, well..." he trailed off, becoming suddenly flustered.

"She wouldn't dare do anything inappropriate while I'm riding alongside her." she assured him, before turning her gaze to the Captain, "Do you have a travel regime prepared?"

"Three days by komodo rhino there, and three back. We have a week's worth of food on our saddles, and some money that might be of use at Shengchang." he explained their logistics, before eyeing Sokka, "We will want to be armed and readied to fight your brother's forces. Are you armed to protect the Princess?"

"I don't need protecting." she assured him, before turning her gaze to her boyfriend, "And Sokka has everything he needs. Well, he mightn't need any weapons. Both he and Ty Lee are skilled chi-blockers."

"I understand that, your highness, but we don't know what kind of people we might face. Skilled bounty hunters might be coming for your head as we speak."

"You don't need to remind me, Captain." she tensely replied before gesturing toward the stables, "There's nothing else to talk about, so get on the rhinos. We're leaving."

"Yes, your highness." he saluted her, before striding back toward the stables, whistling out to his subordinates.

"A little annoyed, are we?" Sokka whispered to her, making the Princess groan with frustration.

"Shut up, Sokka. I just don't want to worry about danger. I have you and Ty Lee here with me to ensure those threats can be dealt with."

"'I thought that's why you have guards." he narrowed his eyes, a little confused as to why she would want them with her if the two of them provided all the support she'd need.

"The guards aren't to protect me, they're to provide support in case we actually end up fighting somebody." she clarified, "Like Earth Kingdom soldiers, or bandits. People like Bumi's rebels might be around these parts, and I assume they'll be less than amicable to our presence."

"That's true." he nodded, "I wish Aang were here to defuse any of those situations... but I guess we don't have much of a choice. We need to go see these people."

"That we do, Sokka. Time is of the essence." she stressed, before striding on over toward the stables; the Princess approached the komodo rhino that had her bags on it, which was distinguished by its more ornate armour.

Kori and Sneers looked over toward her, having been talking quietly before she approached; the Fire Nation girl stepped forward with an interested look on her face, "So, we're going to go now?" she asked, the Princess nodding.

"As soon as Ty Lee gets her act together." she clarified, "My friend is a little... well, she lacks focus."

"How long have you known her?" Kori asked her, the Princess glancing back over toward the compound, out of which she expected her friend to leave any moment.

"Since I was six years old." she answered her question, trying to remember what her friend was like back then; they were both so much younger and more naive back then, and even if she was still determined to be a great Princess when she was a little girl, she had far less of a grasp on her responsibilities and the role she would play, "She was just as tardy and carefree back then." she added, making the two of them snicker.

"She's not still asleep, is she?" Sneers asked her, the Princess raising a hand up.

"No, no, she came to breakfast." she assured him, "She's probably just distracted herself."

The Princess turned her gaze over to Sokka, who had just put his club and bag onto the saddle of his komodo rhino, and he began to approach her, "Are we going to go get her, or are we just going to wait?"

"Well, she going to be on the same komodo rhino as you, Sokka. If she doesn't get out, you can't leave." she told him bluntly, the Water Tribesman sighing.

"Urgh, why did she have to choose now of all times to be lazy?"

"I'm sure she has a reason, though I doubt it'll be very persuasive." she acknowledged, before turning her eyes to Sneers and Kori, "Was the food and lodging provided to you two sufficient?" she asked, the couple nodding.

"It's much better than camping out in the middle of nowhere." Sneers acknowledged, before turning to face his girlfriend, "You seemed happy to be in a proper bed again."

"I was." she nodded, "We've been living on the bare essentials for a while now." she admitted, eyeing the Princess, her smile telling her she was appreciative of her assistance, "You're quite generous, Azula."

"I know you two helped me in the past. It was only fair that I give back what I owe you." she explained, before turning her gaze over to her komodo rhino, "Now we'll be able to get what we all want."

"A better future for our country." Kori assumed, before her boyfriend stepped forward.

"For the world." he gave a wider proposition, which fit Azula's intentions quite well.

"Well, I think we can all agree to that." Sokka spoke up, before scratching the back of his scalp, "So maybe we can just ride over to the front of the compound. If she doesn't come out, I'll go get Ty Lee myself."

"We cannot waste any more time." Azula agreed, before striding over to her komodo rhino, "Let's go." she told them; the other three moved over to their respective komodo rhinos, and she mounted her own, grasping the reins and pulling them up, prodding the animal to begin moving.

The steed began to slowly move on out of the stables, and she noted that her guards were already moving up the path toward the second set of gates, by the palisade that surrounded the original military base. Her gaze immediately moved to the compound, where she still couldn't see Ty Lee; she was unsure where her friend had gotten off to, but she was sure that she'd come around sooner rather than later, given that she had stressed to her the schedule they were running on. Turning her eyes to her right, she saw that Sokka was already riding up alongside her, already chewing on a bit of jerky. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he grimaced slightly, obviously thinking she was judging him for his eating habits.

"I'm-" he began, before chewing rather obnoxiously, "a little hungry."

"We haven't had lunch yet. I'm not surprised, Sokka." she admitted her feelings, which seemed to dissuade his unease; despite their petty conflicts, he was still conscious of acting in a way that would be seen as dignified in her eyes, which she found to be both endearing and annoying- it was antithetical to the independent and boisterous Sokka she'd fallen for.

"Oh, so, I can just keep eating this." he observed, before continuing to do just that.

"Ty Lee is going to need a good excuse." she grumbled, making her boyfriend snicker.

"Oh, this ought to be good."

"What, you enjoy me shouting at somebody that isn't your sister?" she prodded him, the Water Tribe warrior nodding.

"Yeah, I do." he confirmed with a smirk, "Arguing is your favourite thing, right?"

"Well, it depends." she admitted, "If I'm putting people in their place, that being on their knees, then yes, I do enjoy it."

"Oh, but what about me then."

"You amuse me, Sokka." she simply told him; that was a gross oversimplification of how she viewed her relationship with him, but she would admit that his sense of humour and argumentative nature made him a good conversation partner, if only to keep her from being bored.

"I mean, I am funny. Sokka, the meat and sarcasm guy." he pointed to his chest with a voice that she couldn't discern to be sarcastic or not; he might think that he ought to be respected for his deeds, and she thought that too- one day, he would be, but until then, he would remain just Sokka.

"If only you were so simple." she pursed her lips upward, making him chuckle, obviously taking her words as a compliment; she turned her eyes ahead once more toward the compound, and noted that the guards there were obviously turning their attention to something inside.

She guessed correctly when she saw Ty Lee run out a few moments later, frantically looking around to spot the Princess and her guards riding toward her; she then ran on over toward her, heaving a bag over her shoulder as she panted. She looked a little exasperated by the time she reached the Princess's komodo rhino, placing her hands firmly on her knees to try and catch a breath.

"Plea- uh..." she mumbled, taking a deep breath before looking up at her friend, "Uh, sorry for being late."

"Apology not accepted." she retorted in response, not wanting to relent in her frustrations until she got an explanation, "Get on the saddle." she pointed to Sokka's komodo rhino, making her eyes widen.

"Wait, what? I have to share with Sokka?"

"You're lucky you're coming along at all. If you wanted to be so lazy, maybe you should have remained at the circus!" she chided her, the acrobat shrinking back before letting out a nervous nod.

"S-sorry, Zula." she dropped her head down, seeming to be ashamed for her poor behaviour.

"Just get on the saddle. We need to get moving." she told her once more, the acrobat heeding her command, pacing over to Sokka's komodo rhino, upon which she slung her bag, before she climbed on top, sitting behind the Water Tribesman.

"Trust me, I'm as annoyed about this as you are." he assured her, before whacking the reins, prodding the steed forward; Azula did the same, and with that, they began riding on toward the outer gates.

The Princess sighed, before she decided to address the obvious, "Why were you so late?"

The acrobat winced slightly, before turning to face her friend, "Because... uh, nobody told me to leave." she admitted to the Princess, who let out a scoff.

"Oh!" she exclaimed sarcastically, "You're quite observant, aren't you?"

"It was an accident, Azula." she assured her, "I thought you and Sokka were going to come to my room."

"Well, I assumed you were already out here." she gave her own thoughts on the matter; she hadn't thought Ty Lee would waste her time, given how she had voiced her own boredom to her earlier that day- any excuse to do something, even if it was going to the stables to prepare to leave, was something she thought her friend might jump at, "But I assumed wrong."

"Not the first time." Sokka offhandedly added, making her narrow her eyes at her boyfriend.

"Shut it, savage." she warned him, before turning her gaze back to her friend, "That was lazy of you, Ty Lee. Next time, we mightn't even try to wait for you." she warned, crossing her arms, "What exactly were you doing while we were getting ready to leave?"

"Just some stretches and exercises." she explained, "I know I need to be ready to fight."

"We're not planning to." the Water Tribesman added, "But we just have to attract all the attention, don't we?"

"I'm an important person, Sokka. I don't blame people for wanting to capture me." she admitted, "And if they try to, we'll annihilate them."

"Oh, I'm sure you will." he nodded, before eyeing ahead toward the gates of the palisade, which seemed to have already been opened by Renshu's order; the guards were already filing through, and when Azula approached the stationed men, they immediately saluted her, which she acknowledged with a curt nod, not wanting to waste any time by thanking them for their duties.

The Princess turned her gaze back toward her boyfriend, who seemed rather annoyed by Ty Lee shuffling around on the saddle; he flicked his hand back, slapping her across the wrist.

"Stop moving around. Just sit still." he demanded of her, the acrobat grimacing.

"I can't. I've got to find a comfortable spot."

"Well, I'm sorry to say, it doesn't exist." he made a mockingly sympathetic face before he turned back ahead to steer their komodo rhino.

"Maybe if you moved forward, she'd stop complaining." Azula suggested, making her boyfriend look at her with confusion.

"But I can't, the saddle isn't big enough." he explained, the Princess rolling her eyes, before gesturing over to the saddle bag.

"Just pick out your blanket and sit on it instead, Ty Lee." she advised her, "You two need to figure these things out instead of making me do it." she chided them, before turning her own gaze ahead, noting the soldiers who watched on as they rode on through the massive encampment that surrounded the base.

The sound of shuffling suggested that her friend had heeded that advice, and a few moments later, she let out a pleased gasp, "This is more comfortable. Thanks, Azula."

"I don't need your thanks for having more than half a brain." she retorted, before whipping the reins of her komodo rhino, "I don't think I'll last the whole trip with having to listen to whatever complaints you two come up with."

"I promise I won't be any more annoying than usual." Sokka raised his hand to his chest, "I'm focused on one thing, our task. Ty Lee can grumble as much as she likes, and I won't listen."

"You'll listen when I chi block you for leaning back on me like a chair." she warned him, the Water Tribesman pulling himself forward slightly, obviously conscious she might do it at that instance.

"I wasn't going to do that." he stressed, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Just shut it already. Just eat your jerky, Sokka, and I don't know, look at the clouds." she offered her friend an idea, who glanced up and made a small smile.

"Huh, they all look like a bunch of Appas." she made a random, out of the blue observation.

The Water Tribesman glanced upward and shook his head, "He's got a dark underbelly. That's probably why we get attacked so often."

"If we painted his belly white, do you think we could avoid getting seen?" she asked him, the Water Tribe teen scratching his chin.

"Hmph, maybe." he shrugged his shoulder, the Princess raising a finger.

"How about Katara and Aang bend the water into a cloud around us, then Appa will look just like one of those clouds?"

"That'd be easier than trying to paint his belly." Sokka conceded, before smiling at her, "You're brimming with ideas today."

"I am simply assuring you that I am intelligent, Sokka. I don't want you thinking just because of a few mistakes that I'm an idiot." she argued, knowing that after what she'd done with Zhao, he had gone reason to doubt her mind; giving him advice and suggestions that were useful would assure him that she was capable of thinking things through, which he might have assumed otherwise, given what happened.

"Oh, that's nice of you, but you don't need to do that yet." he assured her, "That's for when we go meet your fans."

"I wouldn't call them fans, Sokka. They're people who are angry with the government and prefer her." Kori corrected him, making the Water Tribesman turn back to face her with a skeptical face.

"Since when were you not a fan of Azula?"

"I mean... I am, but that doesn't mean everybody else is. She's a leader, and every revolt needs a leader."

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

* * *

Ty Lee was pretty sure there was nothing but luck that caused some clouds to look like things other than clouds; people, animals, everyday objects, as well as more complicated things, like the shape of the Fire Nation as she'd see it in a map. She might have once guessed, or hoped, that there was some special spirit or something that was telling her fortunes or something in the sky, but she couldn't really be so sure of that, not knowing how one would even divine such things. She'd heard of it before, which was why she had assumed such things about the odd shapes one might see from time to time when they looked into the sky.

The clouds were a good distraction, at least for a while, as she lay on the saddle of her komodo rhino, letting the day go by. She knew that she could do something else, like talk to Azula, but whenever she did that, she seemed to agitate the Princess, who obviously was a whole lot more focused on the task at hand. Their travels hadn't been troublesome so far, and she knew that though the Princess had some genuine concerns, she was probably just overthinking it. Sokka, on the other hand, just seemed to be bored out of his brains, driving the komodo rhino along with one hand while he played with his bone dagger in the other. The Water Tribesman hadn't addressed her in some time, and when his gaze turned toward her, and her own to him, she guessed that he had something to say.

"How are you doing that?" he asked the acrobat, who smirked, lifting her legs up to show off her balance; she had figured out the best spot to place her bottom, and with that, she was able to casually lie on the saddle with no worry of falling off.

"Good balance." she simply told him her means, before raising a hand, "I wouldn't try it if I were you."

"What, I have good balance." he argued, making her snicker; she doubted Sokka would want to actually try it, but any conversation was a good conversation after sitting on the saddle all morning.

"Oh, really, then can you do a handstand?" she smirked at him, sure he couldn't; the Water Tribe teen just looked at her, mouth ajar, seeming a little confused by her question.

"Why would I need to do a handstand?" he asked her, the acrobat shrugging her shoulders.

"To do a cartwheel." she stated the obvious, not relieving his confusion at all.

"Why a cartwheel?" he asked once more, now just sounding amused.

"To get away from or around your enemies?" she guessed with a cringed face, unsure if that was what Sokka might use a cartwheel for, if he were to do so.

"That's why I run." he retorted, turning around to grasp the reins of the komodo rhino, making sure to keep it steered on the path.

"Run away?" she prodded him with another question, making him raise his index finger.

"I never said run away. I'm usually running around so I don't, you know, get set on fire." he defended himself, making Azula, who was sitting just ahead of them on her own komodo rhino scoff, turning around to face the pair with a cocky face.

"That doesn't stop me, Sokka." she acknowledged, "Sounds like it's about time we sparred again." she suggested, the Water Tribesman cringing.

"I think being in the middle of nowhere is a valid excuse to not spar." Ty Lee spoke up, knowing that Sokka probably didn't want to do that once they inevitably stopped riding and went to camp.

"Uh, no, Azula would be one to argue otherwise." he explained to her, before turning to eye his girlfriend, "I'm just glad you never actually came through with your idea to spar on the fishing boat." he noted, making her scoff.

"I wasn't going to burn our ship down. I simply wanted you to sail us to some island where we could beat each other up."

"That just sounds like it would've been a waste of time and energy." he argued, before shaking his head, "We're not sparring. If we're riding until sundown, we're not going to have any time to do that."

The Princess narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend, before sighing, "You're right. We have to be hasteful." she agreed with his point, before turning her gaze ahead, "This path isn't making it much easier. Winding around forests and empty fields on komodo rhinos is a lot harder than doing so on a straight road."

"Well, if there's no road, that means nobody can come down it to attack the base." Sokka suggested, the Princess nodding.

"A price we have to pay for safety- isolation."

"I mean, you were at the South Pole for six months. You know isolation." Ty Lee argued, making her friend chuckle.

"I do not miss the cold nor the poverty." she acknowledged, the Water Tribe warrior wincing; his people obviously weren't having the best time after all the Fire Nation had done to them.

Ty Lee didn't need much details to realise they were in a situation worse than the most impoverished parts of the Fire Nation, which at the very least, didn't have to worry about some foreign invaders coming around kidnap and murder people.

"Hopefully, we won't have to see any poverty there again... or at least, a lot less." Sokka admitted, making the Fire Nation girl behind him turn her gaze away, wondering how ignorant she had been of her country's own actions.

She knew it was unfair, and she didn't think about it enough before she had met the Water Tribe teens to comprehend the travesty for what it was; the Fire Nation was at fault, and it was disturbing to think they'd done something so heinous for no real gain. Azula and her family struck her as the pragmatic types, so to hear they'd go as low to order the destruction of a nation that posed practically no threat to them made her feel a lot more confident in her friend. She was trying to set things right, and that was better than anybody who had come before her; she didn't know exactly what Zuko intended, but she was sure he had a similar view to the Princess, despite how much the two siblings conflicted.

"That's what you're here for, Sokka." the Princess responded, before her expression straightened, "Right?" she asked, not sounding so sure of herself.

"I mean... it's one of the reasons." she clarified, before turning his gaze away, seemingly embarrassed; Azula too turned her eyes away from him and Ty Lee couldn't help but snicker lightly, though only Sokka could hear her.

He glanced over toward her and scrunched his face up, telling her that he wasn't pleased about her reaction, "Stop it." he demanded of her with a harsh sounding whisper, obviously not wanting to draw his girlfriend's attention.

"I can't help that you're both so cute." she retorted, making the Water Tribesman groan, frustrated by her very observation.

"Let me live in peace." he asked of her with a frustrated, pleading voice, only for the acrobat to smirk and pat the bit of saddle between them.

"I can't get off this saddle. You've just got to tolerate me." she argued in return, the warrior's annoyed face shifting to one of dejection.

"Aw..." he groaned, turning her eyes ahead to continue directing the komodo rhino.

She chuckled at his reaction and pulled herself up to a seated position, before she leaned a little closer to him, smirking as she remembered what the couple had been talking about earlier, "So, are you going to beat her in that spar or what?"

"I already said I'm not sparring." he told her with a stern tone, telling her that he wasn't going to change his mind; that was, until Azula forced it to change, which she was sure she would.

Unlike Ty Lee, she didn't need to use her feminine wiles to get her way, especially given her intent to spar, instead of something a little more complicated; she could just as easily start shooting fireballs at her boyfriend, and he'd just have to start dodging.

"I know Zula. You're not getting out of sparring." she argued, making the Water Tribesman shake his head.

"She can't make me if I set up my tent and go to bed immediately." he argued, making the acrobat chuckle.

"Oh, we'll see about that." she smugly warned Sokka, who didn't seem to care for her warning at all; it seemed that he wasn't ready for the fireball to his head.

He shook his head, and turned his eyes ahead of them, focusing on the path they were following through the woodland; it was hard to see very far into the distance because of all the trees, and the only significant land feature she could see were a few hills ahead of them, though they were clearly some distance away. She didn't really know where they were, or where they'd be by the time they camped, but she was sure that the Princess knew what she was doing; she wouldn't be the kind of person to lead them out in the middle of nowhere with no understanding of where she was going. She knew that the guards had obviously travelled around a bit since the battle at Yu Dao, so she assumed that they were well-knowledged enough to be taking the right path; they were surrounding them, both back and front, with two guards to either side of Azula on their own komodo rhinos.

"Where are we, Azula?" she asked her friend, who glanced back toward her, narrowing her eyes.

"I don't have my map out at the moment, but I'd say we're getting close to the border."

"The border with Zuko's forces?" she asked her, guessing that was what she was referring to; the Earth Kingdom rebels weren't establishing well-defined territories and organised defences- only the Fire Nation forces had enough resources and coordination to make any kind of borders between each other.

"Well, it isn't really a border." she admitted, "There's just an area where neither side has decided to set up outposts or fortifications." she clarified, "I assume that we might come close to some of my brother's loyalists soon. We'll need to keep a low profile- no campfires, and stay away from any major roads." she explained herself, before glancing up ahead, "We have to avoid them at all costs. I only brought my guards for an emergency, not to fight an army."

"We can defend you, your highness." one of them which was riding beside her spoke up, "That is our duty."

"And you will fail if you face a hundred men on border patrol." she retorted, raising a hand, "We will not make that mistake." she stressed, before looking up ahead, "Who's on forward-scouting patrol at the moment?"

"Yi and Zheng." he clarified for her, the Princess nodding.

"Well, if they do their jobs correctly, we'll have nothing to worry about."

"And if they're overwhelmed?" Sokka spoke up, his girlfriend turning her eyes to glance at both him and Ty Lee.

"Then we will fight, and once we can, we will withdraw." she explained, before turning her eyes ahead once more, "But that won't happen, because my guards are competent."

"Maybe we should ask Kori and Sneers, seeing that they seem to be well-travelled." the acrobat suggested to her friend, who raised a brow.

"That's a good idea, Ty Lee." she agreed to her proposition, before glancing to the guard beside her, "Ride back and retrieve the couple. I assume they're just trying to enjoy some privacy." she noted, the guard nodding.

"Of course, your highness." he accepted her command, pulling on the reins of his komodo rhino, before he turned it around, so he could head back toward Kori and Sneers, who were somewhere further behind.

"This has got to be the most boring thing I've ever done." the acrobat spoke up, just wanting to voice her frustrations, even if only for a moment.

"If you'd been walking, you would complain about your legs instead." the Princess argued, making her wince; she would admit that she had a good point- it was because she was so relaxed that she was bored.

"Okay, you're right." she conceded, "But that doesn't make this not boring."

"There's only so many random conversations you can have, Ty Lee." Sokka argued, making her smirk.

"Oh, really? Well, I'll challenge you to that one." she decided, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything but food, because that'd just make me hungry." he argued, the acrobat nodding; she agreed with his idea, seeing that she didn't want to get herself feeling hungry while it'd still be a few hours until they had their dinner.

"Okay, Sokka, anything but food." she agreed to his proposition, before glancing ahead, wondering what she could have a conversation about with him, and if she responded, Azula, "Do you have any funny stories from when you and Azula were at the South Pole together?" she asked him, the Water Tribesman smirking; his girlfriend looked back his way, and seemed almost nervous upon hearing Ty Lee's question.

"Don't you dare say what I think you're going to say." she warned him, the Water Tribe teen raising his left hand up.

"No need to get so worried, Azula. I'm a man of my word when I say I wouldn't tell anybody about that." he assured her, making the acrobat grin, grasping him by the shoulder.

"Oh, you have to tell me." she pleaded, the Princess sparking a flame in her palm.

"He will not, and if you ask again, I will set your braid on fire."

"A very specific threat." she noted, before smirking, "It has to be a good one. Or at least... really embarrassing." she concluded, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Sometimes you're a real pain, Ty Lee." she told her with a frustrated tone; she wouldn't press it again, if only because she knew she'd go through with her threat.

"I know." she agreed with her, before turning her eyes to Sokka, "So what story are you going to tell me, if not 'that one'?" she asked him, the Water Tribesman scrunching his lips up.

"Well, I have a few." he conceded, before smirking, "There's a funny one you might like.... though I guess it was more stupid when it happened."

"Okay, I'm listening." she pursed her lips up, raising her hand toward him, "What happened?"

"So, about... a week after Azula and I showed up at the South Pole, I decided to take her away on a hunt so she could get some time away from the villagers." he explained, before chuckling, "She really didn't like having everyone giving her the cold shoulder instead of kissing her toes."

"Well, she is from the Fire Nation. Nobody from your nation likes them." she acknowledged, having figured that out easily enough from the looks they got at their short time at the North Pole, despite the fact they'd saved the moon and ocean spirits from Zhao.

"Well, that was then. Now they probably think she's great after what she did to the Southern Raiders." he noted with a smirk, before shaking his head, "Anyway, before this, Azula hadn't really figured out how to use weapons, so I decided to teach her how to use my club against a seal."

"Oh no... don't tell me you killed a baby seal, Azula." she turned her eyes to her friend, who scoffed at her suggestion.

"No, I didn't. It wasn't a baby anyway." she argued, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"It was a juvenile, not an adult, but it wasn't that small. I wanted us to get one that was actually useful to eat." she explained, the acrobat nodding.

"So what was so funny that happened? She failed?" she asked, Sokka smirked before he raised a finger.

"Well, yes, but probably not in the way you'd think." he clarified, before clearing his throat, "So, we found a seal, and I showed her how to sneak up on it, which we did. It was hiding near some kind of den, so we had to be careful not to rouse the other seals." he explained, before holding his hands up, as if he had a club in them, "Azula approached slowly, before she rushed to strike it in the head, to crack its skull and kill it at once. The thing is, the seal saw her coming, and moved out of the way; the club went flying down into the ice, and got lodged."

"Overkill, as always." Ty Lee noted, making the Princess eye her, slightly offended by her words, but not enough to voice her annoyance.

Sokka then placed a hand on his chest, "So then I, being the dashing, helpful warrior I am, threw my boomerang into the seal's head before it could bite her arm off. I scared it off, but the club was still stuck in the ice."

"So how did you get it out?" the acrobat asked him, Sokka turning his gaze over toward his girlfriend.

"Oh, well, I didn't get it out. The ice broke instead." he clarified, Azula wincing slightly.

"I didn't know that it was hollow." she argued, the warrior sighing.

"She melted the ice a little, but in trying to get the club out, a big fissure appeared; I could have jumped back, but I decided that protecting her was more important." he explained, Ty Lee cringing, imagining how scary that might have been at the time.

"How big a fissure are we talking?" she asked, the Water Tribesman pulling his hands apart, gesturing that it was bigger than his arm-span, "Okay, that's big."

"Yeah, it was. I ended up being Azula's cushion when we fell down inside. The good thing was that the fissure kept us away from the seals who were about to try and rip us apart." he noted, before making a pained face, "I'm pretty sure I broke my leg, because I couldn't walk properly for a few weeks after that."

"Oh." her eyes widened, "I thought you said this was a funny story."

"Well... I mean it was kind of funny. Azula got us stuck in a big crack, and then she had to get us out with a rope. It took a while to do, because we had to wait for those seals to get away." he continued on, before chuckling, "She climbed out, and helped me out by throwing the rope back down to me. By the time we got out, it was getting dark, though during the southern summer, it doesn't get that dark. The problem was that it was pretty hard to keep our directions when our original tracks were hard to see and we couldn't see the light from my village."

"This story just keeps getting worse." she grimaced, Sokka raising a hand up, trying to stress the opposite.

"Well, it got funnier." he admitted, the acrobat's jaw dropping.

"How could this story get funnier? It's just scary. Nearly getting eaten by seals. Falling into a fissure. Getting lost. None of that's funny. How funny could it really be?" she asked, the Water Tribesman smugly turning to face his girlfriend.

"Well, Azula, what'd you do?" he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"I'm not explaining it, Sokka." she retorted, making him chuckle.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad." he assured her, before he turned back to face Ty Lee once more, "She's just mad because-"

He was cut off by the ground shaking underneath them, and then Azula raising her hands up, covering them with flames, "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me!" she snarled, "Just a way to ruin my day." she snarled, glancing up the slight slope to their left, Ty Lee following her gaze to see some dust rising amongst the trees, along with the ground shaking underneath them- it had to be earthbenders, as she couldn't think what else could cause such a thing.

Sokka drew out his boomerang, grasping the reins of the komodo rhino they were riding, which became clearly agitated by the ground moving below it; it roared out, perhaps in fear, and raised its forelegs. The acrobat grit her teeth, and grasped Sokka by the waist to try and keep herself on the saddle; she was able to keep her balance, but the possibility of slipping off was all too real.

"Ack!" she cried out, before turning her eyes up into the woods once more, realising that a boulder was flying right toward her; she ducked underneath it, and Sokka dropped down onto the neck of the komodo rhino, which had begun moving forward, probably to try and get away from the earthbenders.

She grit her teeth, and knew that as long as she was on the saddle, she wouldn't be of much use in the fight; she lacked any ranged weapons, nor bending, which would be useful when mounted. So, when she jumped right off of the saddle, she was surprised that Sokka was so concerned.

"Ty Lee! What are you doing?!" he shouted at her, the acrobat smirking as she jumped right over a boulder that was tossed her way.

"Getting rid of that boredom." she retorted, before turning her gaze toward where she knew the earthbenders would be, "Now, where are they hiding?" she mumbled to herself, eyeing around the tree trunks, still unable to see any enemies- she assumed they were wearing dark camouflage to hide in the woods.

She decided to dash closer, keeping herself in line with the tree trunks, as they'd give her some cover from whatever rocks were thrown her way. She was forced to weave under a boulder quickly enough, and then took cover behind a tree trunk as more came her way; glancing back, she saw Azula was already in form, using her flames to shatter the boulders as they rained down upon her and her men. Sokka was moving toward Ty Lee, or rather, toward the enemy, and together, the two non-benders entered the woods, taking cover behind the trees as the earthbenders continued to pummel them. She ran into an issue when the trees in front of her were uprooted, and the enemy clearly revealed themselves; though she was glad she had a target, it wasn't very useful as she was thrown back by the soil liquifying underneath her. The Water Tribesman was able to throw his boomerang before he too was drawn back by the soil liquifying; it struck an earthbender in the head, and she was a little amused by seeing him flop back and slam into the ground. That amusement stopped as soon as the soil that was mushy solidified, and left her feet stuck in the ground.

"Aw, come on." she grumbled, before she was forced to drop down to dodge a boulder tossed at her head; she glanced to her side, and noted that Sokka had already slammed his club into the ground to break his feet free, before continuing his own approach.

She groaned, realising that she was useless if she couldn't move; she tried her hardest to move her feet out of their earthen bonds, but was unable to get them to budge, and was continuously distracted by the boulders thrown her way. She weaved around them, and dropped down nearly flat onto the ground to miss one of them, before a pillar came out of the ground in front of her, forcing her to lean back. The movement was fast enough that she actually broke her feet out of their binds, but with the added side effect of her falling flat on her back, and hit her head rather hard on the ground. She cried out in pain, but didn't wait around to try and get away from the next attack she knew would be inevitable. She spun herself around, and was poised to jump out of the way of the next attack, only to see that Sokka was already distracting the earthbenders by throwing his club around, hitting some of them quite hard. Most of them, however, were focused solely on barraging the path they had been taking, along with the guards and komodo rhinos that were on it.

Another rock was thrown toward her head, and before she could move out of the way of it, it was suddenly shattered in mid-air, which confused her, given that it didn't look like anything had hit it. She turned around, and noticed that Kori and Sneers had arrived, and the former was in what looked like an earthbending form; her eyes widened, putting two and two together- she was an earthbender and Fire Nation, which had to be one of the most surprising things she'd seen in a while. She was holding some kind of metal chain, with two balls on either end, which she began to spin around, and it accelerated to an amazingly fast speed, which she assumed to be due to rock being inside the balls. She then tossed it right up at the earthbenders, throwing two of them off of their feet, before he grasped out, drawing the weapon back with her earthbending.

"Wow, that's so coolǃ" she exclaimed, "Where'd you learn to use that?"

"Taught myself." she declared with a smirk, before turning to face her boyfriend, "Sneers, it's time to kick some butts."

"Yes, Ma'am." he jokingly saluted her, drawing out two hatchets from his belt, Ty Lee turning her gaze back up to their opponents; she didn't even know why they were being attacked in the first place, and she assumed that they'd find out soon enough when Azula interrogated them.

The three of them charged forward, the acrobat noting that Sokka was already battering up the earthbenders, though one of them had got the Water Tribesman's feet stuck in the ground; Kori reached her right hand forward, and ripped his feet from the dirt, which surprised him as he tried to keep his balance, ducking under a boulder that was thrown right at his head.

"Ack!" he cried out, before jabbing the man who attacked him in the arm, paralysing it; Ty Lee smirked, taking the slightest bit of credit for his chi-blocking skills as she raced up the hillside, ready use her own skills to stop the fighting as quickly as she could.

She leapt over a few rock pillars that a man shot out, hoping to hit her in the chest; she used it as a launching point for her first attack, jabbing her toe tips right into his gut, which winded him and blocked his chi. He stumbled back, and though he seemed a little disoriented, he didn't waste any time and he tried to earthbend once again, raising his hands to pull some rocks up to defend himself. His confident face shifted to one of fear as he realised he couldn't bend, the ground below him remaining solid and inert, and he was whacked right in the shoulder by Kori's weapon a moment later, before Ty Lee jabbed him in the head, knocking him down to the ground.

She turned around, and noticed Sokka was holding off an earthbender with his club, who had his back wide open; she smirked, and immediately moved to go chi-block him, but was stopped in her tracks, quite literally, as her feet sunk into the ground. She sighed, frustrated by the constant shifting of the environment in the favour of their enemies; Ty Lee was more than surprised, however, when she suddenly was flung up into the air, nearly reaching the lowest tree branches that sat above her. She didn't have much time to comprehend how and why she had been shot up, but she took advantage of the situation, landing right on the shoulders of the man she had intended to attack, her weight forcing him down to the ground. She smirked, before jabbing him down his back, leaving him paralysed and unable to move; she eyed Sokka, who was sitting on his behind, after nearly being fallen on top of by the man she'd dropped on.

"Uh, thanks." he made an awkward smile, before he grit his teeth, reaching for his boomerang, which was lying on the ground nearby; Ty Lee only had a moment to turn herself around before she was struck in the side by a stone pillar, which threw her away from the man she'd beaten, and into a tree.

"Ty Lee!" Sokka called out her name, his frantic face telling her that he was worried about her injuries; though her back hurt from being slammed into the tree, and her side from the stone pillar, she wasn't immobilised, unlike the very men she'd beaten.

"Hit 'em!" she pointed to the remaining earthbenders, who then faced off on a beating from both Kori and her stone balls and Sokka and his club.

The two of them were then joined by Sneers, armed with his axes, holding an earthbender off while his girlfriend incapacitated him with her weapon, all while Sokka battered men left, right and centre, before chi-blocking them at the most opportune times. The acrobat pulled herself up slowly, and as she was about to get up and join the fight, a massive bright blue fire stream flew right above her head, causing her to cringe from the heat, dropping herself down as she glanced back to see Azula with an annoyed look on her face.

"You better all stop fighting or I'll beat every single one of you up." she warned the earthbenders, before raising her hand up, gesturing the three to stop fighting; the earthbenders awkwardly looked at them, unsure whether they ought to heed Azula's command, which became a whole lot more serious when her guards strode up the hill to assist her in enforcing it.

The trees that were aflame above them suddenly stopped burning as the Princess pulled her hands down, massing the heat into her hands before channeling them into some fallen branches in front of her, making a small bonfire. She then eyed the earthbenders, and offered a hand out to her friend, who was still gasping out for air; her injuries weren't that bad, but they did hurt and she was struggling to keep her breath.

"Ty Lee." she simply addressed her, her expression, however serious, assuring her that she felt obligated to help her; the new Azula just loved to surprise her with random bouts of kindness and consideration, it seemed.

She accepted her hand, and pulled herself up, and with her friend, looked at their opponents, who were obviously weighing up whether to withdraw; the Princess raised her hand up, gesturing for her guards, who were moving to surround the earthbenders, not to attack.

"You do know who I am, right?" she asked them, the men looking amongst themselves; one of them cleared his throat, and gestured to the small, blue bonfire in front of them.

"Princess Azula, I presume." he guessed, Azula smirking before she made a small nod.

"Correct." she confirmed his suspicions, before placing her hands on her hips, "Now, I don't see myself your enemy, and given your presumptions about my people, I am willing to let this attack slide, if you would be so willing to come to my base at some point in future to convene on the discussions I believe necessary for the future of this country."

"Oh." one of the earthbenders gasped, obviously surprised by what Azula had said, before he stepped forward, "Uh, your highness, I don't mean to offend, but why should we believe you?"

"Ah, this is where Aang really comes in handy, isn't it?" Sokka dejectedly acknowledged, the Princess sighing, signalling her agreement with that point.

"I am personal friends with the Avatar. We are intending to help restore your country to some semblance of peace, along with any rebels we can find, such as yourselves."

"To restore the Earth Kingdom?"

'To restore self-governance." she corrected him, before she laughed, her tone low and clearly a little condescending, "Now, I can see, being boisterous and cocky enough to attack me, you must enjoy your self-governance. I wouldn't want any naive Earth King to take that away from you. Actually, I'd like to make sure you can extend that freedom to your fellow countrymen."

The earthbenders looked amongst themselves, and seemed like they were confused as to what she was saying; not because she didn't make any sense, but probably because it was her of all people saying it.

"Am I going delirious from dirty water, or did the damn sister of the Fire Lord just tell me she wants to help us to rebuild our country?" one of them asked their comrades, the Princess stepping forward, her foot stepping on and subsequently snuffing out the bonfire she had created.

"I am not the sister of the Fire Lord, I am the Fire Lord." she corrected him, before offering a hand out, "So, if you'd be so kind to leave me and my men alone, I would be more than willing to forget you tried to pummel us to death with boulders." she offered them, the men looking at her, almost ready to laugh, but the man who had spoken stepped forward, accepting her hand to shake.

She shook his hand, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "What a smart man. I can see you might be willing to cooperate with us for the greater good of both our countries."

"Well, I don't really give a shit about the Fire Nation, your highness." he admitted, "But anything to keep my people safe... even if we have to work with you." he added, before turning his gaze to Kori and Sneers, "And what are you two doing fighting with the ash-makers? You're both Earth Kingdom."

"Uh... not exactly." Sneers admitted with a cringed face, before his girlfriend strode forward with a rather aggrieved look on her face.

"Excuse me?! I'm a proud Fire Nation citizen. Yeah, I might be an earthbender, but I'm as loyal to the Fire Nation as her." she argued, gesturing to the Princess, who chuckled at her outburst.

"I'm flattered, Kori, truly." she acknowledged her indirect compliment, before eyeing the earthbenders, "Anyway, if you're all willing to just... go home, we'll be on our way."

"Uh, we are." the same man assured her, before furrowing a brow, "But where are you going, exactly?"

"To have the exact same conversation I just had with you all with my fellow countrymen. The colonies are in need of a real leader, and I am a woman with credentials most applicable." she explained her intentions plainly, before gesturing her finger towards the man who had addressed her, "I'm not giving the people who tried to stone me and my comrades to death any more information than that."

"That's understandable." one of the rebels acknowledged, before he was elbowed in the gut by the man beside him.

"Shut it." he warned him, the Princess rolling her eyes before she turned around.

"Well, that's it." she simply addressed the matter for what it was, eyeing Sokka and Ty Lee, noting that the latter was still in pain; she had been slammed into the tree rather hard, and was struggling to keep her breathing regular, "Sokka, help Ty Lee back to the komodo rhino." she requested from her boyfriend, who nodded, before eyeing his boomerang, which was on the ground between them as their former enemies; one of the earthbenders kicked the weapon his way, and he caught it with his right hand, before chuckling.

"Thanks." he simply acknowledged his assistance, before turning his gaze to the acrobat, before scrunching his lips up, "Would you like an apology from them?"

"Eh..." she mumbled, before pulling herself up to her full height, "I don't need one. We stopped fighting, and that's what matters." she argued, before turning her gaze to Azula, who was striding on down the hillside, back toward the road, flanked by her guards.

"That was a lot easier than I expected." Kori admitted, before turning her eyes to the earthbenders, "How come you didn't attack us the other day?"

"Oh... you came through here?" one of them realised, "Uh, well, you two look like any other commoners."

"Maybe we really should just dress as peasants, Sokka." Ty Lee suggested, "It worked for Aang."

"Well, it works until we start showing off our skills." he retorted, before slinging his arm around her shoulder, "Come on, let's get down, and then you can stop complaining about being bored."

"It was a good fight." she conceded, before stumbling forward, wincing in pain from a sharp feeling around her abdomen, "I think I'm going to need this checked."

"Let's just hope there's physicians where we're going." he noted, "If not... uh, I guess you'll just have to tolerate it."

"Can't be any worse than what Azula did to you on the Royal Barge." she argued, making him snicker.

"Lightning hurts... but I have a feeling she didn't intend to really hurt me."

"I love Azula, but seriously, I think you're overestimating how nice she was." she warned him, "She would set the hair of girls she didn't like at school on fire, just for not bowing to her."

He chuckled, before raising his chin with a proud smirk on his face as he eyed the Princess from afar, "Yeah, that's her."

* * *

Smoke was never a good sign, especially when it was massing in large amounts on the horizon; Katara had just woken from a nap, and was confused to see it, and more so to see that they weren't flying around the smoke, but right toward it. She could see Aang by the reins, his shoulders slumped, while Momo slept, curled up beside him. She wondered if he had fallen asleep there and just not realised where they were going. That idea was disproved when he twisted his neck a little, before scratching his face. She narrowed her eyes, and wondered whether she ought to protest; she was the older one, after all, and she had a right to say she wasn't comfortable going wherever they were.

"Aang, are you tired or something?" she asked him, gesturing ahead of them, "We're flying toward all that smoke. It might be another Fire Nation settlement." she warned him, before narrowing her eyes, tensing up at the memory of the explosion, "We don't want to make the same mistake again, do we?"

"We didn't make a mistake, Katara." he argued, "We helped those people." he suggested, "If we hadn't been there I... well, I don't know what would have happened."

"We don't need to go to every problem we see, Aang." she stressed, realising that he wasn't tired, but rather willfully approaching the smokestacks.

"We don't even know what's happened. What if it's a forest fire... and people are in danger. We have Appa. We can help." he argued a reasonable point, which frustrated her own arguments; she wanted to tell him to turn around, but she couldn't stomach it, knowing that he was right- they were capable of helping people, and as the Avatar, he wasn't going to shy away from doing so.

"I..." she began, before turning her eyes away, deciding to just warn him once more, "We can't get into needless danger, Aang."

"It's not needless." he argued, before softening his expression, seeing her unease, "It was an accident, Katara. We had no idea those Earth Kingdom fighters were going to show up."

"No, we didn't." she agreed with him, "Maybe we should have stayed with Azula a little longer and actually tried to persuade those people to stop attacking the Fire Nation... especially like that." she acknowledged, knowing that despite their situation, the Earth Kingdom fighters were clearly in the wrong; they were doing the same kinds of things the Fire Nation did to her tribe, although perhaps with a more narrow-minded goal of simply expelling the military, though they clearly didn't seem to care about civilian casualties.

"That wasn't right." he agreed with what she was already thinking, "I can't let something like that happen again."

"You don't control the Earth Kingdom." she argued, knowing he was being a little harsh on himself, especially given his own youth and inexperience, "You shouldn't feel bad about things they chose to do."

"But I can talk to people." he spoke up, "I can try to show them a better path. I could have... I could have done that a hundred years ago, if I hadn't been so selfish." he added, his expression becoming darker; he regretted his actions so deeply, and she was almost glad he was so open about it.

That told her he wanted to heal that wound, and he was ready to do so through the hard labour that faced them; they were to help bring peace and stability to the Earth Kingdom, and then, hopefully, ending the war for good. Aang's eagerness, though dangerous, was better than the opposite; he could have become so afraid of doing anything that he might as well have not been the Avatar. She knew that Azula's hard, cold advice was helpful in that regard. Katara realised she might have wanted to soften the blow a little too much, and that the things that had happened to Air Nomads couldn't be ignored, and he wasn't going to forget it. So, she sat there silently, looking at the smoke clouds that they slowly approached, and hoped that they weren't about to get themselves into more trouble than necessary.

"Aang, we can still turn around." she spoke up once again, "I know you want to help but... it's dangerous."

"Everything's dangerous, Katara." he acknowledged, looking toward the smokestacks with an unnerved expression, "I can't just act like doing nothing is okay." he stressed, "We won't be too long. I just have to see what's happened, and if we can help, we will."

She nodded, and turned her gaze over to Momo, who made a little growl before he peered his head up above the edge of the saddle; he seemed a little irritated, and a few moments later, he sneezed. Katara guessed that the smoke wasn't good for him, which made her feel concerned about what might be causing it. As they drew nearer and nearer, she was able to make out individual smokestacks, and realised that the pattern was nothing like a village; if it was a burning village, the smoke would have been more spread out, and heavier, but it was far more concentrated, seemingly spurting out of the woodland in a line. Once she stood up, she realised what they were looking at; a large clearing in the woods, stretched out beside a road, where there was a long line of burning forest, not to mention debris everywhere- destroyed vehicles, clearly of Fire Nation design, as well as what seemed like an encampment, destroyed by the flames that had encroached into the woodland, lined up against some kind of defensive wall, made out of metal and wood.

"What... what happened here?" she asked Aang, who looked on at the field with a shocked face.

"Fighting. Lots of fighting." he deduced, before glancing over the edge of the saddle, looking down as she had, "There might be injured people."

"This looks like a Fire Nation ordeal, Aang. Why should we get involved?"

"Because people dying is never good, Katara." he stressed, "I don't like the Fire Nation either, but we have to at least check. Whatever happened here... it can't have ended well for whoever was fighting, no matter if they won."

"Ozai's men... or Zuko's?" she asked him, the young Avatar shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't know." he conceded, "Let's just get a little closer to the ground." he explained his intentions, pulling up on the reins of the saddle, causing Appa to drop down slightly, moving toward the treetops as they approached the clearing.

She couldn't see any people, but there was clear evidence of them being there; the tracks leading off to the east told her one side might have had to run, and the burn marks on the ground, as well as the broken weapons, told her that things had gone bad for one side, at the very least. She rose up to her feet, and eyed out into the distance, checking the treeline to either side of the clearing, as well as the burning trees that were delineating whatever defences had been there before all hell broke loose.

"There's really nobody here." she noted, "The fires are all fresh... this makes no sense."

"People don't just disappear." Aang noted, "I mean, if they're not me." he clarified, half-jokingly, before narrowing his eyes to his right side, looking toward the burnt out remains of the campsite, "I'm guessing the guys who were at this camp had to run away... if they hadn't, they would have kept all their stuff with them." he gestured toward what looked like the personal supplies of the people encamped there, some of which had already been consumed by flames.

"You know, we could take some of that food... the parts that aren't burnt, that is." she noted, making the young Avatar grimace.

"I don't want to..." he began, before glancing toward their saddlebags, "Okay... maybe we can take a little." he noted, obviously realising they didn't have much food to begin with, and most of it was rice crackers; he then directed Appa down to the ground, the sky-bison growling, presumably because of the hot ashes on the ground.

"Sorry, buddy. Is it too hot?" Aang asked his sky-bison, who shook his head around, suggesting his unease.

"Come on, Aang, let's just check it out. If there's anything useful, we'll take it, then we'll leave." she explained her intentions, before she jumped down off of the saddle, Aang immediately following after her.

The pair paced on over toward one of the tents where she had seen some boxes of what she thought was food, and she narrowed her eyes at them, trying to read out the names printed on the boxes. She could read out 'rations', 'burn ointment', 'canvas' and 'bandages', on the boxes, and though a lot of them were damaged from the flames, some had fallen to the ground, and thus avoided burning with the others. She picked up a few boxes that had rations marked on them, and handed one to Aang, who shook it, before opening it up and glancing inside.

"Huh, so these must be full of rice crackers... or something. Maybe some other stale food." he noted, "Well, it's a little more than we had before." he noted, rather dejected that there wasn't anything very good in the boxes.

"The more food the better." she tried to give a bright side to the situation, "Let's put these up on the saddle and get out of here. I don't think anyone's coming back for this place."

"Wait." Aang raised his head up, glancing over toward the damaged walls, which he pointed toward, "Can you hear that?"

She glanced the way he had pointed, and tried to listen out for what he was trying to indicate toward, but could only make out the sound of the burning trees and tents flickering in the wind, "No, I can't." she admitted, before stepping closer to Appa, noting that Momo had piqued his head up, obviously hearing or noticing whatever Aang had.

"It's like a rumbling noise. Maybe an engine... remember that Southern Raider ship?" he asked her, Katara giving a curt nod, knowing that low rumbling that they made on the ship, before picking up another box, "Let's go. I have a feeling the Fire Nation isn't going to just leave this camp alone." he agreed with her prior sentiment, and Katara nodded, pacing on over toward Appa's saddle.

She suddenly heard a banging noise in the distance, and turned around to see a flaming ball coursing through the sky above them, heading right in their direction; before she could even react, the young Air Nomad jumped through the air, gracefully landing on the saddle, before he picked up his staff, conjuring a wind gust with it, which blasted up from his position toward the flaming ball of rock. It was split right in two by his attack, before crumbling away, Katara running in the opposite direction of the saddle to avoid the flaming debris that fell down from the sky above them.

"Katara!" she heard him call out to her, "Get to the saddle!" he pleaded with her, the Water Tribe girl gritting her teeth as she wondered if another attack would come their way.

She didn't know if the attack was aimed at them or perhaps at whoever had originally been at the camp, but she didn't care to find out, and dashed right back toward Aang, whose Fire Nation disguise had been blackened in various spots by small, hot rocks. She wondered if he was hurt, and saw the fearful look on his face; he had come to try and help people, but instead, they were just being attacked instead- his plan had backfired, and now they were going to have to fly away.

She tossed the boxes of rations over to Aang, who caught them all in his hands, before she scrambled up one of Appa's legs, the Air Nomad offering her a hand, which she accepted, "Appa! Yip-yip!" he called on his sky-bison, who growled and flicked his tail up and down, before soaring up into the air.

Suddenly, another fireball came into view, and Katara reached for her waterskin, wondering if her bending would be any good against the attack; her friend didn't relent to bend the air around the rock itself, causing it to fly off course, before she flicked the water she had grabbed out at it, creating an arc of water which was able to slice right through the surprisingly brittle rock, shattering it as it fell down past Appa's side. She sighed with relief as they soared up into the air, moving fast away from the battlefield.

She glanced back down, and noted smoke coming from the direction where the flaming boulders were being fired from. She wondered whether they were intending to hit them because they recognised Appa, or because they assumed they were enemies simply because of landing where they had. Suddenly, multiple fire streams fired out through the canopy of the forest, aiming right toward them; Aang tugged hard on the reins, and made Appa turn sharply to the left, the force nearly throwing Katara and Momo off of the saddle. She grasped tightly onto the edge of the saddle, and the flying lemur did the same to her leg; she knew without much water, her bending wouldn't be very useful to try and distract the people who were attacking them.

Another boulder flew out from the forest, this time missing by a decent margin, though she had a feeling they mightn't be so lucky the next time; she turned to face her friend, and stressed her feelings with a near shout, "Get Appa above the clouds." she demanded, the young Air Nomad's fearful grimace not fading as he nodded.

He pulled the reins back to indicate for his sky-bison to rise up even higher above the forest; she realised that they might be easier to spot before they reached the clouds, but it would be harder for them to be hit at such distances. Another flaming boulder flew up towards them a few moments later, and it forced Aang to pull tightly down on the reins, Katara watching as the boulder flew right over them, before dropping down in front of them, crashing down into the forest below. She almost laughed, just surprised by how close it was coming to them, but she knew laughing wasn't the right kind of response; she knew she ought to be panicking, but all she could do was grasp the saddle, and hope Aang didn't throw her off accidentally. The young Avatar pulled on the reins, and directed them to turn to the left, heading in the direction of a few small rock covered hills that peaked out from the surrounding woods.

"Why are we going there?" she asked him, the young Avatar narrowing his eyes.

"We need someplace to hide Appa. These guys are going to chase us, so we need to make them think we've gotten away."

"They can't go that fast... can they?" she asked him, the young Avatar grimacing.

"You know how fast their ships are, right? I have a feeling they have crafts on land as well." he reminded her, the Water Tribe girl shaking her head.

"I think we should continue flying."

"What if they send messenger hawks and all that? They might get half of the Fire Nation Army around here to chase us down. It's better if they can't see us." he noted, "I am the Avatar, after all."

"You are." she noted quietly, realising how many issues that made for them, especially given that the Fire Nation saw him as their enemy, or at the very least, a threat to their control, given his partnership with Azula, "We can't hide for that long. Maybe to nightfall... but then we have to leave. If they actually reach us, then we mightn't be able to escape." she warned him, the young Avatar nodding.

"We will escape, Katara. I'm a master of evasion." he assured her, making her snicker, remembering that Azula would use that as an insult; at that very moment, however, it seemed like a compliment.

Appa continued to fly along at pace, as she turned back to look at where they had been attacked, and realised that they had given up on their barrage of flaming boulders; she smiled, relieved by that fact, and turned her eyes back to the young Avatar, who was running his hands through his short black hair. he was obviously worried, but he seemed rather confident in his decision-making; becoming bolder was both a good and a bad thing for Aang. As the Avatar, it was expected of him to make the big decisions and do what was right to help the world, but at the same time, he was only twelve years old, and that meant that he could just as easily slip up, misjudge things and make mistakes- she didn't want that to happen, and just hoped that he'd listen to her advice next time.

"So, maybe landing there was a bad idea." she suggested, the Air Nomad boy cringing, before he nodded.

"Yeah... sorry about that. I really... well, yeah, we should have just kept our distance." he conceded, "But, we still don't know what happened. Maybe Earth Kingdom fighters were involved." he suggested, the Water Tribe girl turning her eyes out toward the horizon, looking out toward the edge of the forest they were flying over.

"This seems like a good place to hide from the Fire Nation... but maybe not, seeing what we found." she noted, before she glanced over toward the hills which they were quickly approaching; she could make out the rocks a little better now that they were closer, and realise how much cover it provided- she assumed it would be a good place to camp, if not for the fact that they had just been attacked by Fire Nation forces, who might reach them rather quickly if they gave chase.

"We can hide. Maybe not for long, but long enough that they might think we kept flying." Aang suggested, before scrunching his lips up, "Then I want to try and figure out what's going on here."

"Really? But aren't we meant to be getting to Omashu?"

"Yeah, we are, but I think we can spare some time. Azula might want us to gather some information."

"No, you're right." she nodded, realising that their greater plan for helping the Earth Kingdom rebuild itself couldn't exactly go ahead if they didn't know who their potential allies could be across the country, "If there's any Earth Kingdom fighters around here, then we'll be able to tell Bumi about them and maybe they can link up."

"Exactly." Aang grinned at her, glad that she had got his idea straight away, "So, we'll hide for a bit, and then we can look around."

Katara rose up from the saddle slightly as they approached the craggy hilltops, Appa slowing down as he began to meander past the rocks and crevasses; she thought about what they might do in their spare time, seeing that they mightn't be flying for a while, and came to a quick conclusion.

"Maybe find a place to do some forms." she suggested quietly, her friend making a bright smile, obviously thinking that would be a good idea.

"Oh, yeah, I should be working on my waterbending too, and I'm sure you want to practice too." he noted, before scrunching his lips up, "I kinda miss Master Pakku now."

"Oh, am I not as good a teacher?" she jokingly questioned him, the young Avatar taking her words seriously, raising his hands up to stress his point.

"No, no! You're great, Katara, I didn't mean it like that." he assured Katara, who pursed her lips up at the compliment he gave her; she was getting better, and even if she wasn't a real master yet, she certainly was getting on the way.

"Thanks." she quietly responded, before thinking back to his actual point, "He is a good teacher." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "Even if he isn't the most likeable man."

He nodded, and grimaced slightly, "Well, maybe if we see him again, he might be nicer." he suggested, the Water Tribe girl chuckling.

"Oh, I don't think he's going to change his whole mindset because he remembered how his attitudes made my grandmother leave the Northern Water Tribe." she conceded, "He might try and be kinder to me specifically, but I doubt he's going to be declaring women free to learn combat waterbending anytime soon." she acknowledged, before she glanced around them, noting how they were moving into the cover of a gully between two rocky outcrops; Appa soon after touched down on the ground, and groaned, obviously not liking having to go as fast as he had to flee their Fire Nation attackers.

"Okay, let's just hide out here for a bit. I don't think they'll be able to see us unless they climb up and in here." Aang noted, before jumping off of the saddle, glancing around, "Maybe we should go refill our water skins. Don't want to have to fly away again and then be thirsty all afternoon." he suggested, Katara glancing around, wondering where exactly they were going to get water from.

"You wouldn't happen to know where we could find some water, would you?" she asked, the young Avatar gesturing down the gully behind them.

"I think there might be some ponds around here. This is a lot like the land around the Southern Air Temple. There's a lot of ponds and caves." he explained, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

She reached over to pick up her water skin, which she tied to her belt, before she climbed off of the saddle; momentarily, she glanced back up, and wondered whether the flying-lemur would join them, "Momo, are you coming?"

Momo chittered, and flew up into the air, gliding around the gully, before he landed on a tree, presumably searching it for fruits; Aang laughed at his immediate choice of action, and gestured for her to follow, "Momo will be fine. He might get us some fruit while we're gone."

"If he doesn't eat it all first." she warned, the young Avatar snickering, before the two of them began to pace on down through the base of the gully, heading downhill, hopefully toward a source of water they could use to refill their supplies.

As they strode down the hill, she heard Appa groan, and she noted he was turning around to go find some food; there was enough bushes and grass for him to eat that she was sure he would have full stomach by the time they left, and hopefully recovered from the frightening experience they'd had with the flaming boulders. She turned her eyes back ahead, and focused on keeping a steady footing on the rocky ground below her; Aang was pacing ahead, as he always did, taking each step lightly, and keeping a keen eye out for water. She couldn't see anything from where she was standing, and resigned to follow after, and hoped that the gully led down to some decent sized water source they could collect from. She could purify the water with her bending, but she needed enough to last her a day or two, so she knew it'd have to be more than a trickle or a puddle.

"Wait, Katara, I think I hear water!" Aang turned around with a grin on his face, before he dashed on ahead, assisted by his airbending, allowing him to speedily approach whatever sound he'd heard.

She struggled to keep up after him, and found her chest heaving as she dashed on after him, making her way down around a corner, which led her to a wide opening; she was relieved to see that her friend hadn't misheard, as she gazed upon a stream that was flowing down through a wider gully between two of the hills. She paced on down the slope, which was gravelly and hard to keep a grip on, but she remained steady in her pace, and quickly enough, descended to the base of the slope, looking upon the reasonably fast flowing stream.

"Oh, well, that was easier than I thought it'd be." she noted, before drawing out her water-skin, approaching Aang, who was washing his face with the river water.

"Ah! Now I smell less like ash." he exclaimed, before running his water skin through the stream, gathering up some of the cool liquid.

Katara decided that instead of kneeling down that she'd practice her waterbending instead, and took a bending stance she remembered from her training at the North Pole, reaching out to the stream with her left hand, holding her water skin in her right. She felt the stream flowing in front of her, and raised her left hand up to direct the water up into a thin coil of water, still flowing in motion; it spun around in a few loops, before she strung it out, drawing it into the opening of the water skin. Aang looked at her with a face of awe, and clapped, clearly impressed by the accuracy of her bending.

"Wow, Katara. Good job." he congratulated her, "Maybe we should practice our waterbending right now?"

"We could." she agreed to his idea, before eyeing around the stream, "Let me just put this water skin down. I don't want to accidentally flick it into the stream if I get too into training." she explained herself, making him chuckle.

"Oh, yeah, that could happen." he noted, before doing the same, placing his water skin on the ground a little further away from the bank of the stream.

They both turned around, and she placed her hands together, taking a deep breath, "Let's just start with something simple. Getting our breathing right."

"Got it." Aang nodded, and put his hands out, imitating the long, drawn-out breath she had just taken.

The Water Tribe girl closed her eyes, and took another deep breath, grasping out to the water in front of her, listening to the splashes and gushing that it made as it flowed down the slope, the shallow, haphazard stream moving the water in one long flowing motion. Just by itself, the water was chaotic, but together, everything moved as if it were one, like some kind of snake.

"Uh... Katara." her friend addressed her, his voice calm, but clearly sounding on edge; she opened her eyes and glanced toward him, wondering whether something was wrong, or if he simply had a question to ask, "I can see something glinting in the trees over there." he explained, tilting his head toward the place he was referring to.

She narrowed her eyes, and noted that she too could see some small glints, presumably the sun reflecting off of metallic surfaces, "Spears?" she asked him calmly, keeping her voice low so that whoever she assumed was watching them couldn't hear.

"I think so." he nodded, before scrunching his lips up, "Should we run?"

"We don't know if they're Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom yet." she warned him, "Maybe these people aren't going to attack us."

"But we're wearing our disguises." he reminded her, "We just look like Fire Nation commoners." he noted, before sighing, "Well, I guess there's one way to find out." he decided, grasping the back of his head, swiftly untying his headband, which revealed his tattoos to whoever was watching them.

"We know you're watching us!" she called out toward the treeline, unsure who was there, and how many people there were, "Come out, unless you'd like to get this entire stream thrown at you." she warned them, raising her hands to begin bending the water out of its flowing stream, creating a large coil of water that she spun around herself, ready to attack, if need be.

A few moments later, some figures appeared from the woods, wearing conical hats and garbs that reminded Katara more of her own parka than the usual robes she'd see on Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation people. From the colouration and condition of the clothing and weapons they wielded, she was certain they were Earth Kingdom; one of them wore different clothes, however- gray robes that were thick and nearly covered the man's head, on top of which was messy brown hair. He eyed the two of them, and pointed towards Aang.

"Are... are you the Avatar, kid?" he asked the young Air Nomad, who nodded.

"Yeah, that's me." he confirmed, "Are you guys rebels?" he asked them, the man looking toward his comrades before he nodded.

"Yeah, you could say that." he nodded, before he began to stride down the hillslope, moving to the opposite side of the stream from the pair, flanked by a few of his comrades, who continued to hold their spears up, seeming rather cautious of the two strangers, "What are you doing out here? You're not exactly close to anything I'd expect an Avatar to be concerned with."

"We're passing through." Katara clarified, before narrowing her eyes, "Do you know anything about a battle that happened to the... uh, north of here."

"Yeah, a skirmish between some of Ozai's loyalists and the Fire Nation Army." he explained, "We were watching, but decided to leave... it was a little dangerous, given all the fire."

"We saw." Aang noted, before pointing at his comrades, "So who are you guys? You don't look like you're from the Earth Kingdom, but they do."

"Yeah... I'm a deserter."

"A deserter?" Katara raised a brow, "So, you were in the Fire Nation Army?"

"Yeah, I was, but I deserted a few years ago, after all... well, I guess you two know what they've been doing." he noted, the pair nodding, Katara thinking back to all the horrible things the Southern Raiders did.

"We do." Aang sighed, obviously not liking the state of the world; Katara didn't either, but she had known about the horrors of war for a long time, while he got proverbially slapped in the face by it after being frozen for a hundred years, oblivious to the events that had unfolded.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Avatar. I heard about you coming back, and we were pretty happy to know that somebody was finally coming to fix this mess."

"Oh... uh, yeah, that's what I'm here to do." he confirmed, cringing slightly as he spoke, "Oh, I'm Aang, by the way, and this is Katara." he gestured to his friend beside him, the man placing a hand on his chest.

"The name's Chey." he explained, Katara's eyes widening, remembering that name from her brother's story, or at least, one of the various permutations of it; Chey was the name of the man who led a group of Earth Kingdom fighters to try and beat Azula and her men, working for the same man her father had been hired by to capture the Princess.

Instead of accusing him of anything, she simply flicked her water forward, and struck him on the forehead with a water whip, throwing him down onto his back, "Argh!" he cried out, his men looking at him with concerned faces.

"Katara! What was that for?" her friend questioned her, obviously shocked by her outburst.

"That's the guy who nearly killed my brother with those explosives. Remember the story? When they were heading to Yu Dao." she growled before gesturing to Chey, "You're the guy working for Jeong Jeong, right?"

"How'd you... wait... the Princess." he remembered, "So, I assume you're friends with her?"

"Yes, we are." Aang confirmed, "So, can I ask, where's Jeong Jeong? Isn't he a member of Order of the White Lotus?"

"He is... but he's not with us at the moment." Chey clarified, "He's gone to Omashu for the turn over."

"The what?" Katara asked, "Omashu is where we're headed right now."

"The turn over. Haven't you guys heard?"

"What's the turn over?" Aang asked him.

"The Fire Lord is giving Omashu back to the Earth Kingdom." he explained, making their eyes widen, turning back to face each other.

"Zuko." both of them whispered his name, before turning to face Chey.

"Will he be there?" she asked him; he shook his head, and raised a finger to his chin.

"No, the Dragon of the West is going to oversee the turn over." he explained, Katara nodding, remembering that to be the epithet of Azula's uncle Iroh, who was the man behind much of the intrigue that had led to the coup against Fire Lord Ozai, and later, Azula's Agni Kai with her brother.

"Well, I guess we'll be able to meet him." Aang concluded, before scrunching his lips up, "I guess this'll be good news for the rebels."

"Yeah, it will be." she agreed with him, before glancing back at Chey, "Do you need any help? We're not planning to leave immediately. Anybody fighting the Fire Nation is a friend of ours... even after what you did to Sokka."

"I'm sorry... I didn't know that boy was Water Tribe." he apologised, "General Iroh explained to me what happened when he freed us from prison. You brother has been through a lot."

"Yeah, he has." she nodded, "So, do you need help, or what?"

"You're both waterbenders, right?" he asked them, the pair nodding, "Well, there's some goons after us. Some of Ozai's loyalists." he explained, "Maybe you could teach them a lesson."

"We'll need some water to bend, though." Aang realised a precondition of their bending being useful in any regard; Katara was unsure whether to feel reassured or concerned when she saw the deserter smirk.

"Oh, don't worry, we can help with that part."

* * *

Sokka had had quite enough of travelling through the woods, and realised after all the time he spent stuck with Ty Lee, he much preferred going Appa, which despite being reasonably more dangerous, for obvious reasons, was a method of travel which would allow him to sleep on the sky-bison's saddle without a worry in the world. That seemed a lot better than sitting Ty Lee, who seemed to not know when to shut up, and never ran out of absurd or intrusive questions. Though they were amusing to begin with, they became old rather quickly, and he had gotten to the point of refusing to even answer her if she asked about anything that didn't directly concern their physical needs and any issues they might face moving closer and closer to territories occupied by Zuko's loyalists.

When they got to the hills outside of Shengchang, they had to dismount and hide their komodo rhinos, after which they began walking on foot down into the valley. The city's outskirts were expansive, full of fields growing both grain and fibre crops, which he assumed the Fire Nation needed for making clothes. Azula had spoken of the use that seizing the cotton farms might have for her plans, but he didn't really understand how having more clothes or tent canvases would really help them. He was less so annoyed at that point by Ty Lee, who had shut up, given the dangerous location they'd found themselves in, and more by the fact their precaution had taken them walking along a tree covered stream, hiding themselves from view. They were already wearing camouflage cloaks, but Azula didn't want to take any chances and accidentally run into some farm labourers while trying to get closer to Shengchang.

He kept his frustrations to himself, and kept an eye on the left bank of the mostly dry streambed, which they were walking through; Fire Nation soldiers patrolled the area, according to Sneers and Kori, who had come through the city a few times before, and thus, had a good understanding of the best paths to take to avoid being spotted. That was a little better than going underground via her earthbending; it wasn't that he didn't trust Kori's skills, but he just knew that keeping enough of a cavity large enough to fit them all would challenge anyone, no matter their bending skill. It was more a question of pure strength, which he didn't want to find the answer to, in case it ended up with them suffocating under a bunch of dirt; of all the ways to die, Sokka was sure that would be one of the most embarrassing.

"Where exactly are we going?" he heard the Captain speak up, obviously asking Kori, who turned back to face him with a reassuring smile.

"Just to a warehouse on the edge of the city. That's where this group meets up. Some of them will have to be there right now." she assured him, before turning back around, "We're coming up toward a bridge, so we'll have to stay close to the bank." she warned them, the group heeding her advice.

Sokka moved up toward the left bank of the river, noting that indeed, there was a stone bridge ahead of them, crossing the stream; its arches dropped quite low, and he was a little concerned about all of them getting through without being spotted.

"We might as well announce our arrival." he heard Azula growl in front of him, the Water Tribe warrior glancing up to the top of the bank, noting there wasn't much around the bridge, as they were still walking through farmland.

The fact it was already late in the day gave Sokka hope that most people were finishing their work, and thus, less likely to be toiling about in the fields. It would be equally annoying if that were the case, given it meant their trudging around the streambed would have been effectively pointless. The only reason they were hiding was because Azula might be in danger if she were spotted. She could obviously defend herself, but if the entire town guard of Shengchang came down on them, intent on taking her in chains to her brother, things would go ugly quickly; the kind of ugly that would not endear the Princess to the people she sought to rule.

"Keep your heads down." she ordered the others, who complied with her command, crouching slightly as they all moved in double file toward the arch of the bridge closest to the left bank; it was a narrow passage through, but they were able to fit well enough, though Sokka was more concerned about being spotted; luckily, the bridge seemed to have high railing, presumably more for aesthetics rather than safety, which was a good thing for them, as it made it harder for any pedestrians to notice them walking on underneath.

When they got to the other side, Sokka noted that he could see the city proper ahead of them, down the slope which the stream ran, and could see that the stream went all the way to the walls of the city; he increased his pace to get closer to Kori and Sneers, wanting to ask them if they were going to go inside.

"Are we going into the walled part of the city?" he asked them, the pair shaking their heads.

"No, the warehouse is outside the walls." Sneers clarified, before scrunching his lips up, "But we might need to take a different route than usual. The tough guards do stand out a bit."

"We're not even wearing our helmets." Shan noted, looking to his comrades, "We don't stick out that much, do we?"

"We're wearing full armour." Renshu retorted, "I can see what he means." he noted, turning his gaze back toward Sneers, "Which way are we going?"

"You're probably not going to like it." he admitted, before gesturing down the stream, "Just down here is a sewer. It's the only way we can get close to the warehouse without being spotted." he explained, "Kori can earthbend a hole out when we get to the warehouse." he clarified, his girlfriend nodding.

"Don't worry, I can do it." she assured them, before gesturing for them to follow, "Let's keep moving. People can still look down into the stream if they need to relieve themselves." she warned them, making Sokka snicker; his girlfriend looked back at him with a confused face, and raised a hand.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, the fact you might burn some guy's dick off for snooping on us while he's pissing." he admitted, making her cover her face, clearly embarrassed by such a suggestion.

"Just shut up, Sokka." she chided him, before following on after Kori and Sneers; he did the same, making his way along the dry streambed, approaching the clearly marked out stone sewer entrance, where he could see a trickle of wastewater coming out.

He grimaced with disgust, and shook his head, just wishing they'd put the effort in to properly disguise themselves and not had to take such a disgusting route, no matter how secure it might be. Sokka ducked down as he approached the entrance, walking in after Azula, who snapped her right hand, lighting a flame in her hands, which lit up the damp and dark sewers a blue hue. He was surprised that the colouration made the sewer look cleaner, though that was probably because he just associated blue with the snow and home; he chuckled at the thought that it could be his opinions of Azula that made him feel comfortable in the blue-coloured sewer. The colour had taken on a new meaning after being around her for so long; it was no longer the simple colour he associated with home, but with her strength as a firebender, and the assurance she'd protect him and herself from danger. Once he might have thought such an idea to be gravely emasculating, but he had grown to like it, knowing that assurance gave him peace of mind, more than any chi-blocking training had, even though he was quite confident in his abilities.

He followed her flames, stepping cautiously as they moved deeper into the sewers; he could hear splashing from footsteps ahead of him, and decided to stay by one side of the sewer, and avoid getting his boots soaked with the water, not knowing what was in it. It might just be waste water from washing and cooking, but it could be a mixture of fecal matter and urine too; he didn't want to think about that, and the smell suggested there had to be some of the latter. He could hear Ty Lee making a gag noise behind him, and glanced to see her disgusted expression, and he just made an awkward smile, giving her a nod to confirm he agreed with her. He might have come from an impoverished little village in the South Pole, but that didn't mean he could tolerate something as disgusting as walking through a sewer.

Kori whistled at them, indicating for everyone to turn at the corner they were approaching, leading them along a slight upward incline through the sewer. He didn't know where exactly the sewers went, but he assumed she knew exactly where the warehouse would be, so she could earthbend them a way out. Azula gestured toward her boyfriend with her left hand, indicating for him to hurry up, which he did, though still keeping himself as far to the left side as possible, not wanting to inadvertently step in somebody's shit.

"How much further?" the Princess asked the couple, Sneers, turning back to face her, raising a finger.

"It's around the main road, so, just up ahead. You'll hear it." he explained to her and she nodded, seemingly affirming her understanding, though Sokka couldn't see her face, and therefore couldn't tell if she was confident in his words.

As they continued up through the sewer, he suddenly heard the sound of stomping above them, and the clattering of things; he realised that it had to be a cart driving down the road just mentioned.

"That'd be it." he confirmed, before pointing ahead of them, "Kori it has to just up here." he explained, his girlfriend nodding, pacing ahead, before she took an earthbending form.

It took awhile for everybody to catch up to her, given they'd been walking through the sewer in single file, but by the time the Water Tribe warrior had reached her, he could see that she was carving a hole in the sewer roof, though she seemed to be doing so cautiously, to avoid collapsing the tunnel. Eventually, light broke into the tunnel, and Sokka covered his face, finding the change in light to be rather jarring, and when Azula's flames went out, he was reminded that they were in a sewer, and sewers were usually a murky brown, not blue. Kori shifted her movements, creating indentations in the sewer wall and hole above it to give them someplace to step and hold as they climbed up.

"We'll go first... given we're not wearing Fire Nation armour." she glanced back to the Princess who crossed her arms.

"Hurry up, and check the street. I don't want to stand in here any longer than I have to." she gestured down to the ground below her, Kori nodding before she quickly scaled up to the street, offering Sneers a hand as he climbed on after her; once the two of them were up, she clenched her fist, closing the hole she had made, leaving them in the darkness once more.

"This place is terrible." Sokka spoke his thoughts, making Azula sigh, clearly in agreement.

"This better be worth it. If I don't get something amazing out of this, I'm going to go find the Governor of this city and give him a beating just to make the trip worth my time."

"You're not serious are you?" Sokka asked her, "You do remember what happened last time, right?" he warned her of what had come of threatening Mayor Morishita, Kori's father- it had amounted to pretty much nothing, given Zuko's presence in the city.

"Well, Zuko isn't here." she retorted, "I doubt whoever's here will have any reason to not take my threats seriously." she acknowledged, "A warning to those that oppose me ought to help them make up their minds when my army arrives here." she noted, making the Water Tribesman cringe at the thought of what she intended to do.

Restarting a civil war in earnest, or at least, adding another dimension to it, wouldn't do her country much good, in his opinion; however, he knew that she would be a competent and skilled leader, the kind her country did need if they wanted to move beyond the hundred years of war that had dominated the world. She could come out victorious, if the support she desired did exist, which seemed to be a question they were very close to answering.

After an uncomfortably long period of time standing in the damp, stench-filled sewer, the hole reopened, and Kori looked down at them, gesturing for them to follow, "The alley is clear. Let's go." she told them, the Princess immediately scaling up the indentations in the sewer wall, flicking her hands about once she reached the top, indicating that she didn't enjoy touching the dank walls of the sewer.

He immediately followed after, and cringed at the touch of the indentations, but tried his best to ignore it, and pulled himself up onto the street, eyeing around to note that they were in a recluse alleyway, some distance from the main road where they might've been spotted. He wiped his hands down on his cloak, not wanting to keep the smell of the sewer on them after he had finally left its grasp. He turned around, and noted that there was a doorway nearby, where a suspicious looking man stood; he seemed to be of mixed Fire Nation-Earth Kingdom ancestry, like Kori, and was well-muscled with a moustache and short brown hair. He was eyeing them, and Sokka had a feeling he had something to do with the people they were going to go meet. Azula noticed his presence as well, and moved to approach him, pointing a finger at him accusingly.

"Are you one of them?" she asked him, the man raising a brow at her with confusion.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, Kori stepping forward between them.

"I'm sorry for her rudeness." she excused Azula's behaviour, "This is her... you know who." she gestured to the Princess beside her, the man eyeing down Azula for a few moments.

"Seriously?" he asked her, now sounding rather unnerved.

"Sokka, is there anyone at the end of the alleyway?" his girlfriend asked Sokka, who shook his head, not seeing anyone who could potentially be looking their way, other than the muscled man he assumed to be a bouncer of sorts.

"No." he assured her, making her smirk slightly; he guessed she intended to show off or intimidate somebody, most likely the bouncer.

"Well then, I guess you won't mind me showing you this." she turned her attention back to the man, creating a few dancing bright blue embers in her palm, the man's eyes widening.

"It is her!" he practically shouted in amazement, before falling to his knees, "I apologise your highness. I am sorry for doubting your identity... it's just that we get fake Princesses all the time, trying to play us for money or supplies." he explained, before looking up at her with eyes of awe, "You're the real deal."

"Yes, I am." she confirmed, before pointing at the door behind him, "I am at the right place to meet people who support me, correct?"

"Yes." he nodded, "You want to meet the people I'm working with?" he asked, the Princess giving him a resolute stare; without any other need for confirmation, he knocked on the door behind him, and a second later, a wooden shutter opened up, revealing a pair of golden eyes.

"What is it, Lee? Did some informants come to you again?" he asked, the bouncer shaking his head.

"It's the actual Princess. She's here." he clarified, gesturing to Azula, who stood beside him.

"Very funny..." the man behind the door sarcastically quipped, before he took note of the blue flames in Azula's hand, "Oh fuck." he mumbled, before a few moments later, the door was unlocked and opened for them, "Please, come inside, your highness." 

"It's about time." she narrowed her eyes at the man who had been holding the door, "Who am I meant to speak to? I assume you have a leader." the Princess asked him; he seemed rather unnerved by her presence, after he had joked about her being an impostor.

"Uh..." he mumbled, gesturing down the hallway that he was standing in, "I'll take you to them." he explained, the Princess raising a brow.

"Them?" she raised a brow, "You have more than one leader?"

"Uh, yes." he nodded, "We aren't a gang... we're a political group, your highness." he clarified, Azula turning her gaze back toward Kori and Sneers.

"Who do you know from this group?" she asked them, both of them glancing at each other awkwardly.

"Well, one of my friends from Yu Dao, she was really enthusiastic about our whole thing about ensuring the colonies were made better." she acknowledged, "She heard about what your brother was planning to do with the colonies, so she worked with some other people to try and get support to either secede and create a new nation to protect our livelihoods or get you to return and help them. They had to leave Yu Dao, though, just like us." she explained, "Her name is Kibo."

"Well, I'd like to meet this Kibo." the Princess acknowledged, raising a finger to her chin, "So, do they live in this warehouse?"

"No, this is just our base of operations, your highness." the man explained, before gesturing for her to follow, "I'll take you our leaders."

Sokka stepped forward, following after his girlfriend, before he placed a hand on Sneers shoulder, stopping him from following after the others as they began to file after the Princess, "You guys never really said what you've been doing since you left Yu Dao."

"Well... it hasn't exactly been legal." the former Freedom Fighter admitted, "Jet told me a few things, and Kori is a good earthbender."

"Fair enough." he nodded, before grimacing, "I'm sorry for leaving." he admitted, making the other boy raise a brow.

"You didn't have much of a choice. The Fire Lord was going to capture her otherwise."

"We could have fought longer... but I was too afraid." he acknowledged, "Yeah, Azula ended up finding the Avatar, so I guess it all worked out, but if that never happened, we would have left the Earth Kingdom to chaos, and for all we know, Fire Lord Ozai could have returned to the throne."

"Well, we can't make up for our mistakes other than by acting." he acknowledged, "We did some bad shit... I didn't exaggerate when I called Jet crazy." he added with a dark, almost fearful tone.

"You don't need to explain." he assured him, before pacing on after the others, "Let's just see these people." he decided, before narrowing his eyes in thought, "Do you think they're any good?"

"I fought for the Earth Kingdom once." he spoke with a wistful face, before sighing, "But that was just what we told ourselves. These people don't just care about themselves, they care about their communities. The colonies aren't just the parts of the Earth Kingdom ruled by the Fire Nation, they're more than that."

"Yeah, I figured that." he nodded, "They're a new nation... kind of." he declared, before considering whether a mixture of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom was a new nation, or moving beyond such a absolute concept; the Water Tribes were easy to define due to their isolation, but the Earth Kingdom was a diverse place, with people from all over travelling through, living there and ruling over it.

He followed after the others, making his way to the end of the hallway, before walking out into an open warehouse, where he could see a number of tables, stacks of paper and people sitting down, writing text or printing images onto paper; they weren't doing their jobs at present, given all their attention had come to Azula, who wasn't intimidated in the slightest. He knew she was used to attention, and guessed she might be glad it wasn't the bad kind.

The man who had been standing by the entrance was leading the Princess and her entourage up a staircase, leading to what looked like some kind of office that looked out over the floor of the warehouse. When they reached the door, Azula simply needed to stand in front of it, and it was opened for her at once; she paced on inside, and Sokka followed after her, making his way in after Kori, Sneers and Ty Lee. Once all of them were inside, he glanced over a large table inside, where about a dozen people sat, all of them of varying ages and appearances; some of them were Fire Nation, though others seemed to be of at least partial-Earth Kingdom descent, like Kori. A teenage girl stood up from the table and beamed at her, presumably the girl Kibo that she mentioned.

"Kori, you're here!" she grinned at her, before eyeing the Princess, "And you got her here too." she observed, before bowing at the girl who was proclaimed their leader and rightful Fire Lord, "Your highness, it's an honour to meet you."

Azula acknowledged her with a nod, "Well, I have been looking forward to meeting you all... not that I know anything about you." she noted, striding closer to the table, "So, could one of you tell me what you want... obviously, you think I'm a better candidate for Fire Lord than my brother or father, but there must be a reason for that."

"You are the one who swore to protect us." Kibo spoke up, "I didn't hear it myself, but Kori didn't lie. We all know what the Fire Lord wants to do... and I think you know what your father thinks of the colonials."

"Uh, yes." the Princess nodded, rather awkwardly accepting that presumption about Ozai, "He thinks of you all like you are exiles and peasants." she noted, "Though that might be partially true, I know that every person who is a Fire Nation citizen is deserving of the same respect... well, I learnt that."

"We don't want to find ourselves swallowed by a resurgent Earth Kingdom, or suffer as the pawns of a tyrant." one of those on the table, an older man, spoke up, "The colonies are something that cannot just be destroyed. We are more than just Fire Nation citizens on Earth Kingdom land."

"I know that." she agreed with him, "My brother probably just thinks of the colonies as a problem that he has to solve, but I see no problem here." she acknowledged, "I mean, the Earth Kingdom locals will need to be afforded respect and dignity if we are to make peace with them, but these lands cannot be torn asunder from the homeland, and if they are, it should not be to subjugation by the Earth King." she added, before placing her hands down on the table, "But luckily for you all, I'm working to make sure that is an impossible outcome."

"How?" the man asked her, not sounding skeptical, but rather intrigued.

"Because I am making sure whatever comes about of the chaos in the Earth Kingdom does not simply mean a return of what was there before. There is a reason the colonies could have been established in the first place; opportunity was seized upon a weak and divided country." she gave them the briefest of history lessons, one Sokka had come to realise the tragedy of.

The Earth Kingdom was defeated by the Fire Nation thoroughly, though not because of any inherent weakness in their people, or in earthbending, but because they were divided into squabbling fiefdoms, ruled by a monarch in a city so far from anything else that it was only logical they'd care little about the events on the other side of the Earth Kingdom. He knew that groups like the Dai Li stood in the way of a better country, and that that was exactly what Azula wanted to solve; that was what she had told Bumi's men, and they seemed to agree with her.

"So, you want to... help them?" another on the table asked, "But won't they come for us? The colonies are built on their land."

"No, they won't because I'll be helping them reunite their country, and they'll help us free the rest of the colonies by dealing with my father's supporters." she explained with a smirk, "They will allow me to focus all of my resources in achieving exactly what I want: these lands, under my rule, secure and free, and with peace found with the Earth Kingdom, allowed to prosper without the threat of war."

"That's what we all want." Kibo admitted, "It's just a shame we couldn't have met you earlier."

"Well, I didn't know where anyone who supported me was." she conceded, "I did, however, spot the posters your organisation has been making." she added, pursing her lips upward; despite how much she had changed, Azula couldn't help but to enjoy having her ego stroked.

"Ah, we think they're getting the public riled up to support you." one of those on the table, an older woman explained, "The colonials don't like martial law very much. A few cities have been locked down due to riots, and our posters are giving them hope."

"Oh, that's exactly what I want them to feel." the Princess agreed with her, "A storm is coming, and I will be there to keep them safe."

"So... will you be coming to help us soon?" the man who had already questioned her asked another question, sounding rather hopeful that she might come over with her forces to liberate Shengchang.

"Not yet." she refused, "I cannot attack a city as large as Shengchang without both securing my supply lines and weakening my brother's forces first, though I assume my father's loyalists may do that job for us."

"And the supply lines... I assume your army is in need of food and armaments." he noted, "Well... we may know some people who might be able to help you with that."

"Associates with weapons?" she raised a brow, the man nodding.

"There's a few factories in Shengchang that have been producing arms for the war effort, but since the Fire Lord began withdrawing his forces from the Earth Kingdom, they've slowed down production, and there's been a little excess."

"Oh, so nobody's using these weapons?" she asked him, the man pursing his lips upward.

"That's right, your highness." he confirmed, "We may be able to smuggle some out of the city, but we'd need your men to deal with some of the security issues. There's guards checking the roads out of the city, so it may be a challenge to get carts full of weapons out of here." he explained, the Princess nodding.

"Well, I believe I can help with that." she explained, "I have a number of elite firebenders with me at this moment, standing down in the floor of this warehouse." she gestured towards the door they'd used.

"So what... you want to us to whack up the city's guards?" Sokka asked the man who was offering them with a plan; he shook his head, and raised a finger.

"Not necessarily. We just need to make sure they don't check the carts." he explained, Sokka glancing over toward Ty Lee and Azula.

"You remember the day we met you, Ty Lee."

"Oh yeah, we had tea and my sisters ogled you-" she began, the Water Tribesman raising his hand up, knowing she'd brought up something unrelated to the part of the day he was thinking of.

"Not that, sheesh." he cringed, "I mean Aang and Katara stealing from that stole and riling up the guards. We had to chi block them, remember?"

"Oh... yeah." she nodded, before scrunching her lips up, "So, Azula, do you have any good way to catch the guards attention?"

"Well, I'd say it would be smartest to have my guards escort the cart of weapons out of the city, once it is secured that is." she noted, "They're the ones who are better able to protect it." she clarified, before raising a finger to gesture to Ty Lee and then to her boyfriend, "These two are the ones who can beat the guards and run away with ease."

"That we are." Sokka proudly declared, knowing that a few town guards would be no issue for him, "But... uh, what are we going to do to actually get their attention."

"Well, Sokka, you like shopping." Azula recalled, gesturing toward him, "You want to buy something, just don't pay."

"I mean..." he mumbled, wondering if he could tolerate theft in such a blatant manner; he knew that getting the weapons they might receive if they could draw the attention of the guards would be so helpful that it would outweigh the negatives of him stealing from somebody who probably didn't deserve it, "I guess I could do that."

"What do you want to get?" Ty Lee asked him, the Water Tribe warrior cringing; he didn't wnt everybody on the table to have a chance to critique his choice.

"I'll decide when I get there." he lied, "Then we'll have to run." he deduced, "How are we going to get away?" he asked Azula, who seemed unsure of a solution to that specific issue.

Kori tapped her left hand on the table, smirking at him confidently, "How'd we get here?"

"Oh." he realised, before cringing, not wanting to walk through the sewers again, "I don't want to go back in the sewers again."

"Well, Master Chi-Blocker, do you want to fight your way out instead?" Azula mocked him, the Water Tribesman cringing as he realised she was doing so in front of a fair few people neither of them knew.

"Uh... no." he mumbled, before shaking his head, turning back to face the man who had offered to get them the weapons to begin with, "So, who are these associates, anyway?"

"Good question, Sokka." Azula commended him, "I would like to know exactly who is donating to my cause."

"Well, the man who is offering to sell us weapons is a man by the name of Mister Takumi." he explained, "He owns a number of factories that have been threatened with forced closure, because the Fire Lord wants all military producers to be moved to the homeland." he explained, "And he doesn't want to close up shop, as you could imagine."

"What kinds of things do these factories produce?" Azula asked him, the man raising his hands up.

"The usual. Armour, parts for and whole siege weapons, as well as engines and hydraulics systems for trains and ships." he explained, the Princess raising a finger.

"Did you say engines?" she asked him rather simply; her tone suggested to Sokka that she had another plan in mind.

"Uh, yes, your highness. Some of his factories produce engines." he confirmed, "Why do you ask?"

"Are they in this city?" she retorted with another question, which he answered with a simple nod, "Good." she smirked, "I know exactly how I'm going to liberate the colonies." she decided, "I'll just need to meet this Mister Takumi once I return with my army."

"Wait..." Ty Lee mumbled, "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"

"The prototype worked, Ty Lee." she assured her, "If we simply make them larger and add weaponry, which I'm sure these producers could provide, we will have an arsenal capable of destroying military installations and defences with ease."

Sokka's eyes widened, realising that she was referring to the airship design which Zhao had piloted to the Northern Water Tribe, "You want to make more of those? What if your men mutiny and give them to your father?" he asked her bluntly, the Princess scoffing at his suggestion.

"Oh, well, I have a simple way to prevent that, Sokka." she decided, "I'll have civilians on board controlling the operations of the craft." she decided, before turning to face those on the table, "How would you like to start a campaign to recruit me some pilots."

"Pilots?" one of the men on the table asked, "What are you going make?"

"Airships. You may have heard about the prototype War Minister Qin had taken from the Northern Air Temple. We made it even better, and now, I can utilise the industrial resources of this city to make even more. We can rain down fire... or even rocks, if those capable of bending them decide to join our forces." she explained, Kori smirking confidently.

"So, can we get Yu Dao back for ourselves?" Kibo asked the Princess, who nodded, rising to her feet.

"All of the colonies will be free. If we can take this city, I promise you, I will come out victorious in the end, but only with your support."

"You are our Fire Lord. We would not have it any other way." Kibo assured her, before she gestured for her fellow members to stand up; they all did, before bowing toward Azula in a sign of respect.

"You will all receive the peace you desire, and the world will be made better than it was before my brother dared to turn it upside down, I promise you that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for being so slow to update this story. I essentially stopped writing The Return for this last semester of university. The good news is, I have finished university for the year, and thus, will be able to write this story at a fast rate again. Once I finish my original story which I have being working on for the past year and a half, I will be able to dedicate most of my summer break to writing this story in particular, meaning that I should be able to catch up and compensate for the writing I haven't done for the past few months. Thus, you can expect frequent updates from December onwards. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and are looking forward to seeing where it will go next.


	21. Chapter 21

With the sun already below the horizon, it was rather hard for Aang to see anything while he was walking through the woods, but that didn't stop him from doing what he said he would. Helping out Chey and the Earth Kingdom fighters would both assure him and the Order of the White Lotus that he was a friend, and would provide him with an opportunity to help weaken Ozai's forces, even if it was just a little fighting group, something that Chey refused to call an army. He knew that he and Katara would be more than capable of using their waterbending to assist the fighters, who had spotted a military camp to the south of where the pair had been attacked earlier that day.

The young Avatar was more than willing to get a little bit of payback for the rocks thrown his way, and was intrigued by the suggestion that the soldiers were repairing war machines they had stolen off of Zuko's forces so they could be used in their campaign to try and conquer the colonies. Of course, there was little chance of that very outcome at present, given how far apart all of Ozai's loyalists seemed to be, spread out across the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, but that didn't make the operation any less important. Katara suggested they'd be able to get a better understanding of how to destroy Fire Nation war machines and siege weapons, which they'd already had a little experience with on their way to Avatar Roku's Temple on Crescent Island.

Katara tapped him on the shoulder, Aang turning his gaze back toward her, "Yeah?"

"Are we going to stay with these people long, Aang?" she asked, the young Avatar narrowing his eyes.

"We need to get to Omashu, sooner rather than later." he conceded, "This meeting where Azula's uncle will be might help us. We need to try and make sure... well, I think we both know what Azula wants."

"Preventing a war between her and her brother, when Ozai's the real threat." she acknowledged, before sighing, "I don't know if Sokka's going to help in that regard."

"He doesn't want her to be in danger." Aang recalled, glancing ahead of them, realising where they were heading, "Maybe we're more reckless than him."

"Maybe we are." Katara conceded, "But it's not her being in danger that's the problem. It's the world."

"I know that we'll have to fight to stop Ozai, but... I see what you mean." he conceded; as much as he wanted to support his friend, he knew that Azula's intentions would not help them stop Ozai in the slightest.

"We'll see what she wants to do when we get back, and hopefully, she'll be more worried about the Dai Li than her brother."

"The real bad guys." he acknowledged, "Those guys need to go down if the Earth Kingdom's going to ever be normal again."

"Enough people want to fight for their country. It's just like back home; all we need to do is make sure they fight for freedom, and not for... well, more of the same." Katara acknowledged, the young Avatar nodding, before he eyed ahead of them, through the woods.

"And now, we're going to fight to stop the worst of them all." he acknowledged, "You... you remember what she said when we were going back to New Omashu, right?"

"About her grandfather's death... yeah, that was terrible." she recalled, shaking her head with disgust, "We can't let a man like that have a chance to get what he wants." she explained, turning her eyes away; he guessed she was thinking about what had happened to her people, and to her family personally- people were going to needlessly suffer, all for one man's greed.

"We must be getting close." he deduced, noting the light from the campfires at the encampment they were approaching, before he glanced over toward Chey, who was leading their group, "So, there's a stream by this camp?"

"Yes, there is." he nodded, "So, you'll be able to waterbend no problem." he explained, "The warriors and I will give you two some cover, and you can go find their war machines."

"Do you know what we should be looking for?" Katara asked him, the deserter raising a finger to his chin, which he scratched in thought.

"Well, have you seen a catapult before?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Yeah, we have." she confirmed, "So, big metal machines." she simply described what they were to be looking for, "Doesn't sound that hard to find."

Aang glanced ahead of them, eyeing through the woods, trying to look for the light that would be emanating from the campsite; he could see some faint light, but it was still some distance away.

"They might have some people patrolling around, so we'll need to be quiet from here on out." Chey warned, gesturing around, and with that, the Earth Kingdom fighters readied their spears, and crouched down, spreading out, so they could cover and check out the woods ahead of them.

He already had his staff in hand, as was ready to use it, if need be, but certainly preferred if their sabotage went off without a hitch; Katara was looking ahead intently, though he knew she couldn't see any better than he could, so it was just out of caution, and not because they were reaching the encampment. He felt like for once, he was going out of his way to do his duties as an Avatar; he didn't know if Avatars had fought in wars in the past, and though Aang had no intention of harming anyone personally, he knew that he had to do something to stave off Ozai's forces. The threat the former Fire Lord and his gang of supporters posed to the world was already visible enough for him. They had tried to attack New Omashu, and even though they had failed, he could see how dangerously close they were to succeeding; all it would have taken was a few lazy scouts on Bumi's behalf, and the city could have been bombarded by Fire Nation forces, and those inside forced to remain in the cave-like city his friend had constructed.

Suddenly, the fighters stopped, and made some hand signals toward each other, Chey turning back to face the pair, "There's a patrol." he whispered, before gesturing for them to crouch down.

Aang watched intently in the same direction the deserter was looking, and made sight of five Fire Nation soldiers, some of them wielding pikes, while the rest of them were unarmed, which he guessed meant they were firebenders. The five men were quietly chatting amongst themselves, eyeing out into the woods, and upon realising they were going to see him, he dropped down even lower, placing his hands on the ground as he tried his best to remain completely still; he and Katara were wearing cloaks, but that didn't mean they would be indistinguishable from the woods they were travelling through. The patrol moved on past them without ever noticing them, and it took a while longer for them to move far enough away from the group to allow them to start moving again; the Air Nomad boy did not relent to start walking with haste once more, knowing that the quicker they got to the camp, the less there was a chance of them being spotted before they arrived.

Moving as fast as he could, the young Avatar sighed with relief once they reached an outcrop that looked over the campsite, which was located by a river crossing; the bridge itself was made out of metal, suggesting that the original one had been destroyed- that was one of the many tolls of war, from what he could tell. He knelt down, making sure nobody down in the camp could see him, and scanned around, wondering where they would keep their war machines; he noted that a number of areas of the camp were shrouded by large tarps, which made it hard for him to tell what was underneath, especially given how dark it was. Chey strode up beside him, crouching down to avoid being spotted, pointing out the tarps Aang had been eyeing.

"My best guess is they've put them under those tarps. Probably because the rain would ruin all the internal mechanisms." he acknowledged, making Aang snicker, realising what he was about to do.

"Well, they're going to be getting a little more than rain, isn't that right, Katara?" he asked his friend, who nodded with agreement.

"We'll have to get some water first. Enough to properly break them." she explained, pointing down to the stream, "That's the water you were talking about, right?" she asked Chey, who nodded, before pulling something round and metallic out of his robes; the young Avatar had to look at it for a few seconds to realise it was a bomb.

"Ack!" he cried out, covering his mouth, "Is that the... uh- distraction?"

"I used to make bombs for these people." he acknowledged, "Every once in a while, it's good for them to get a taste of their own medicine."

"I know what you mean." Katara agreed with him, before grasping her friend by his arm, "Let's get going." she explained, before turning her eyes to Chey, "Where will we meet you guys?"

"Back by the cave I showed you. If worst comes to bear, we can lose the soldiers by going through there." he explained, "I have some explosives ready to block the entrance, if need be."

Aang nodded, understanding what they'd need to do and where they would need to go; the distance between them and the hills they had set Appa down at meant that it was reasonable to call on his sky-bison, though he didn't want to do that. Given his size, there was a real danger he'd be hit by the flames the soldiers would be wielding.

"Let's go, Aang." Katara pulled on his arm, and he heeded her suggestion, following after her, making their way down along the edge of the woods, eyeing the campsite intently; he didn't want to get accidentally spotted, and kept his head low, focused on making as little noise as possible.

The pair quickly walked around the campsite, keeping themselves hidden behind the tree trunks and bushes, all while they approached the stream, which became louder by the second, before Aang could see it flowing before him, the light from the nearby campfires flickering on the flowing water. He could tell it wasn't moving too fast, but he didn't want to try and jump in as a potential escape route, knowing that despite his waterbending skills, rough water would be a clear danger.

He then began to follow after Katara along the length of the stream, approaching the metal bridge, where he could see a few soldiers idling about; Aang kept his head down, pulling his cloak over his head, and crouching down to seem as inconspicuous as possible. Before he could get any closer, his friend placed a hand on his chest, stopping him from walking; he looked at her, unsure why she had stopped him, before he noticed her moving her left hand toward the water, unsettling it from the stream, and causing droplets to rise up, creating a misty layer which grew by the second, quickly shrouding the entire area; this mist moved along with them as they approached the bridge, almost like a cloud covering them, and Aang looked at his friend with awe, impressed by her ingenuity.

He followed her under the bridge, and watched as the mist covered them, the soldiers none the wiser, though one of them astutely commented on the water vapour coming their way, "Is it just me, or is it getting cold out?" one of the soldiers asked another, who chuckled.

"If you're such a baby, then maybe you should go to bed." his comrade mocked him, Aang struggling to hold back a laugh at his retort, covering his mouth as he and Katara continued onward, moving past the bridge, now easily on the way to the war machines they were out to sabotage.

He kept himself quiet, and glanced back toward the bridge, relieved to see that the mist was covering them, and thus, keeping them out of the sights of the soldiers; he looked at the riverbank, and wondered whether they ought to climb it, or if they should find some place to hide before Chey and the fighters started their intended distraction.

"When are we going to move?" he whispered to Katara, who raised her finger in the direction they had come from.

"Chey had bombs, right?" she asked him, the young Avatar nodding, "Well, they'll make a big bang. That's the signal." she decided, before pointing over to some bushes by the river's edge, "Let's just take cover for the meantime."

She led them over to the bushes, crouching down as she drew out some water from the stream, making a small coil of water which she spun around in her hand; Aang glanced at the water, noting how it glinted from the light of the nearby fires, and took a deep breath as he crouched down beside her.

"It's... calming to look at." he whispered, the Water Tribe girl smiling.

"Yeah, I like just playing with water like this." she admitted, "It reminds me of when I used to sit at the shore outside my village." she acknowledged, the young Avatar nodding, before he reached over to the bush beside them, having something similar in mind to keep himself calm; he picked off a leaf, and held it in my palms.

"When I was little, the monks would tell us to be like the leaf. That was their way of showing us how to think like airbenders." he explained, before letting the leaf into the air, using his fingers to bend the air around it, allowing it to move in a circle slowly, flipping around and rotating randomly, reminding him of the chaotic nature of his element.

"The tides and leaves." she concluded their two ways of understanding their element, at least to begin with, "I wonder... I wonder what firebenders learn."

"Maybe we can ask Azula about that when we see her next." he suggested, before turning his eyes back toward the campsite, "That'll be a while though."

"I wouldn't worry about her, Aang. I think she has things under control." Katara assured him, before she glanced up the riverbank, "I think I hear footsteps, Aang."

He turned his head around, and realised he could hear them too; Aang decided to drop the leaf he had been playing around with in his hands, and moved to get properly under the cover of the bush, hoping none of the soldiers walked over to take a leak in the stream. He focused on his breathing, trying to keep it steady while he heard the footsteps grow louder, not daring to look up and accidentally expose himself.

"What's the deal with the reinforcements coming late?" he heard a soldier complain to another.

"Probably just some destroyed bridges again. You know what the dirt-eaters are like, always getting in the way of our soldiers." another soldier gave his best idea.

"Stupid... why don't they just come here by ship. There's enough of those from the Eastern Fleet to take soldiers this way." another suggested, "That'd save them the trouble of fighting the damn Earth Kingdom."

"Well, the ships probably can't be spared." the first voice spoke up once more, "I'm pretty sure they're being used to blockade the West Lake, so the pretender can't get his soldiers over to Ba Sing Se."

"Wouldn't help him anyway. That place is gone." another voice spoke up, sounding more morbid and concerned than the others, "The damn dirt-eaters are attacking us from all sides."

Aang turned to face Katara, wondering if that was just an exaggeration, or if it was really indicative of the Earth Kingdom actually beating back the Fire Nation; before he could try and ask a question regarding the matter, he heard a sudden boom in the distance, and glanced up to see the bright light that must have come along with the explosion Chey must have set off.

"What in the name of the spirits was that?" one of the soldiers shouted out in fear, before the sound of a weapon being drawn out could be heard.

"Come on!" he heard another soldier order his comrades, and Aang heard the sound of footsteps loudly pattering, getting quieter in the next few moments.

He glanced over the bush, and saw the soldiers running in the direction of the explosion, giving him and Katara an open path to get to the war machines they were set on breaking.

"Well..." he mumbled, before reaching out toward the stream, drawing out a mass of water, which he bent around himself, "Should we get going?"

"Yes, we should." his friend agreed with him, doing the same as he paced up the riverbank, heading right in the direction of the tarps that they had spotted out earlier.

Once he got up the riverbank, he could see a number of tents in front of him, and noted that everybody's attention was drawn in the direction of the explosion, where there was a large smokestack, and from the looks of it, burning tents. With firebenders among them, the soldiers would probably deal with it very quickly meaning that Aang and Katara would need to be quicker; he didn't relent to sprint as he held the water around him, eyeing out for any soldiers that were still around. When he made sight of the tarp covered things, he approached them at once, and kicked his foot up to create a gust with his airbending, flinging the tarps upward, revealing what he guessed to find; a number of steam-powered catapults, from what he could tell, as well as some vehicles he believed to be called tundra tanks, though he'd never faced off against them personally.

He immediately thrust his hands forward, pushing the water into the first catapult he could reach, and twisted his hands around to make sure he got the water through all the gaps and mechanisms he could get the water to touch. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his hands back, cooling the water down rapidly to the point it turned into ice, which itself cooled the machines down drastically. It helped that it was nighttime, and thus there was no sun to heat it back up, meaning he was able to quickly cool it down to temperatures he guessed would only be encountered at the poles during a blizzard.

"Hey you, what are you doing here?!" he heard a voice call out behind him, and Aang's eyes widened, realising that he and Katara had been spotted by some soldiers.

He turned around, and raised his hands up, not having his staff at hand to use; all of the water was inside the catapult, and he didn't want to waste it, "Katara, you break the machines." he advised his friend, "I'll take care of these guys."

"You've got to be... eleven, twelve maybe." one of the soldiers scoffed, "This'll be easy." he declared with a sense of triumph, the young Avatar pursing his lips upward, knowing he was very wrong to feel victorious just yet.

When they firebent towards him, he spun his hands around, dispersing the flames, which flicked around into the tents and grass around him; they looked at him with shocked faces, and realised what element he could bend.

"That's... that's the Avatar!" one of them cried out, clearly afraid of Aang; they had a few reasons to be, and he showed them one of those reasons when he bent the air underneath them, throwing the firebenders off of their feet.

When they all landed flat on their bums, he laughed at their poor stances, and bent the air around him, funneling it into his hands; this caused the flames that had landed on the ground and on a few tents to go out as all the air moved toward his grasp, allowing him to funnel it into a powerful tool. Sending the funnel of air toward them, the firebenders were forced to raise their hands up, and conjure walls of fire to protect themselves, though it didn't help them that much, as Aang's airbending simply pushed their flames back into the tents behind them, setting the camp on fire.

Aang found himself on the defensive quickly enough, forced to keep spinning his hands to push the flames they sent in return away from him and Katara; he glanced back to see that his friend was bending water through the tundra tanks breaking their internal mechanisms audibly. He knew he needed to retrieve and use his water, but that wouldn't be possible as long as they had the firebenders attacking him. He grit his teeth, faced with no other option but to directly fight the firebenders, and do so offensively; just dispersing their flames would do him little good if it didn't knock them out or out of the way.

Keeping his breathing steady, he felt the heat around him increasing, and he knew that he had to act quickly; accidentally activating the Avatar State due to stress would be the worst possible outcome, as it would lead to needless deaths and injuries, and he would not stand for that. There wasn't any other option than for Aang to keep pushing back against the flames, channelling more and more air from behind him, which inadvertently made the flames hotter, even if they were kept at bay for a few moments. He felt something inside of him, something that he hadn't paid much attention to, but knew had to be there; Azula spoke about it like it was the most vital thing in her life- his inner fire. He knew that he had to bend, and he realised, despite knowing nothing about how to do so, that bending might have to be firebending.

He was not able to keep them at bay with his airbending, so he took a deep breath, letting the flames draw closer to him, imagining what Azula had done at Kyoshi Island, what had made him see so much awe in her element to begin with. He knew he had the innate ability to do it, and he wanted to fight back; he had to fight back, and when he let his breath out, he felt his chi connect with the flames in front of him. He made them bow to his very will, and they conducted his one desire- to leave at once.

Without delay, the flames were thrown right back at their wielders, making them cry and shout in fear as they were thrown to the ground, and Aang's eyes widened with amazement, "I just- I just firebent!"

"Wait, seriously?" Katara asked him, before seeing the result of his attack, "That's great and all, but we've got to destroy these machines." she reminded him, and Aang nodded, spinning around before he began to bend the ice he'd frozen inside the catapult; the ice was rigid, but only for so long, until his pulling led to the fractured ice being pulled right out, shattering the insides of the machine in the process, before the water became liquid once more.

Drawing the water back around him, he eyed the next catapult, and pushed the water inside, the same as he had done the first time, and immediately began to cool the water, freezing it inside of the mechanisms of the machine; before he could try and break it, Katara called on him.

"They're getting back up, Aangǃ" she warned him, the young Avatar sighing before he spun around, taking a fighting stance at once, ready to airbend them right back off their feet.

When one of them tried to firebend at him again, he ducked under the attack, before conjuring an air scooter, which he used as a kind of projectile, tossing it right toward the firebenders, who were flung back as the violently spinning ball of air whacked them like how he imagined an earthbender's boulder might. Unlike a boulder, he could move it around and disperse it as he pleased, and he did just that, returning his focus back to the catapult. He pulled on the ice inside of the catapult, slowly but surely breaking the insides of the machine as he tore the ice out, liquifying it once more before he decided to properly go on the offensive; when the firebenders tried to attack him again, they were surprised to see Aang defended by a water shield, before he split the mass of water in two, creating two water whips. He struck one of the firebenders in the chest, and tripped another over, before stepping closer, using the whips like tentacles, wrapping each of them around the legs of the enemy soldiers, before he tripped them over.

"That's the last of them, Aangǃ" Katara spoke up, before she drew out her own water, "Let's get to that cave, right now."

He turned back to face her, and nodded, agreeing that they ought to move with haste to the cave; Aang immediately threw the mass of water around that he had in his hands, whacking the remaining soldiers over, before both them rushed forward past the downed soldiers, heading right back towards the stream. He was sure that if they tried to go straight through the camp, things would end badly for them, and in the sense of the Avatar State coming out kind of bad; he would do everything in his power to avoid that outcome, and as he approached the stream, he could see a few soldiers, presumably the ones who had been standing by the bridge earlier, immediately taking form; the fact they didn't run away was clearly a mistake on their behalf, and they were quickly informed of this mistake by Katara, who bent the water from underneath the bridge, tentacles of water grabbing them and tossing them into the air, throwing them down into the river with ease. She didn't grab all the soldiers, and those ones were left for Aang to whack back with his water whips, before he threw them down to the ground by coiling the whips around their legs, like he was trying to hug the soldiers with them.

His friend grasped him by the arm, and pulled him along past the soldiers they'd just beat, before he turned his eyes behind them, and realised that they were already being chased by some Fire Nation soldiers; they were still some distance from the cave, so that was rather worrying, but he tried to just focus on the path ahead of them, knowing they had to get up into the forest, and after that, make their way to the meeting spot. If they were slow, the Fire Nation soldiers would get there before them, and they'd be unable to escape, at least on foot. They'd need to call on Appa, which he knew was an option, but it would be quite dangerous for his sky-bison to come down when there was so many firebenders who might turn their attacks to him instead.

He sprinted as fast as he could toward the edge of the woods, reaching out to the river to get himself some more water to bend; he pulled a mass of the cool liquid from the stream, and pulled it around Katara and himself, creating a shield which blocked the expected fireballs and fire streams sent their way. He decided to give themselves some more time by thrusting the massive water shield forward, and freezing it solid, creating a wall of ice between them and their pursuers. His friend nodded at him, approving of his idea, before she grabbed some more water from the stream, probably thinking they might need it before they properly escaped.

Making their way up the hill, Aang could hear fire blasts striking their ice wall as the firebenders continued their pursuit; he was sure it would give them a little extra time, and just focused on moving as fast as he could without leaving his friend behind. He knew the firebenders were on their tail, and he could already hear fighting up ahead of them, probably from Chey and his fighters holding off the Fire Nation soldiers that would inevitably be tailing them. He readied the water he had left with him, knowing it might be useful, coiling it around his torso as he eyed around the trees, trying to figure out exactly where the soldiers were. An Air Nomad at heart, he was going to do everything he could to avoid them, but if the others were being attacked, then he was obliged to assist them.

"Get them!" he heard one of the soldiers shout out, the young Avatar ducking under a fire stream that came his way, before he turned around, throwing the water he had coiled around him out in the form of a water whip; the whip was struck by a fireball, and steam spurted out, momentarily creating some mist between him and their pursuers.

He didn't relent to keep running, noticing that he could see some of their allies, who were struggling to keep off the firebenders pursuing them, given they had only spears to defend themselves. Katara reached them quicker than he did, and threw a stream of water into the enemy soldiers, throwing them into the air, and two of them smacked into tree trunks, while another skid across the ground, Aang wincing upon imagining how much that must have hurt. He then moved to beat back the other soldiers who were still moving after the with a blast of wind; it wasn't going to hold them off for long, but he didn't need it to. He looked at their allies, and glanced around, realising Chey was missing; he glanced back in the direction of the camp, and wondered where exactly he'd gone.

"Where's Chey?" Katara asked their allies, who gestured the way Aang was looking.

"Oh no..." he mumbled, before pointing the way they ought to be heading, "Go to the caves. I'll get Chey." he assured them, his friend stepping closer, seeming worried about his decision.

"Aang, you might be in danger." she noted, the young Avatar shrugging his shoulders before he gave her the water he had been bending.

"Protect these guys." he simply told her, "I know what to do."

He reached to the ground beside him, airbending the spear of one of the soldiers Katara had knocked out, before he grasped it, spun it around, and snapped the head of the weapon off, "Go!" he shooed off the others, who began to run back toward the cave.

He turned around, and began to sprint in the opposite direction to the others, knowing he needed to help Chey; he wasn't going to get himself captured while Aang could still help. The young Avatar moved back towards the cliff they had been spotting at earlier, and noted there was a few injured Fire Nation soldiers, trying to get away from something; he realised it was probably the explosive-wielding deserter, and he decided to ignore the injured soldiers, dashing past them as he moved in the direction he guessed Chey would be. When he reached the edge of the campsite once more, he could see the deserter, who was using one of the soldier's swords to defend himself against a spear-wielding soldier, Aang noting how the other soldiers were far more concerned about preventing their campsite from being burnt down. He spun his makeshift staff around, sending an air blast into the soldier Chey had been fighting; he turned to face Aang, and made a relieved face.

"Oh, you're here. Did everyone get away?" he asked, the young Avatar nodding.

"Tes, so let's get out of here." he acknowledged, looking over the burning camp; he didn't regret what they had done, knowing what the soldiers were likely going to do if they didn't stop them, "We've done enough."

"That we have." he agreed before he began to limp on toward Aang, "I hurt my leg." he added, the Air Nomad boy readying his staff.

"I'll stay behind you. Just keep walking." he advised, before spinning his staff around again, creating a vortex which he sent off at the few soldiers who still thought they could take him on.

They were thrown off their feet, and Aang continued to step backwards, keeping his eyes focused on the men who he thought might still try to fight him; another fire stream came his way, and he dispersed it by spinning his staff around. He wondered whether he ought to try and firebend again, and decided it was a bad idea; he had only done so earlier out of pure necessity, rather than because he was truly able to firebend. He guessed that if put in a suitable situation, he could probably earthbend too, but that hadn't happened yet, and he would prefer to avoid nearly getting crushed, seeing as that was likely the context where he'd be forced to earthbend.

He had to airbend once more when another few soldiers charged at him, simultaneously throwing fire streams his way; he ducked under their attacks, before funnelling the air from behind him along his staff, right into his opponents' legs, tripping them all over. Aang didn't waste any more time, and paced on right after Chey, who had already moved on ahead. He realised that his ally was in danger when he spotted a few more soldiers, presumably those that he and Katara had already beaten, coming around to fight him. The deserter was forced to cower behind a tree, and the young Avatar charged in to his aid, kicking his right leg out to create a powerful gust of wind which threw soldiers away to either side of the attack, offering them a direct path to take toward the cave.

"Smart move." Chey complimented his efforts, before pacing on after him, the two of them ducking under more fireballs thrown their way; Aang spun around, and created another vortex with his makeshift staff, dispersing the attacks, and momentarily forcing their attackers back.

He and the deserter proceeded to run as fast as they could through the woods, heading right in the direction of their target, a small cave which opened out of the hillside ahead of them. He could see Katara standing by the entrance of the cave, clearly relieved to see them, and Chey gestured for her to get inside the cave.

"Get the charges ready!" he called on her, "They're coming!"

The young Avatar sighed with relief once he reached the entrance of the cave, noting the long cord that was ready for the explosives-expert to set off; his friend grasped him by the shoulder, and led him into the dark cave, which was suddenly lit up by the light of the cord being sparked.

"Cover your ears!" Chey warned them, and Aang complied covering his ears with his hands, watching as the spark moved down the cord to the entrance of the cave; a moment later, dust and smoke spurt out from the cave walls as the ground shook beneath him.

Quickly enough, the entrance crumbled apart, and boulders fell down, blocking anyone from following them, unless they had more explosives or an earthbender; he doubted there'd be any of those in the Fire Nation Army, especially working for Ozai's loyalists. He turned to face Katara, who he couldn't see anymore, and wondered how long they'd have to walk to get out the other end of the cave. A few moments later, a torch was sparked alight by Chey, and his men did the same, holding the torches amongst themselves to light up the cave, Aang noticing how long it went back, with no light in sight; he guessed that it being nighttime didn't help, but the leader seemed sure that they'd get out alright.

"Follow me." he told them, "There's a stream this way that will lead us back toward our campsite."

Aang felt his gut, and grimaced slightly, "I'm hungry." he noted, before turning to face Katara, "I hope those rations we stole are decent."

"I mean... Fire Nation food is edible, but didn't Azula say rations were bad?" she asked him, the young Avatar cringing at the thought of having to eat bad Fire Nation food- he didn't really like it to begin with, so that just made it a whole lot worse.

"They are." Chey admitted, "But it's better than going hungry."

The young Avatar sighed, not looking forward to eating that, or rice crackers, which had to be the blandest food around, "Well, at least we got it done."

"Thanks for the help. Waterbending's really useful against machines running on hydraulics." he noted, "Maybe you'll be able to use those tactics against whoever you fight next."

"Eh..." Aang mumbled, before remembering what Azula wanted to do, "The Dai Li run everything on earthbending, I'd guess."

"The Dai Li?" one of the fighters looked at him with a surprised face, "Why would you fight those people?"

"Because they're bad people."

"I mean, why else would we be here fighting those guys." Katara piped up, before patting Aang on the shoulder, "Even if Azula isn't right about everything, I'm sure she's right about those guys- the Dai Li have to go down."

"Bad guys are bad guys." Aang noted, "No matter if they're Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom."

Chey nodded at his proposition, "Well, I hope you count me amongst the good guys... despite what happened with the Princess a few months back."

"I don't hold it against you personally." the Water Tribe girl admitted, before she firmly clasped a hand on his shoulder, "But if I hear about the Order of the White Lotus trying to capture Azula again, then I'm going to have something against you."

"I don't know if I'd be able to persuade Master Jeong Jeong against such a course of action." he acknowledged, "I know that the Princess must have changed if she's allies with the Avatar, but I don't know if everybody else has realised that." he added, the Water Tribe girl grimacing as she turned her eyes back toward Aang.

"For better or for worse, everyone sees Azula as the powerful firebender who tried to kill her brother for the throne."

* * *

Ty Lee would admit that she thought that shoplifting to draw the attention of Shengchang's guards had to be one of Azula's more mundane plans as of late, but she preferred it to something absurd; straightforward and simple was how she liked it, even if she did enjoy a little mystery from time to time. The market was full of people, which actually had her concerned that they mightn't even get spotted shoplifting; Ty Lee felt like her pride might be tarnished if she stuffed it up on purpose. She mightn't have held the same regard to her skills as the Princess did, but she certainly wanted to do everything to the best of her ability.

On the other hand, Sokka didn't seem like he was very enthused to purposefully steal from people, but he went along with it anyway. As long as her commands weren't putting them all in serious danger, the Water Tribesman seemed to be rather compliant with his girlfriend's wishes. Ty Lee was honestly unsure whether that was a good thing, given that with all the responsibility coming her way, Azula could use some critical voices, and she was not well-versed enough with politics and the military to make the same kinds of judgements her boyfriend could.

The Water Tribesman was eyeing around, probably still deciding on what exactly to steal; she decided to inquire leaning over his shoulder as he was looking at a stall selling steel canisters for liquids, "Whatcha looking for?" she asked him, Sokka flinching slightly, not expecting her so close to his head.

"Argh, I was already stuck on the komodo rhino with you. The very least you could do is just give me the smallest bit of space." he gestured to indicate the gap he wanted between them.

She shrugged her shoulders, and tilted her head toward the stall, "Well, are you getting a canister?"

"Eh, seems useful." he commented, "But I already have a waterskin."

"Maybe you could get a new weapon. You like weapons, right?" she asked rhetorically, the Water Tribe warrior giving her a resolute nod before he tapped his belt, which was hidden under his cloak, covering his soldier's armour, which she would admit looked rather unusual on a Water Tribesman of all people.

"I'd need to know how to use it, or have to learn how to. That's just more time that I could be spending mastering chi-blocking."

"Oh, so you want to one-up me, is that it?" she scoffed, Sokka shaking his head.

"No, I just know I'll need it with where we're going."

"The-" she began, before cutting herself off, knowing she shouldn't mention the group they intended to target once they had gathered enough resources to do so- the Dai Li, "Yeah, chi-blocking might help there."

"It will." he agreed with her, before glancing around the market, "Let's just find something useful to buy. I don't want something that's useless to me."

"I don't either." she nodded, before pacing off to her left, deciding to look at the next stall over.

She eyed the stall, noting that they were selling fresh vegetables and a variety of herbs, what she guessed might go with somebody's dinner or lunch; she was pretty certain Sokka wasn't going to steal herbs, so she decided to turn around and look at the stall on the opposite side of the street. She noted a stall selling what looked like bags, sacks and cloaks, all of them made from fabric; Ty Lee wasn't sure they needed any bags, so she decided to look at the next stall across. She could see a stall selling what looked like meat skewers, and guessed that he might like some of those; they would be a stupid thing to steal, but rather smart to buy. They didn't have much coins on them, however, so she decided that she wasn't going to suggest that, given it just distracted them from their actual goal.

"Ty Lee." she heard him address her, the Fire Nation girl turning around to eye him, noting that he was gesturing down through the market toward another stall, "I think I found something."

She followed after him, watching as he approached another stall, this one selling what looked like hooks; perhaps they were for fishing, but she couldn't be sure. She leaned over toward the Water Tribesman, who was eyeing them intently.

"Uh, so, Sokka, what do you want these for?"

"I have a feeling they might come of use." he simply told her, the acrobat snickering at the thought of him taking Azula fishing, perhaps for sentimentality's sake.

"Oh, are you planning on fishing?" she quipped, the Water Tribe warrior rolling his eyes.

"No, no, not for fishing." he clarified, "For... other things." he explained, spinning his finger around, before he pointed up towards the eaves of a nearby roof.

Her eyes widened as she realised what he was trying to say without specifically uttering it; the hooks could be tied to ropes and used to help them climb onto roofs, which would be useful when having to run away; she guessed they could also be used to grab people by the leg, in the case they had to capture somebody.

"So do you want to use it right now?" she asked, the Water Tribesman shaking his head.

"I wouldn't dare piss her off by disobeying her orders. We'll just have to go meet Kori and Sneers at the sewers." he sighed, obviously not happy about that specific outcome; she too would have preferred avoiding the sewers, but guessed that what he wanted to steal might help in future with avoiding such situations.

"So... are we going to do it?" she asked him, tapping the Water Tribesman in the shoulder.

"I need to grab one." he explained rather simply, before smirking, "Let's have an argument and a little fight, how about that?" he whispered to her.

Ty Lee wondered what they might argue about to incite violence, but she decided to skip the first step, throwing her hand into his face, slapping his right cheek, and hard at that; it got the attention of people around him, and she stepped closer, narrowing her eyes at him sharply.

"You're an idiot, you know that." she imitated what she would imagine Azula to say to him, "You drag me out here... for what? I said we had to get dinner, and now you're just wasting my time." she growled at him, hoping that her fake anger was convincing enough; he raised his hands up, looking as annoyed as he could be from being randomly slapped.

"This is your fault!" he decried her, "You said you wanted to have dinner, but you can't decide what you like." he retorted, the acrobat grappling his cloak to pull him closer.

"I know what I want, you moron, I want some damn roast komodo rhino." she declared, pointing down the street, "So, let's stop standing around, and go get it."

He scoffed at her words, "Yeah, and where are we going to get it?" he retorted, before she snarled at him; momentarily, he made a small smile, telling her that he approved of what she was about to do.

So, without further ado, she pushed him back, ramming Sokka right into the stall, hitting the owner over as he fell over the bench, "Argh!" he cried out, and the stall-owner didn't seem to approve of the situation very much.

"Take your disputes someplace else!" he chided them, dusting himself off as he got back up to his feet.

"I'll be taking these someplace else." the Water Tribesman clarified, the stall-owner looking down at him with a confused face.

She couldn't see him pick up the hooks that he wanted to steal, but she did see him punch the stall-owner in the face, before he jumped over the bench, tossing a hook to Ty Lee, who immediately dashed off away from the stall, knowing the guards would be on them at once, given the scene they'd just made. She ran as fast as she could, weaving around market-goers as she made her way back in the direction they'd came from; Kori and Sneers were waiting at the meeting spot, which would allow them to disappear underground, but the issue was, they needed to reach them without the guards catching them, but gaining enough of a chase that they would be distracted from the cart of weapons Azula and her guards were taking out of the city.

She glanced back over toward Sokka, who was dashing behind her, and quickly enough, she heard the expected shout of, "You two! Stop!" she heard a guard call them out, Ty Lee turning around to smirk at him.

"Well, just try and stop us! I bet you can't!" she prodded him, before she began to run down the street once more, reaching the end of the market, where she turned right; she knew she could go straight for Kori and Sneers, but she'd prefer to get a few more guards on their trail before they escaped.

The two of them made their way down a side street, and she saw three guards chasing them from behind which still wasn't enough; she turned back to face the Water Tribesman, and tied the hook she had been given to her waistband.

"Chi-blocking time?" she asked, the warrior shrugging his shoulders.

"Might as well." he decided, before turning around, taking a fighting stance as the guards ran toward them; they were armed with pikes, though Ty Lee assumed they would use them like batons against two seemingly unarmed teenagers.

"Put your hands up!" she heard one of them demand, "And hand over the stolen goods." he directed them, the two teens glancing at each other, before both of them began to laugh; they hadn't even tried to attack them yet, though when they did, they were in for a surprise.

"What's so funny?" one of the guards quipped in return, approaching them with a cautious glare, "Put your hands up!"

"You see I'm unarmed, right?" Ty Lee gestured to her body, "Other than the hook. But I'm not going to try and use that." she assured him, the guards looking at each other with confusion.

"For spirits sake." one of them snarled, stepping closer to grab her by the right arm; once he grabbed her arm, she immediately pushed herself closer to him, and jabbed him in the gut, making sure his legs wouldn't work.

He stumbled down to the ground, slowly, and with an aghast, confused look on his face, "Wh-what... what is this?" he asked, before Ty Lee raised her right foot up, jabbing him in the shoulders with her toe tips, quickly chi-blocking his arms as well.

Before the other guards could react, Sokka leapt at them, jabbing one in the arms, paralysing them, before he used him as a shield against the other guard, who was trying his best to knock him out with the staff of his pike. He threw the partially paralysed guard into his comrade, disorienting them both, which allowed Ty Lee to quickly chi-block up the former's back, before jabbing the latter in his gut, making his legs go limp. Once he fell down onto his knees, and then face first into the gravel, he groaned with pain, and looked up at her, confused by what had just happened.

"These aren't just pickpockets." he mumbled, making her snicker, before pacing past Sokka, patting him on the shoulder.

"Let's go, hotshot." she told him, making the Water Tribesman roll his eyes, before he ran after her; the two of them got away from the downed guards as quickly as they could, the acrobat sure they'd be getting more attention soon enough.

When they reached another corner, they turned down it, leading them down an alleyway, and she stopped once they were a fair bit of the way down it; Sokka took a deep breath, and glanced back the other way.

"So, how many people are we going to beat up?" he asked, the acrobat shrugging her shoulders.

"You're the tactician. You figure it out." she suggested, making him sigh.

"Doing all the work." he mumbled under his breath, before gesturing to their left, "Let's just loop around a little before we go to Kori and Sneers." he decided, "And try to make sure we don't get actually caught." he suggested, "I don't want to have to climb up onto the rooftops."

"But that'd be fun." she countered, the Water Tribesman looking at her with a blank, slightly disgruntled face.

"Shut up." he simply told her, in a very snappy, Azula-ish fashion, before pacing on down the alleyway, "Let's keep moving."

She followed on after him, knowing that they had to keep their speed up; getting cornered by a bunch of guards would be dangerous, and she assumed that was what Sokka was so worried about. When they reached the next main street, she glanced up its breadth, and realised there were more guards looking their way; they pointed towards them.

"The thieves!" one of them called them out, "Get them!"

There were five guards, and the two closest ones began to run hastily toward the pair, who in turn began running down the street; it would be safer for them both if they dealt with as few guards as possible at any given time, though she was cautious about the fact there could be others coming from other directions to catch them. When they reached a small plot of empty land, where a lot of people had decided to put their trash, Sokka decided to run through it, probably hoping to slow the gaurds down. She whistled at them, wanting to make sure they kept chase, which they did.

She vaulted over a low brick wall into the undeveloped lot, pacing around the puddles that were dispersed around its centre, slowing herself a little to make sure the two fastest guards got to her before she could leave the plot. When they thought they had got her, she skid to a halt, reaching her right hand out, jabbing one of them in his dominant arm, forcing him to drop his pike as it was paralysed, before she pushed him into his comrade, who fell down into one of the puddles. The guard tried to hit her with his fist, but she was able to block his hit with her forearm, before she jabbed him in the gut, paralysing him and forcing him to fall down flat on his face, which to his luck, wasn't into a puddle.

"Come on, let's keep moving!" Sokka prodded her, and she accepted his request, moving on after him, vaulting over the next wall that led her back out onto a street; the other guards, including the one she knocked into the puddle, were still a bit behind, giving them some breathing room to continue their little chase.

The pair made their way down the street, where she could see a few more guards, and she realised that they had looped back toward the market, which wasn't a good thing; they immediately approached the pair with their spears in hand, and Sokka tapped her on the shoulder, gesturing to an alley to their left.

"What if it's a dead-end?" she asked him, the Water Tribesman shrugging his shoulders.

"These guys aren't that hard to beat, Ty Lee." he assured her, before running into the alleyway; she followed after, unsure whether they'd be able to get out other than by climbing up onto the roofs of the factories that were on either side of the alley.

When Sokka reached the seeming end of the alleyway, he glanced up toward the windows of the factory, "Do you think I could lift you up, and you could open the window?" he asked her, the acrobat glancing back to see the guards by the end of the alleyway.

She immediately leapt up onto the Water Tribesman's hands which he held at the right height for her to push herself up to the windows. She was able to whack the lock of one, though it didn't open, and she realised she'd need another plan of attack; she reached her left hand down, and pulled the hook she had stolen off of her belt, using it to hit the lock, forcing the window open. She pulled it up, allowing herself to climb inside, realising that she was on a factory floor, where she could see an assembly line, as well as various pieces of processed and raw goods. She turned around to face the window, unsure if Sokka could pull himself up. To her surprise, she heard a grunt outside, and saw his hands on the windowsill, before he leapt on inside.

He ended up face planting on the floor, and she cringed at the sight, glancing back to the window, realising that the guards were unable to get inside, "How'd you... get in?"

"Off some idiots shoulders." he explained, one of the guards shouting at them.

"I heard that!" he warned them, "Somebody get around and get the exits of that place covered."

Sokka pulled himself off of the ground, and dusted himself off, "Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be." he acknowledged, before pointing to what looked like a way out of the factory, "Let's get out before they swarm us from every side."

She nodded, before glancing around the factory floor, trying to find any way out of the building that might allow them to not have to fight, and thus, force the chase on even longer.

"Or maybe, we should let them run in while thinking we're still inside." she suggested with a whisper, making the Water Tribesman raise a brow.

"Okay." he mumbled, "What's your plan?"

"See that other window up there?" she asked him, pointing up to a window that was accessible by some elevated walkways above the assembly line, "We can get out without them even seeing us."

"Good idea." he nodded, before dashing toward the ladder that would lead them up to the walkway; he began to scale the ladder at once, and she moved on behind him, doing the same; she could hear shouts and footsteps outside, and was certain they had to be fast, lest the guards find them and figure out where they were going to exit from.

When she reached the top of the ladder, she sighed with relief, pacing on after Sokka, who was already moving toward the window; she glanced down below them, and was relieved to see that there was nobody inside yet, before she watched as the Water Tribesman jammed the window open with his own hook. He pushed it out, allowing for him to put his legs through, before climbing out onto the roof below; she followed, stepping open, and glanced about the rooftop, noting that it was a short slope, looking out over another street. She glanced toward the walls of Shengchang, reorienting herself, knowing that they had to head away from them to get back to their meeting spot with Kori and Sneers.

"Well, are we going to jump?" she asked Sokka, who raised a finger, hushing her for a moment; she could hear the guards pushing the doors open below them, and she immediately closed the window, making sure to mask evidence of their departure.

"Now." he told her, before pacing down the slope, leaping down onto the street below; he grunted, sounding like he had hurt his legs from the fall, but he got up, seeming just fine.

Ty Lee, being the skilled acrobat she was, was able to jump straight off of the roof and land on her feet with no problem; she snickered at his pained expression, before he pointed a finger at her.

"Shut up." he snapped at her, before sprinting forwards, obviously not wanting to waste any more time.

She ran on after him, glancing around the streets to check for guards as they ran through a crossroads, before heading to the right, down a reasonably wide street, heading back toward the meeting spot.

"They're here!" she heard a guard call out behind them, and realised that some of the people they were running from had gone another way, thus, avoiding their trick at the factory.

They gave chase, and the pair did not slow down, moving down the street, which Sokka seemed to be counting, probably trying to recall exactly where they'd be meeting Kori and Sneers. He suddenly came to a halt, and pointed down the alleyway to their left, she glanced up, and realised she recognised the roof of the warehouse they had been at earlier in the distance.

"This is it." he explained, before turning around, "We just need to get rid of these guys first." he clarified, Ty Lee smirking as she turned around, taking a fighting stance.

"It'd be my pleasure." she assured him, "I like a little dancing."

"This isn't dancing." he assured her, before taking his own stance beside her, "Do you have to make everything fun?"

"Well, it is fun." she stressed, the Water Tribe warrior rolling his eyes, before he looked ahead of them.

"I mean... it's kinda fun, if only to see their faces afterwards." he noted, before he began to stride forward, the guards still charging right at them with their pikes in hand.

"Put your hands up, thief!" one of them demanded, the Water Tribesman unfazed by his words.

"Uh, and why would I do that?" he retorted, before weaving under the first pike that was swung toward him, aimed to strike him in the side of the head and knock him unconscious.

A pike came toward Ty Lee as well, aimed like a pole sideways, poised to whack her in the chin and knock her out cold; being faster than her opponent, she just ducked under the attack, before grasping her enemy's weapon, making him look at her with confusion. Before he could try and wrestle his pike free, she used his tense arms as a counterweight to her entire lower body swinging up, kicking him in the thighs with her toe tips, which immediately paralysed them. He fell forward, and she landed back on her feet, grabbing the pike he had been using, deciding to use it to defend herself from the next weapon aimed her way.

The guard tried his best to disarm her, but she spun the weapon around, using a kind of trick she'd seen Aang do, before she whcked him in the head with the blunt end of the pike. Momentarily disoriented, she took advantage of the situation by jabbing him in the gut, paralysing his legs, before she jabbed his right forearm, forcing him to drop his pike. Unable to continue standing, he fell down flat on her face, and the next guard who came at her seemed to second-guess whether it was a good idea.

"What's that, you're scared?" she heard Sokka quip to his opponent, before sidestepping him, and jabbing his back, forcing him down to his knees.

Ty Lee turned her attention back to the guard who was yet to hit her, and she gestured with her right hand, prodding him to attack, "Come on, I thought this was a fight, not you standing there checking me out." she mocked her opponent, who was confused by her words, allowing her to rush forward, tossing the pike right at him.

He was forced to pick it up, and now with two unwieldy weapons in hand, found it rather hard to block her jabs toward his extremities, getting both his arms in quick succession, before she weaved around him trying to jump on and restrain her. She knew that was a dumb idea, as she could just continue to move out of the way of his attacks. Suddenly, another guard rushed at her, aiming to whack her in the head, so she immediately ducked, and instead of her head being hit, the guard she'd just moved around was struck by the pike's shaft, and fell down to the ground unconscious.

"Oh shit, sorry man!" he apologised, before trying once more to whack Ty Lee, who grabbed the shaft of his pike.

"That's just clumsy of you. How'd you get hired as a guard anyway?" she quipped, before jabbing him in the gut, paralysing his legs; he stumbled down to his knees, trying once more to hit her with the shaft of his weapon, but he failed, Ty Lee simply stepping back and out of the way.

The guard he'd hit in the head was trying to get back up, but before he could, Sokka jabbed him square in his nape, weakening all of his limbs; it wasn't the best spot to try and paralyse one's limbs, so he made a few more hits on his legs and arms, before he slumped down onto the ground, unable to do anything else.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be." he acknowledged, before smirking, "Chi-blocking is the best, isn't it ?"

"It is." she agreed with his sentiment, before she approached the alleyway, "Let's get out of here, Sokka."

He nodded, agreeing with her idea, and paced on after her as she made her way down the alleyway; she walked past some commoners, who were completely unaware of what was going on, and she smiled at them, just wanting to be polite.

"Good evening." one of them, a young woman, addressed her, and she responded in turn.

"Hi." she simply raised a hand, before gesturing for her friend to hurry up.

He did, and they made their way down toward the warehouse, where she could see Kori and Sneers idly waiting; the couple approached them, glancing behind the pair as they were probably quite reasonably concerned about the guards coming for them.

"Okay, did you lose the guards?" Sneers asked her, Ty Lee nodding in confirmation.

"For the moment." she assured him, before gesturing down in front of them, "We should get underground right now." she stressed, knowing that the quicker they got back down into the sewers, the sooner they'd be back, meeting up with Azula, with their new cart of weapons in tow.

"Yeah, I agree." Sokka added as he approached, "They're going to come around soon enough, at least those guys from the factory."

"Oh, did you trick them?" Kori asked, sounding amused by the idea, the Water Tribesman smirking as he raised a finger.

"Yes, we did." he confirmed, "And it was Ty Lee's idea." he added, giving her credit where it was due, "But, uh, yeah, let's get down into the shit-hole... literally."

The earthbender grimaced for a moment, before she stamped her foot down, a hole appearing in the ground, opening up the sewer once more, before she moved her left hand around, creating the indentations they'd need to climb down; she gestured for them to climb in, the Water Tribesman doing so first, even if he clearly didn't want to go into the sewers. He obviously preferred it to a longer, and more frustrating chase with Shengchang's guards. Once he reached the bottom of the hole, he gestured for Ty Lee to come down; she approached the hole, before turning her eyes to Kori and Sneers, wondering if they were going to come along.

"Are you two staying?"

"We've got our things with us already." Kori acknowledged, "This is where we part ways."

"Good luck." she heard Sokka call up to them, "I hope we see you guys again. You've helped us a lot."

"If we need your help, we'll come back to the base, don't worry." Sneers assured him, Ty Lee turning to face the couple.

"It was nice meeting you two." she simply gave them the pleasantry they deserved, given they were kind people who she did genuinely find to be good company, "The meteor hammer is really cool, by the way." she added, the earthbender smirking at her compliment as she climbed down the hole, "We should spar next time we meet." she suggested, Kori pursing her lips upward as she motioned her hands over the hole.

"We'll see." she simply told her, before closing it shut; Ty Lee realised immediately that she and Sokka were in the dark, and even more dark than it already was on the streets of Shengchang to begin with.

"This place is terrible." he grumbled, before he began to pace along, the acrobat following after his footsteps.

"Don't worry, you'll get to see Azula soon enough."

"She won't want to touch me when I stink after this." he retorted, Ty Lee grimacing as she imagined what they might smell like.

"Well, maybe she should find some place to clean up afterwards."

"I can't be bothered. I just want to sleep once we get out of this damn city." he told her, the exhaustion in his voice audible.

"At least we got those hooks." she reminded him, tapping on the metal hook she had tied to her waistband, "These might come in handy."

"Well, if any walls need scaling, we'll be ready." he acknowledged, though he didn't sound enthusiastic in the slightest.

"No need to be so-" she began, before shaking her head, knowing that the stench of shit all around them was a good enough and clearly understandable reason for Sokka to be in a bad mood, "Okay... fair enough." she conceded, before glancing up ahead, looking toward the dim light that signalled the end of the sewer; it was still some distance away, but she kept pace, trying to keep her feet space apart to avoid walking through the flow of wastewater going down toward the stream.

"This better be worth whatever weapons that Mister Takumi has got for Azula." her friend spoke up, "If it's just a cart full of armour and a few swords, I'm going to be annoyed."

"The Fire Nation has a lot of weapons, Sokka." she warned him, "I even had to memorise the weapons soldiers used at school... it was pretty weird, in hindsight."

"It's not like you were expected to go join the army, right?" he asked her, Ty Lee unsure whether he was looking at her as he spoke, given the darkness.

"Well, no, not really. I'm a noblewoman. Women do join the domestic forces, but it's not a fun job, supposedly."

"What, so, are they just soldiers who watch out for and handle petty crime?" he asked, the acrobat making a positive mumble, given he couldn't see her nod.

"Essentially." she confirmed, "Not that I know anyone in the army... I've just heard about it."

He didn't respond to her comments, and continued pacing ahead down the sewer; she followed after his footsteps, and kept her focus on the light emanating from the end of the tunnel. She could hear the water trickling underneath her feet, but tried not to think about where she was; imagining it as a cave instead of a sewer helped a little, but she couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hand, hoping to block out the smell. When they approached the end of the tunnel, she let out a sigh of relief, and Sokka did as well, increasing his pace as he got toward the exit, running out into the dry streambed.

"Thank the spirits that's over." he proclaimed, before looking down to the barely flowing water below him, "I can't wash myself with this." he realised, before shaking his head, "Ty Lee, hurry up. We need to get back to the others."

She paced on out of the tunnel, and glanced back, glad that she was out, and hoped that she wouldn't ever have to go back inside. Making her way after Sokka, she glanced up around the banks of river, realising it was getting very dark; she found it hard to see without the benefit of street lights guiding their path, and since neither of them could firebend, they would just have to hope they could find Azula and the others by following the path back, as they remembered, to the komodo rhinos, which were tied up by the edge of the woods, past the farms that surrounded the city's outskirts.

The stream did provide them with a good amount of cover, given the trees growing around it, as well as the fact nobody would in their right mind be walking down in a streambed after dark; that was unless they were sneaking about, which they were. Keeping the guards off of their trail wouldn't be hard, assuming they didn't go and look down in such an odd place as a streambed.

"So, are you looking forward to getting out of this city already?" she asked Sokka, who glanced back her way, his expression seeming indifferent.

"I just want to sleep somewhere where I don't have to worry about some guards coming to arrest us." he simply told her, not lessening his pace.

"We could probably beat them anyway." she suggested, the Water Tribe warrior shaking his head.

"That's beside the point. Avoiding unnecessary fights is our aim; we don't need another Yu Dao."

"U-uh... yeah." she nodded, awkwardly looking down as she recalled the story she'd been told; Azula seemed to regret what she had done, mostly because she saw it as foolish, while Sokka seemed to fear a recurrence of that day's events, "Are you afraid of Zuko?"

"No, I'm afraid of Azula doing something she'll regret... again." he stressed, sounding rather nervous thinking about such a scenario, "Zuko's the least of our worries. For the meantime, we're letting him play Fire Lord."

"I mean... he isn't really playing Fire Lord. He is the Fire Lord." she acknowledged, "I know we think Azula should be Fire Lord, but that's kind of beside the point. She's only got one army, and he's got the rest."

"And she could have demanded Aang take her to the Fire Nation Capital as soon as we met him, and she could have fought her brother. Something tells me she wouldn't have fallen for the same trick twice, and then she would have been Fire Lord. Have you wondered why she didn't do that?"

"Because she would have lost?" she asked, the Water Tribesman sighing.

"No." he disagreed, "She doesn't want to just become Fire Lord. She needs the respect of her people; there's no point going to overthrow her brother if everyone thinks she'll be a tyrant."

"The people here seem to disagree she'd be a tyrant." Ty Lee observed, Sokka glancing off into the distance as they continued to pace along the streambed.

"They have their own reasons for supporting her. They know she wants the support of the colonies and give them the assurances of peace that Zuko won't." he simply put it, "Just like how my dad will promise the other villages that he'll destroy the Southern Raiders so he can have their support for his leadership. That's leadership. Tyranny is when you don't care about anything other than ensuring absolute loyalty and power." he explained, before raising his hand up to his head, tapping it, "Does that ring any bells?"

"Ozai was a tyrant." she noted, before narrowing her eyes, "I guess people would think she'd be like him."

"They have a good reason. She was his golden child, the perfect heir. I'm pretty sure everybody in the Fire Nation who knew anything about their Fire Lord wouldn't exactly be looking for to her reign." he explaind something she had already known, though she thought it was pretty stupid to think of Azula as she used to be, given how much she'd changed and all she'd already done that was indicative of her different view of rulership.

"But she's different now."

"Exactly. She is different, but they've got to understand that before Azula can become their ruler." he explained, before glancing back toward the city, "I wonder how much we'll have to do for them to realise."

"Show off Aang?" Ty Lee suggested, "He's the Avatar, after all. If everybody knows they're working together, they'll know she's a good leader, because... well, the Avatar's a good leader."

"Not everybody likes the Avatar in the Fire Nation, right?" he asked in return, the acrobat grimacing; she was told the Avatar was the greatest threat to their nation, and could see why people might think Aang was out to topple the Fire Nation- he obviously wasn't, but their fears probably would have more effect than his intentions.

"Yeah." she mumbled, feeling a little disappointed by that fact; she wished everyone knew him like she did, because if they did, they wouldn't fear him, or think he was just there to help the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom.

She glanced up ahead of them, noting how the stream was curving, and could see the trees on the hills further ahead, ever so slightly distinguished from the dark sky above them. She wondered how everything had gone with Azula and her guards; she trusted the Princess to protect the cart of weapons, but she was unsure how safe it was to travel on the main roads. There had to be a fair few guards around the city, and not all of them would have been drawn by her and Sokka's distraction. Suddenly, she heard a whistle, and glanced around, unsure where it had come from; she saw a small fire light up ahead of them, on the edge of the riverbank; she realised that it was one of Azula's guards once she took note of the man's frame and thick cloak.

"Come on you two. Everyone else is waiting up at the meeting spot." he called on them, the pair pacing up to the river bank, which they walked up with haste; the guard gestured up the road they were standing beside, up back toward the reeline, where she knew there komodo rhinos were waiting.

"So, did the cart get away alright?" Sokka asked, the guard nodding.

"Yeah, there was no issue. All the guards around that part of the city were drawn in by your thievery." he explained, before raising a brow, "What did you steal, anyway?"

"Just some hooks. In case we need to climb into some place in future." the Water Tribe teen explained, the guard nodding before he began to pace back toward the road.

"Well, sounds useful, but we've got to go. The Princess is going to be furious if we don't get ready to camp soon." he explained, Sokka glancing toward Ty Lee with a slightly relieved look.

"Well, at least she's got the same priorities as me."

"Of course she does. You're telepathically connected." the acrobat joked, making motions with her fingers at the sides of her head.

"No, no, I'd prefer to think I just know her so well that I imitate how she would act." he suggested, making her snicker.

"So, is that what relationships are really like?"

"I can't be sure." he acknowledged, before nervously eyeing the guard; Ty Lee realised her mistake a little too late.

"Sorry, Sokka." she mumbled, the Water Tribesman shaking his head.

"No, no, it's fine. She said this is normal for you. Can't filter your thoughts." he noted, making her chuckle.

"Well, I just say things as they come to me. I'm not dumb, so I don't say dumb things." she argued, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"Dumb and foolish are two different things. A lack of intelligence and a lack of foresight." he warned her, the acrobat narrowing her eyes at him.

"Now you really sound like Azula. Chiding me like I'm at school or something." she lamented, really wishing she could leave that part of her life behind her; she wanted to be an adult, and her friend's near-parenting of her didn't help in that regard- it was both annoying and endearing, one more than the other depending on her mood.

"What, so you don't like be treated like Aang?" he asked rather plainly, making her snicker.

"Uh, yeah, that's about right." she agreed with his phrasing of the matter; she glanced up ahead of them, noting that the road was leading them right up toward the edge of the woods, where she was sure Azula would be waiting for them.

She couldn't see the cart yet, nor could she see any flames that would be indicative of the party of guards moving around through the woods; as they continued up the road, she squinted, and realised that she could see the cart of weapons, sitting near the top of the slope, where some men were standing, presumably those who were driving the cart. The only reason she could tell that it was their cart rather than any other was because of the tarp draped over the carts contents, which was a rather uncommon thing for open-air carts, at least when the weather didn't require it.

"Well, there it is." Sokka pointed out the cart, "Where are Azula and the guards, though?" he asked, the guard beside them pointing to the woods.

"Retrieving the komodo rhinos. It'd be best if you went got your own quickly; nobody's going to drag your ones out for you." he warned, the acrobat narrowing her eyes at the guard.

"What about yours?" she asked him, the guard simply nodding.

"I'm going to go get it." he simply told them, "I already know where it is."

"Race you there for it?" Ty Lee asked the Water Tribesman, deciding that if they were going to do it quickly, she'd need an incentive.

"I'm faster." he stressed, "You might be better at acrobatics, but I can run faster." he warned her, the acrobat beginning to dash up the road without any warning.

"We'll see!" she mocked Sokka, whose face contorted in rage; he didn't like getting tricked like that, and as he began to run after her, she couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey!" he decried her, charging after her as she made her way up towards the treeline.

The pair ran up the slope, and made their way off the road as they neared the cart; Ty Lee could already see some light in the distance, presumably from the flames the guards were wielding to see around, given how dark it was out. She was finding it a struggle to practically jump around, dodging fallen branches and logs as she approached the light source. She could hear Sokka right behind her, panting as his feet slammed into the ground one after another, like a drum that was constantly getting louder. When she made sight of the actual komodo rhinos, noticing their frames amongst the trees, she smiled brightly, realising she was about to win their race; she dashed on toward them, and suddenly, a fireball was thrown toward her, the acrobat forced to duck.

"Guys! It's just me!" she warned the guards, realising they must have thought she was an intruder.

"For spirits sake!" one of them chided her, "Don't just run in here like that."

She could hear the Water Tribe warrior breathing heavily as he caught up to her, coming to a halt soon after she did, "O-okay... you won. But you definitely cheated."

"I outsmarted you." she rephrased his claim in a way that sounded better to her ears, making him raise a hand, wanting to contend her argument, but he didn't; he knew she was right, and she laughed, proud in her victory.

"What are you all screaming about?" she heard Azula speak up, the acrobat turning around to see her friend, who was leading her komodo rhino, "Did Ty Lee scare you?" she asked the guards, who shook their heads.

"We could hear the footsteps, so we thought it was some of the city guards coming to fight us." one of the guards explained, "Turns out these two decided to run here."

"How punctual." she commented, before gesturing toward the komodo rhinos, "Ty Lee, you'll be taking Kori and Sneers' komodo rhino."

"Got it." she nodded, before pacing on over toward Sokka's komodo rhino, where all her things were.

"I really shouldn't have lost that." she heard the Water Tribesman mumble behind her.

"Well, I'm just smarter." she quipped at him, before she reached the komodo rhino, grabbing her bag, and slinging it over her shoulder, "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll have another chance to impress her highness." she joked, making the Water Tribe teen giver her a death stare.

"That had nothing to do with her." he retorted, before grabbing the lead of his komodo rhino, "You better get to yours, or you'll be left behind.

"Oh, so you don't want to chat? Not even a little?"

"No, not really." he refused her, "We need to get out of here. Do you want those guards finding us?"

"Nope." she gave her opinion, before pacing off in the direction of Kori and Sneer's komodo rhino, which was now hers; she was glad she had her own to ride on, given it would make it easier for her to rest on it while they were riding back to the base.

She made her way past a few of the guards, who were leading their own komodo rhinos along, heading back toward the road; when she reached her new komodo rhino, she immediately put her things down on it, and leaded over onto the saddle, just resting for a moment. Finally, after all the work she'd done in distracting those guards, they could leave Shengchang. Ty Lee had come to realise that she didn't really like cities; they were full of people who might want to capture them, and they smelled, and that was when she was outside of the sewers.

"Thank the spirits that's over." she exclaimed, before she heard Azula nearby, clearing her throat.

"It's not over until we get back to base."

"Then we'll go to the spa, right?" she asked her, friend, who looked back her way with a thoughtful look.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." she agreed to her proposition, the acrobat grinning at the thought.

"Finally, something decent to look forward to."

* * *

Toph didn't like feeling like a servant, and at times, given how much errands and work she did for King Bumi personally, it seemed that she was a bit like one; after her experiences with her controlling and rather stupid parents, she had had enough of being bossed around. Unlike her parents, the King of Omashu could at the very least garner her respect; he was a good earthbender, and a wise, well-learned man, more so than most. For his age, he certainly wasn't senile in the slightest, even if he tried to play of being so when unfamiliar people were around. Her respecting him didn't mean she was any more tolerant of being called on by him, preferring to stick to what she knew best: kicking butts, specifically that of firebenders, and training his soldiers to make sure they were capable of doing what she was.

So, as she walked down one of the streets of New Omashu, following one of the King's guards, she wondered what he wanted her for; she was a skilled earthbender who could read if people were lying, so obviously she was useful for dealing with prisoners or visitors to the city, to gauge whether they had foul intentions or not. There were other things he used her for, such as spying in the old city of Omashu, which she'd done a few times; mostly just to gauge their defences, in the worst case scenario that they had to fight the occupiers of the city. She'd done so without question, knowing the advantage that knowledge would bring to any future plans they made, given the affinity for strategy the King seemed to have.

"Does he want to drink tea with me, or is this something serious?" she asked the guard, who turned back toward her, which made her assume he was looking at her, though she couldn't be sure, being unable to see his eyes, even if she could sense how he walked and turned himself upon hearing her question.

"He simply said he required the Blind Bandit, so I came to retrieve you." he explained himself rather simply.

"Y'know, he could have picked a better time. I was just in the middle of eating my breakfast." she acknowledged, "If he's calling on me this early, it has to be serious."

"I'd presume so." the guard agreed with her, "Not that his majesty likes to be forward with his intentions. He's a man who keeps his Pai Sho moves to himself, and himself along." he explained, metaphorically, obviously, even if the old king did like to play Pai Sho; being blind, and thus, unable to distinguish the tiles well enough, she refused to play the game with him, though he explained he could have them marked with cuts so she'd find them easier to detect and distinguish.

"Maybe he did make that set." she mumbled to herself, before turning her attention ahead of her; she could already sense into the King's throne room, and could sense him sitting there on his table, presumably eating his own breakfast, a few servants standing by, ready to serve him.

She guessed maybe he'd give her some breakfast, and then a task, as she would expect; when the doors were opened up, she immediately strode into the throne room, not bothering to address the guards, before she raised a hand toward the King, "Your majesty, what do you need the Blind Bandit for?" she asked him with a sarcastic tone of deference.

"Oh, good morning, Toph, I see you got here quickly." he observed, before gesturing to the table he was sitting at, "Please, sit. Would you like some jook? It's quite well done."

"Jook?" she raised a brow, knowing that was the kind of food she'd associate with a peasant's breakfast, not a king's, "You're not the kind of guy I'd expect to eat jook." she acknowledged, before shrugging her shoulders, "But you are pretty unusual, so it shouldn't be that surprising, really." she added, before she pulled out the stone chair she wanted to sit on with her earthbending, sitting herself on it, before she pulled the chair in closer to the table.

"So, will you have it, or is it unpalatable to your noblewoman tastebuds?" he jokingly asked her, making her shake her head, not wanting to be reminded of the life she had left behind.

"No, it's fine." she lied, not really liking jook, but willing to eat it because it would fill her stomach and was better than the reheated rice dish she was eating for breakfast before the guard came to her apartment.

A servant shuffled around beside her, and she heard a thump down on the table in front of her, which from what her seismic sense told her, the servant had placed a bowl in front of her, and a moment later he turned to face her, "How much would you like, ma'am?"

"Ma'am." she snickered to herself, before feeling the bowl, getting a good idea of how large it was, "Just to the top." she decided, and with that, the servant plopped some of the jook it, the mushy liquid making the expected splash-like sound she guessed it would when it dropped into the ceramic bowl.

She pulled the bowl closer to her, before she picked up the spoon that was placed down beside her; she was only able to sense it because the table was made out of stone, like everything else in the room. She knew it probably wasn't intended to help her on Bumi's behalf, but she was grateful of the great use of earthen materials, given it made her seismic sense all the more useful. Putting the spoon into the bowl, she took some of the jook into her mouth, and swallowed it; it didn't taste that bad, and the King obviously had some kind of spice with it, though nothing compared to what she guessed Fire Nation food tasted like.

"So... I assume there's an actual reason you requested me here."

"There is." he nodded, "I have been speaking with the Governor of Omashu via messenger hawk, and we have organised a turnover of the city to my hands." he explained, making Toph scrunch her lips up; she wasn't well versed in politics, but what he just told her sounded like a really dumb trap.

"Are you sure it isn't a trap?" she asked him, the King chuckling at her suggestion.

"If this had come straight from him, I might have come to the same conclusion, but I have been given an assurance that my old friend, General Iroh, is going to oversee our meeting and the turnover of the colony back to my rule." he explained, "However, as a precaution, I believe it would be useful to have you come along with me. Assassinations are still a threat, even if I trust Iroh with my life; your seismic sense would be invaluable in such a situation."

"Huh, so I get to meet General Iroh, the Dragon of the West." she realised, recalling when she had heard about the defeat of the General at Ba Sing Se; it had been a great cause for celebration, back in the day, though in hindsight, she thought everyone was extremely foolish to be as optimistic as they had been, "He's the Fire Lord's uncle, right?"

"And Azula's." he added, "He'll probably want to know about our meetings with her." he acknowledged, "Something tells me that he and the young Princess might come into conflict, sooner rather than later."

"She's pretty temperamental." Toph conceded, "And Sokka too. He's the one we should be worrying about."

"He's not a bender." Bumi assured her, "It's not like he could fight us."

"Well, chi-blocking is still dangerous, and I doubt that he'd try and fight us. It's the others I'd be worried about... if I didn't already think they had it coming for them." she acknowledged, making the King cackle at her.

"And what makes you think they have it coming? Aren't they as loyal to the cause as you are?"

"It's not about loyalty, it's about stupidly going after the Princess because she's 'one of the bad ones'." she acknowledged, "She told me that morning that he would do anything to defend her... and I think he's not using 'anything' lightly."

"Well, a loyal man is better than a shifty one." Bumi noted, "That makes them easier to predict." he acknowledged, "Anyway, Sokka and Azula are not what we need to concern ourselves with. It's Ozai's supporters."

She took another spoonful of the jook into her mouth, and nodded to confirm she understood what he was saying; once she swallowed the food, she narrowed her eyes in the thought, wondering how much danger they'd be in.

"Those guys are a threat, but as long as your 'friend' has enough guards, I'm sure it won't be a problem." she guessed, emphasising the word friend just to remind him how unusual it was for him to have a Fire Nation friend, especially one who had tried to conquer Ba Sing Se, "When is this happening?"

"In two days, when he arrives in Omashu." he clarified, before gesturing toward her, "That's enough forewarning, isn't it?"

"I guess." she shrugged her shoulders, before taking another spoonful of jook into her mouth.

"How are you, Toph?" he decided to make a little small talk, which she didn't really mind, given the King was a reasonably likeable conversation partner, "Has the training regime been tolerable?"

"They're learning, that's what counts." she stressed, knowing that the soldiers she was training were improving, even if it took quite some time for them to understand the principles by which she earthbent; in learning from the badger moles, her bending style was unique to herself, and she didn't bother to learn many forms associated with 'conventional' earthbending, unless she was needed to use them in group formations.

"Your earthbending is rather unique." he acknowledged, "I'd like to see you come around to my sparring ground more often." he suggested, the young earthbender chuckling; she was well aware of how skilled he was, and knew that sparring him wouldn't be a casual fight in the slightest.

"No thanks." she raised a hand up, "I'm more than comfortable sticking to training your soldiers." she assured him, the king chuckling as she took some more jook into her mouth.

"Oh, if you say so." he responded slyly, obviously seeing that she didn't want to fight him, "You're not afraid of fighting an old man, are you?"

She scoffed at his words, shaking her head as she chewed down the jook, "I don't know, your majesty, are you scared of me?"

"Not scared. Merely interested. You're an interesting person."

"Thanks, but I'd prefer to gain your attention for being a great earthbender. I'm not throwing rocks to get people to think I'm mysterious." she retorted, making him tap his fingers down on the table.

"Oh, so who are you trying to impress, specifically?" he asked her, the blind earthbender glad she was so, as she didn't have to worry about whatever smug face he had to be pulling at that moment.

She knew people who could see loved to put all their emotions into their expressions, which was part of the reason why she found it hard to gauge people's emotions off of their voices alone; her seismic sense ended up solving that problem for her, as people's heartbeats were just as indicative of people's emotions as expressions, if not more so. Nobody was as good at reading people as her, and she had grown to enjoy toying with people, trying to figure out what their secrets and silent grievances were. That did have unintended negative consequences, such as the starkly serious threats she received from Sokka, who if it weren't for the cold, vicious demeanour he put up, she might have simply thought him an idiot who got captured by the Dai Li with his pants down. But, no, it seemed that was more than met the eye when it came to the Avatar and his friends, and she knew it was just the same with the old king.

"Nobody." she assured him, half a lie; she wanted to impress people generally, because she knew that with their respect, came the power of freedom she desired.

"Well, I'm sure that General Iroh will be impressed when he sees your skills." he acknowledged, "He's been interested in odd bending techniques as long as I've known him."

"You don't need me to interrogate him, do you?" she asked, unsure whether that was part of her task.

"I think that would be a rather rude way to treat a guest, but seeing that we will be the guests of the Fire Nation, who are occupying my own city, I guess it can be excused."

"Thank you for the permission, your majesty." she smirked at him; she hadn't wanted his permission to begin with, but now that she had it, she was more than happy to use her abilities around the mighty General Iroh and their entourage, to see if they were really as well-intended as Bumi made them out to be.

She continued to eat the bowl of jook that had been given to her, and she wondered what would come of Omashu returning to Earth Kingdom hands; for one, they'd have more resources at hand to work toward the ultimate goal of restoring their country. She didn't think it would take that long to reunite the Earth Kingdom, but in considering how long it had taken the Fire Nation to defeat them, it seemed like it could take some time.

Toph wasn't a politician or a general; she was just a girl with a knack for earthbending and tactics. She could fight, and she would fight, because she knew she was good at it, and because of that, she would earn people's respect. She'd already earned the Avatar's respect, and perhaps, he'd come back soon enough to plead to become her student. She chuckled at the thought of it, though she doubted he'd come back soon; she guessed he was still working away at the North Pole learning waterbending.

"So, are you going back to train those slackers?" he asked Toph, who pursed her lips up in thought of how she'd get the fighters into shape; perhaps it would be more than necessary if fighting did come out of the upcoming turnover that Bumi spoke of.

"Of course, your majesty. It would be my pleasure." she assured him, making him snicker.

"Pleased from their growth or from their weakness?" he asked in clarification, the young earthbending raising a finger to her chin, wondering which response was more suitable.

"I think you'd want me to say the former." she guessed, "But I am just pleased to see that I am the best around here."

"As always, I'm open to challenge that claim." the King suggested, Toph placing her hands down onto the table in front of her.

"I just might accept that if you keep bugging me about it." she acknowledged, "Let's just wait until we return to the city. Maybe we can fight and demolish that stupid statue of Fire Lord Ozai at the same time." she suggested, making the King of Omashu cackle.

"Oh, oh! That's a good one. The Fire Lord would most certainly approve of our artistic works." he suggested, "Whack off his nose or perhaps his whole face."

"That guy must really dislike his Dad." she noted, before huffing realising she was practically on the same boat, "Well, I can sympathise."

"Ah, I wonder how your father would feel seeing you a drill-sergeant instead of a noblewoman." the King suggested, "You must be quite approving of the cringed reaction."

"Just a little." she admitted, "Proving that old fart wrong is something I've always wanted to do."

"You're calling him old... he can't be a year older than forty-five."

"He isn't." she confirmed, "Senility and its stupidity don't really seem to correlate with age. Or maybe, some people just age terribly."

"I think I've aged quite well." he declared, "Other than losing all my nice hair, that is."

"Oh, you're bald." she realised, not having bothered to sense around the King's head enough to realise there was no hair under the crowns he wore, "You're still a young man at heart, I guess."

"Of course I am." he assured her, "That's why I could face off Aang as well as I did. He's fast, but he's not that tact."

"He's twelve." she retorted, before scrunching her lips up, remembering that when she was twelve, she was fighting in Earth Rumble VI, so perhaps she couldn't just put that down to age, "Or maybe it's just being an airbender. They like to dodge and weave, and not really fight directly, right?"

"That is correct." Bumi nodded, before he tapped his hands on the table, "But you'll teach him how to face his opponents head on, won't you?"

"It can't be that hard." she acknowledged, "All the people I've been training figure things out quickly enough."

"Earthbending ought to come to him naturally, once he's in the right mindset." Bumi acknowledged, before she scooped up what she guessed to be the last of the jook.

She quickly chewed it down and swallowed the gruel, before she placed the spoon down on the table, "Thanks for the breakfast. I've got to get over to the training yard. If I'm not there to shout everybody down as they arrive, they won't take me as seriously." she explained her intentions, the old king letting out a snicker.

"Whatever you say, Blind Bandit." he quipped, making Toph sigh, thinking that his sarcasm wasn't appreciated; she needed to be taken seriously- a relatively short, blind girl wasn't going to be well respected as an earthbending master unless she showed her trainees exactly how tough and serious she was.

She pushed the chair she was sitting on back with earthbending, before she dropped her two feet onto the ground, firmly appreciating the feel of her feet making contact with the earth. Sitting on the chair with her toes above the ground, she could still sense things through the chair, but it was harder to distinguish things clearly. She wondered if that was what it was like for people who could see, but not very well; in her mind, that sounded terrible, and she was glad that she had her bending to assist her. If she had had poor sight instead of blindness, but without her bending, she would have certainly been worse off.

"I guess... call on me when you need me to go to Old Omashu." she farewelled the King, who remained silent for a few moments.

"Perhaps if I shake the ground, you'll sense it. and know to come over. That's faster than sending somebody to your quarters." he realised, the Blind Bandit smirking as she realised that was a more effective way to communicate with her.

"Earthbending is better than language. I knew it all along." she declared, making Bumi cackle.

"Oh, that's a good one." he agreed with her, "Have a good day." he presumably waved to her, and she raised a hand to acknowledge that she was leaving, before she turned herself around, moving at once to approach the door; she noticed that she could sense somebody outside, but they were too far away for her to identify.

When she got close enough to the door, she recognised the heartbeat of the individual, as well as their clothing, and their shoes, which were easy things for her to remember when trying to figure out who was who; it was Jet, the leader of the Freedom Fighters, who must have decided to go meet her, as he liked to, as if he thought that would make them friends. She didn't despise him, not really having a good reason to, but that didn't mean she liked him; he was annoying, and he had been rather spiteful toward both Sokka and Azula, and without a very good reason to do so. Of course, after the group had left on Appa, he'd calmed down, and apologised to her, like any sane person would; he had been a dick, and it seemed that he still wanted to make up for it.

The doors were opened up, and she pointed towards him, "What are you doing here Jet? I don't need somebody to escort me around the damn place."

"Uh... I just wanted... uh, to talk." he excused himself, making her scoff.

"Oh, okay, talk, I can talk." she agreed to his proposition, "Are you looking forward to getting beaten up?"

"At training?" he asked, Toph nodding, after which he chuckled, stepping back, "I can hold my own." he assured her.

"No, you can't really. You still can't counter earthbending. Longshot's actually decent, but that's because arrows are hard for me to sense. I bet The Duke would have a better chance beating me than you."

"Well, he would probably have Pipsqueak throw him at you like a projectile with fists." the Freedom Fighter acknowledged, "Which... he has done before."

"Getting kicked in the head by a kid gets old pretty quickly. I've figured out all your moves already." she warned him, "But... you can always try and get smarter. That might have helped you to begin with."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he questioned her, the earthbender raising a finger as she strode past him.

"Remember how I can always figure out when people are lying?" she asked, the boy nodding before he began to follow her, "Well, Smellerbee seemed very uncomfortable about a specific topic: sabotage." she recalled, "You wouldn't know why she's so traumatised about that, would you?"

"I'm not going to comment." he decided, making her snicker.

"Well, that is a smarter choice than trying to lie." she decided, before crossing her arms, "So, was there anything specific you wanted to get from me, Jet?"

"Get from you? I don't get it."

"Nice wordplay, but seriously, don't play dumb." she retorted, "I know you're a very goal-oriented person. You want to get revenge, you do it. You want to shame someone, you do it."

"Are you talking about... uh, Sokka?" he asked her, the earthbender scoffing.

"Well, that's who I saw you get all antsy about." she confirmed, "So, what is it? Does the Blind Bandit need to solve everybody's problems, is that it?"

"Well... no, but I did find something." he admitted, Toph scrunching her lips up.

"Like a new way of cooking or a dead body?" she asked him, the Freedom Fighter coming to a halt as he tried to comprehend her two options.

"Neither! Why- that was a stupid question." he snarled at her, making Toph snicker.

"Wrong. It would have been stupid if I didn't get any reaction out of you." she clarified, the Freedom Fighter making an exasperated sigh, obviously finding her not to be the most enticing conversation partner; she found him just fine when he didn't overreact and boil over like a pot left over the fire for too long, "So what was it, seriously?"

"We came across what I thought was an abandoned campsite of some of the fighters here, but Smellerbee noticed something weird. The tracks didn't lead back or to New Omashu- they led to the city."

"What?" she narrowed her eyes, "But if it was the Fire Nation Army, we would have noticed it, right?" she asked, the Freedom Fighter nodding.

"That's what I thought. So, I asked other people who had been scouting around that area, and they said no soldiers had come out of the city on patrol. Supply convoys and trade caravans... that's it."

"So, somebody's snuck into the city right under our noses." she deduced, "Why are you telling me about this? Why not Yung, or any other people who can handle this?"

"Because there might be some evidence around that campsite that could help explain it, but we don't have your abilities. That seismic sense you have sounds really useful for feeling around the area." he explained his reasoning, and she nodded, knowing he was right; she was the earthbender best suited for such an investigation.

"Fine." she nodded, accepting his request, "After training, we can go out to this campsite, and I'll see what I can find." she decided, before raising a finger, "On one condition."

"What is it?"

"That whenever they show up again, you aren't a dick to Sokka and the others. He clearly doesn't deserve it, and you're just putting whatever happened to you and your friends onto his girlfriend." she gave him an ultimatum she'd been hoping to achieve, just for the sake of peace of mind, given she expected the Avatar's group to show up sooner or later.

"Uh... I guess I can agree to that." he nodded, "I'm not going to be nice... but I won't try and fight them again."

She nodded, pleased that he had accepted her ultimatum of sorts, and continued to pace on ahead, before turning back to face him, realising that he had stopped walking, "Are you coming to training, or what?"

He must have been blankly looking at her, as she didn't sense much change in his heartbeat, before he began to stride toward her, "Yeah, I'm coming." he confirmed, the skilled earthbender turning her heels, pacing on down the street, heading straight in the direction of the training yards, which really were large, tall-roofed caverns where they could all earthbend and fight without much worry of damaging the tunnels, and thus, making parts of the city structurally unstable. Toph didn't know much about architecture, but she knew how her element worked, and was certain that the stresses that training made when one bent would clearly be dangerous in a cave, no matter if it were man-made, created by badger-moles or naturally formed.

"Thanks again... for giving your help." Jet spoke up, "I'm just... really worried things might be going on right underneath our noses."

"We wouldn't be very good guerrilla fighters if we let the Fire Nation trick us into an unwinnable situation." she conceded, "You weren't stupid to come to me with that information." she acknowledged, "If it turns out being any good, I might hold an inch of respect toward you."

"I... I am sorry if I annoyed you."

"Well, being sorry isn't going to fix much, Jet." she warned him, "You're a catapult being directed by a blind-man- and not one with seismic sense. Getting angry over whatever suits your fancy isn't going to win battles."

"We all have our motivations, I'm sure you have your own." he acknowledged, Toph scrunching her lips up as she remembered what had happened in Gaoling; she wasn't there because she despised the Fire Nation.

She certainly didn't like them, like anybody in the Earth Kingdom, and going to fight them was a good excuse to leave home and hone her skills. Being a rebel was the one kind of job she could do where being judged for her disability would be less likely, and respect from her bending prowess would shower down on her like a summer rainstorm.

"To prove myself." she told him her honest intentions, "This isn't about the Fire Nation for me... though I definitely don't like them."

"So, we're not that similar... really." he realised, before shrugging his shoulders, "I guess you're lucky then."

"I'm not lucky. Yeah, I'm a great earthbender, but let's just say... my home life was less than nice."

"People don't treat blind people well." Jet acknowledged, "The only ones I've met other than you were... well, they were beggars." he added, Toph grimacing as she realised perhaps he was right; she had been lucky, born as a noblewoman instead of a commoner, in which case she likely would have ended up a street urchin, disgraced from her home as a burden- instead, her family was her burden, treating her like a little doll, and not like a human being.

"Y-yeah..." she mumbled, before shaking her head, "I'm not like other blind people."

"I figured that out quickly enough." he agreed with her, "You must really like your earthbending... seeing how helpful it is."

"It's a part of me." she declared, grimacing at the thought of what she'd be like without it; she would be as incapable of her parents thought she already was- the very thought of it was disturbing to her core.

"What training is going on today?" he asked her, obviously figuring that the topic wasn't the best one to talk about; she pursed her lips up in thought of what she'd be putting the fighters through.

"Oh, well, for the earthbenders, they'll have to try and escape my trap."

"Crashing the cavern roof?" he guessed, the earthbender shaking her head, having something far more dastardly in mind.

"Oh, better. I'm going to sink them into the ground like it was water. Imagine drowning in dirt. Sounds bad, doesn't it?" she asked him, the Freedom Fighter's heartbeat increasing considerably in pace, "Hmph, did I scare you?" she prodded him with a cocky grin, Jet shaking his head, and waving his hands, despite the fact she couldn't see; she could sense them, but such gestures were kind of pointless in her opinion.

"Of course not. You said you were going to do that to the earthbenders, not the non-benders." he retorted, making her chuckle.

"Oh, I have something better in mind for the non-benders." she assured him, the Freedom Fighter tensing up noticeably, "Ever faced a Fire Nation catapult barrage?" she asked him.

"No, I haven't." he acknowledged, sounding relieved that he hadn't, "So, you'll throw massive boulders at us?"

"Into the air." she clarified, "I'll let gravity do the rest for me."

"Huh, that's probably going to be a little easier, and cause more damage." he realised, "That's a good tactic to use against the Fire Nation."

"No. Sinking them into the ground is better." she stressed, "They won't be able to fight back that way. Then you crush them with boulders afterwards."

"Uh... yeah, I can see why." he agreed with her tactic, the blind earthbender grinning at his response.

"So, you see, I can get people's respect when it comes to tactics." she acknowledged, "If only everybody could see... heheheh..." she snickered, realising the pun she'd just made unintentionally, "If everyone understood how good I am at fighting, maybe they'd take me more seriously, even though I can't see like they can."

"Well, I think your skill is neat." he acknowledged, making her chuckle.

"No, you're just a toe-kisser." she retorted, "You want people to like you."

"I... well, I want people to like me." he acknowledged, "But I think doing what is right is more important than that."

"Ah... calling people traitors to their own people because they actually have a girlfriend is important to you." she recalled his spat with Sokka, "Wow, great priorities right there." she sarcastically quipped.

"I- well- urgh." he groaned, obviously not having a response to that, "What does me not having a girlfriend have to do with that/"

"You're the one who pointed that out, not me." she quipped, "Are you a little jealous, Jet?" she asked him with a babying voice.

"I'm not jealous. I hate the Fire Nation." he retorted sharply, making her raise a finger up toward him.

"Now, now, don't be so harsh, Jet. Remember what I told you?"

"Yeah... yeah, I got it." he dejectedly acknowledged his agreement, "I don't have time for anything like that. I'm a fighter."

"Hit your soft underbelly, didn't I?" she quipped once more, "I won't keep at it, but you know, you've got to make that little 'I'm strong so I don't need people' speech a little more believable."

"I do need people. My Freedom Fighters." he reminded her, the stout earthbender nodding, realising that he did have those bonds, even if he wasn't one for romance.

"Fair enough." she conceded, before sensing ahead, "Seems like there's a few people waiting at the training yards already."

"Are you going to shout at them?" he asked Toph, who pursed her lips upward, realising she had a good idea on how to get their training started.

"No, I've got something better than that." she acknowledged, before pacing ahead, wanting him inside the training yards before she made a little example for the others.

"What's your idea?" he asked her once more, and she raised a hand up, creating a stone panel from the ground behind Jet, before she thrust it forward into him, throwing the Freedom Fighter across the yard, skidding before he face-planted on the ground.

She sensed everybody turning her way, and she smirked, "Listen up! It's training time!" she called on everyone in the yards, "So, earthbenders, gather around. I'm going to show you how to beat a cocky non-bender." she called on her 'students' of sorts, who did indeed approach, eyeing off Jet, who groaned with pain as he pulled himself up from the ground.

"That hurt." he mumbled under his breath, before turning his attention her way, "So you're gonna beat me up?"

"Wrong." she corrected him, "You're going to try and beat me up. Just you, and to make it fair I won't bend the ground beneath your feet."

"You can still bend all the other earth though." he realised, Toph raising her hands up into the air.

"Of course I can." she told him with a wide grin, "Now, come at me!"

Jet was still tensed up, and she was unsure whether he was going to man up and attack her, so she decided to call him out, "Are you a little pig-chicken? Come onǃ" she pointed at him accusingly, the Freedom Fighter's heartbeat rising before he drew out his hook swords, taking them off his back and slashing the ground beside him, before he charged right at her.

He remained deathly silent as he ran toward her, Toph thrusting her left hand forward, shooting a stone pillar out of the ground; it seemed Jet had seen it coming, because he jumped onto the pillar, before he left contact with the ground entirely, leaving her unable to sense his position. In precaution, she raised another wall of stone in front of her, before pushing it forward. It moved toward his former position, before she sensed him touching the wall, landing on top of it; she stopped moving the wall forward, and flicked her right hand up, creating a smaller pillar which shot up right behind the wall, knowing Jet would jump down to the other side. She cringed silently as she heard him grunt, the pillar whacking him seemingly in the gut, before he rolled onto the ground. Keeping with her promise, she wasn't going to bend the ground right underneath him, just to give him a fighting chance.

"I admire your guts, but you might throw them up all over the ground." she observed with a smug grin, the Freedom Fighter groaning as he tried to pull himself back up to his feet.

She shot a boulder out from the ground below her, holding it in her right hand, and she gestured for him to approach with her left. She shot the pillar out toward him as soon as he stood up, and he was able to side-step the attack, slashing the boulder with one of his hook swords, throwing it off into the air above him. She shifted her stance as he moved toward her once more, creating two pillars to either side of him, firing them out to try and sandwich him right in the middle. He was fast enough to duck under the pillars, sliding along the ground, now only a few strides away from her.

Toph then reached forward, deciding that if she couldn't ruin the ground beneath his feet or try to ensnare him, she'd make a trap instead. She bent the ground between them, ripping it apart internally, making it more like a slush of mud than solid ground; it worked exactly how she assumed it would, as Jet slipped on trying to approach her, falling flat on his butt, kicking up much of the near-liquid dirt as he did so. She chuckled, and bent a small rock, about the size of a her thumb, raising it up to his eye-level in front of him; he was too slow, and it smacked him square in the forehead, throwing the Freedom Fighter back down into the dirt.

"And that, my students," she addressed the other earthbenders, "is how you beat a cocky non-bender." she explained, before looking down at the freedom Fighter, who was grasping his forehead in pain.

"Could have you hit me somewhere else?" he asked her, sounding annoyed that she'd got him in the head.

"Well, I could have gone for somewhere even more painful." she warned him, "You're just lucky I find you a tolerable sparring partner."

He chuckled, before pulling himself up, "So you do like me." he concluded; Toph scoffed, not wanting to go as far to say he was her friend- she certainly found him tolerable when he wasn't acting out, and she would admit that if he learned to restrain himself, he might garner a bit more respect.

"If you don't act like a moron, maybe more people will."

* * *

The morning sun shone down over the valley before Azula, who felt relieved to be away from civilisation again; part of her had liked being close to walls, streets and markets again, but another part of her simply spited the entire experience of being in Shengchang because she had had to walk through the sewers. She was, however, quite pleased that they now had a cart of weapons in tow, driven by some of the members of the very group who had set out to support her; those weapons mightn't do much, but a resupply was something that would assist her troops. They could only get so much from the meagre taxes they exerted out of the local Earth Kingdom population, who Azula had set out to help, out of pragmatism rather than out of a desire to see them happy. She wanted to appease them, and that would be the first call of order when she returned to her base of operations; she didn't forget that she was intent on having a long spa session with Ty Lee so she could try to remove and forget the filth she associated with the journey they'd undertaken.

Sokka was riding his komodo rhino beside her, and seemed rather more interested in a piece of wood he had been carving away at than actually making conversation; of course, Azula was never the greatest conversationalist, and would prefer to be silent that have an awkward conversation, though she knew that he, of all people, seemed to come up with the right mixture of absurd and enjoyable arguments. He realised that she had been eyeing him quickly enough, and put the wooden figurine back into his komodo rhino's saddle bag.

"Sorry, did you want something, your highness?" he made a fake, exaggerated bow toward her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Not that." she retorted, "Did you have anything stupid or interesting to say? Sometimes I know you have both."

"Uh... no random commentary coming from me. That's usually Ty Lee." he explained, the acrobat calling out from behind them.

"Hey, I heard that!" she pointed at him accusingly, the Princess snickering at her friend's reaction.

"So, really nothing?" she asked, "Not even a compliment?" she prodded him, making the Water Tribesman snicker.

"Oh, I could, but then she'd just make fun of me, and you'd call me a bootlicker." he explained the situation where he might potentially compliment her.

"Okay, you raise a fair point, Sokka. Speaking kindly of me is only going to get you made fun of."

"So, I just have to insult you instead." he decided, before smirking, "I preferred you with the full bangs." he pointed to her head, the Princess self-consciously touching her forehead.

"Excuse me? You liked that ugly haircut?" she scoffed, "My hairstyle should remain as it is."

"I mean... I do like that one. I just like the bangs better." he explained, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Next you'll say you prefer me wearing Water Tribe robes."

"Well... they do go well with your flames." he added offhandedly, the Princess looking at him with a slightly flushed face, though she covered it up by feigning annoyance.

"That's not an insult. Try again." she snapped at him, realising he was going back to complimenting her.

"Urgh, right, right." he nodded with a slightly dejected look on his face, scratching his chin in thought as he tried to come up with another well-suited personal insult, "You smell."

"So do you." she quipped in return, making him smirk.

"But you're a Princess and I'm a peasant. You're expected not to smell." he retorted, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"Good point." she acknowledged, before she shot a small fire bolt out of her finger tips, narrowly missing his forehead.

"Ack!" he cried out, grasping onto the reins as he almost fell off of the komodo rhino "What was that for?!"

"You actually offended me." she narrowed her eyes at him, "Good job, I guess." he added afterwards, awkwardly giving him a thumbs up before she turned her eyes back ahead to focus on directing her komodo rhino.

"Are you telling me you like being insulted?" Sokka quipped in return, the Princess sighing as she shook her head.

"No, but I'm impressed when you can manipulate the emotions of others." she explained, "The better you are at it, the better a leader you'll be."

"I personally disagree, but... thanks." he accepted her words as a compliment, which they weren't meant to be; that was more so an observation on how she believed a leader ought to act- they ought to be the most calm and cool person in the room, able to persuade others to whatever response they desired.

Azula pulled on the reins of her komodo rhino, making sure it stayed in the middle of the road and didn't stray off course; she was frustrated by the boring nature of their journey, but knew that she couldn't do anything about it other than by interacting with Sokka and Ty Lee, who unlike her guards, were good conversationalists. The acrobat was far more inclined to embarrass her with intrusive questions, and her boyfriend was more into arguing with her than actually discussing serious matters, though she wouldn't deny that she liked arguments.

"What are we going to do all day?" Sokka asked her after a rather long and awkward silence.

"Play a game." Ty Lee piped up, the couple both glancing back her way.

"No." Azula immediately refused her, though her boyfriend seemed more inclined to her idea.

"Well, what kind?"

"I don't know." she admitted bluntly, "Uh, do you know any good games, Sokka?"

"Remember that laughing game we did back on Appa's saddle?" he asked, the acrobat nodding intently.

"Oh, that was funǃ I remember Katara said you-" she began, before the Water Tribesman drew out his boomerang.

"Don't you dare talk about that." he warned her, "I don't want the whole world knowing what happened."

Azula snickered, recalling what Katara had said to try and make Aang laugh; she had told them all about Sokka accidentally sitting in a puddle of urine, which was really his fault, given that he was the one ordering little boys around to go take guard shifts.

"What, that you sat in a puddle-" she began, before her boyfriend turned his hand to her, indicating he might throw his boomerang, "Are you going to throw that at me?"

"Uh..." he glanced toward the boomerang, before sighing, "No. Just shut up about the stupid puddle." he requested, the Princess scoffing at his words.

"Alright." she accepted his request, "So, I assume you do want to play the laughing game.

"I mean, it might improve everybody's moods." he suggested, Ty Lee prodding her komodo rhino so it got close.

"I think it will." she agreed with him, "So, who's going to laugh first?"

"Azula." Sokka decided, staring her down intently, "I want to see her laugh."

"Fall off your komodo rhino by accident, and then you'll win." she suggested, the Water Tribesman rolling his eyes.

"I'm not going- that's a stupid idea, Azula." he retorted, making her smirk.

"No it's not, it'd be funny." she argued, Ty Lee clapping her hands together.

"Hey, hey, I have an idea to make you laugh." she decided, Azula glancing back her way.

"And what would that be?"

"Well... I'm wondering what really makes you laugh. Winning... maybe." she guessed, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I am not amused by victory." she clarified, "I am amused by others failing miserably."

"Things going the wrong way for others." Sokka observed her thought-pattern, "I can see why."

"What's that supposed to mean, savage?" she retorted, not liking his commentary; she could find humour in things just for the sake of them being funny, without there needing to be some reason why.

"Well, you've experienced some pretty bad failures yourself. When others stuff up, it's funny." he acknowledged, before smirking, "Oh, I know what you'll laugh at." he explained, before squinting his left eye shut, "Well, Princess, I think our victory will be great. All those savages, they think their wall will save them... I have something more powerful than anything they have." he imitated Zhao, using a pompous voice that certainly didn't sound much like him, but the tone of arrogance fit the Admiral like a charm.

She held back a laugh, "Okay, that's a decent imitation, I'll give you that."

"So, let me just tell you a little about what happened a few weeks ago at the North Pole." he decided, "I had decided to hide in a pantry while I awaited Zhao and his men, knowing they'd come for the Spirit Oasis." he explained something she'd already learned on the day, "When they arrived, there was some waterbender who froze the entrance of the Spirit Oasis shut. And obviously, Mister Big Admiral wasn't in a very good mood, after you shot his airship out of the sky."

He cleared his throat, "And it went something like this:" he prefaced his speech, before he flared his teeth and raised his hands up, "Oh, so you think that will stop me?!" he declared loudly, which seemed to confuse the guards, who turned around to watch his speech, "Nobody can stop me! Not any other you dirty savages, nor the Princess. I'm going to achieve my destiny!" he proclaimed, taking a moment to breathe, before he continued his pompous speech, "And after I've killed the moon, I'll go for the Fire Lord next. That little bastard will pay for what he did to my eye!" he pointed to his closed eye, the Princess trying her hardest to keep a straight face, given how well his imitation was going; it was rather ironic given what had happened to Zhao after all that.

"And then what happened?" Ty Lee asked, the Water Tribe warrior smirking.

"Oh, well, he and his men set out to melt the ice blocking the doorway, but they didn't realise I was there. Wearing my armour, I stepped out, and pretended to be one of Zhao's subordinates, injured in the fighting." he explained, before making a pained face, "Urgh... Admiral, the Avatar's already at the palace doors." he used a deeper voice, presumably what he had when he was actually pretending to be a soldier, "And then, of all the things the idiot could have said:" he prefaced the next thing the Admiral said, "We need to melt this stupid ice quicker! Are you ready to fight?"

Azula scoffed at his words realising what had to come next; Sokka raised his fist into the air, "Aha! I win!"

"Okay, fair enough. I assume you punched him right in face after he said that."

"In the throat specifically. He looked like was going to shit himself when he saw my face." he explained, before making a panicked, fearful face, "Like this." he pointed to his expression, the Princess snickering; she wished she could have seen that in person, as it might have made her feel all the more superior to her opponent, who had failed at the last chance he had to attain his victory and kill the moon spirit.

"I'm disappointed I missed seeing that myself." she acknowledged, "Now you're just making me feel jealous."

The Water Tribesman smirked at her, obviously proud that he had got her to laugh, "See, I told you. I got you to laugh."

"That you did... I bet I can make you laugh in five seconds." she declared, thinking of something that her boyfriend would find amusing.

"Oh, really?" he quipped, raising his hands up toward her, gesturing for her to begin, "Go ahead, your highness."

"Well... I just realised I've been craving something." she admitted, the Water Tribe teen furrowing a brow.

"What?"

"Sea prunes. Gran-Gran's sea prunes." she simply told him, and as she expected, his lips scrunched up as he struggled to hold back a laugh.

"O-oh... really?" he asked her, almost nervous to hear what she had to say next; she was sure that he would break after what she had to say.

"Yeah, I've suddenly got the craving to be your igloo-wife." she joked, though with a straight, dead-serious expression, and he snorted, cackling at her declaration.

"Bawahahahaǃ" he bellowed at her joke, "Oh, oh, that's a good one, Azula."

Ty Lee was looking her way with a concerned look on her face, "Uh, Azula, you're not being serious, are you?"

"I'm Azula. Does that sound like something I'd ever do?" she asked, the acrobat narrowing her eyes at her.

"I mean... I don't know." she admitted, making the Princess look at her, concerned that she could even think that would be a reasonable outcome; she was a Princess, not a peasant, no matter how long she had stayed at the South Pole for.

Sokka looked at her confused face and snorted, "Ohǃ You hear that, Azula?" he quipped, making her cover her face with embarrassment.

"I don't actually want to do that, Sokka. I'm the rightful Fire Lordǃ" she retorted, perhaps a little more angry than she ought to have reasonably been; her overreaction caught neither of them by surprise, Ty Lee pointing to her with a suspicious look.

"Why so defensive?"

"Shut up, you." she snarled, "It was just a joke. It worked... but clearly you took it the wrong way."

"I didn't take it the wrong way... you're just saying things that make a little too much sense." Ty Lee argued in return, Sokka trying to hold back a laugh.

"Uh, Ty Lee, she will firebend at you. I'm warning you." he stressed, obviously not wanting the two of them to start a fight.

"You ought to listen to him, Ty." she narrowed her eyes at her friend, "I'm willing to go to great lengths to protect my dignity." she warned her friend, who didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"Okay..." the Water Tribesman mumbled, glancing back and forth at both of them, "Are we going to not throw fists? I mean, I have no problem sparring, but we're in the middle of riding down the road."

"You raise a good point, Sokka." she agreed with him, "We can't fight." she conceded, "So, Ty Lee, how about you shut up, unless it's your turn to laugh... which it is." she reminded her friend, who made a smug grin.

"Oh, okay. Try your best." she told her, the Princess narrowing her eyes in thought; she didn't want to take the game that seriously, but winning was her aim, in the end.

Ty Lee was humoured by things any other person would be; that meaning, her sense of humour was rather wide, which meant it would be easy for Azula to get her to laugh, if she could only figure out something undoubtedly funny. She tried to imagine a scenario where her friend would laugh, and most of them happened to be physical humour, where something unfortunate happened to somebody else. Azula had said that she herself would be amused by Sokka falling off his saddle, and she guessed that Ty Lee would laugh at things like that too, though she was more inclined to innocent, harmless humour; thinking of that made her think of when Mai and Zuko had fallen into the fountain on top of each other- that was rather funny, though they didn't think so, given they clearly liked each other.

"So, do you have any ideas?" Sokka leaned over toward her, whispering as he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"Come up with your own." she suggested, before she glanced back ahead, trying to think of something.

Suddenly, out of the nowhere, she heard the sound of a horn being blown; she knew that she had guards on either end of the group armed with them after what had happened with the earthbenders, so she immediately knew something was wrong. She could tell that the horn was blown behind her, so Azula immediately pulled on the reins of her komodo rhino, turning her gaze to Sokka.

"Well, something's gone wrong." she concluded, "If the damn army has tailed us out of Shengchang, then we're in for a fight."

"That would just ruin my day, honestly." he simply gave his opinion on the matter, before he pulled his boomerang out of its holster, glancing back behind them, "Should we get off our komodo rhinos?"

"No. We don't need to." she decided, "If it's not earthbenders, then we shouldn't have an issue."

Suddenly, she heard a shout, and she saw flames soaring up into the air in the distance; the fight had begun, and she had no idea who they were facing. Azula pulled on the reins of her komodo rhino, forcing it to turn around; it growled and seemed annoyed by her prodding, but accepted her command nonetheless. She then readied her right hand, creating a blue torch under her fist, while holding the reins with her left hand; though she couldn't see the enemy yet, she had a feeling they were coming for her. There were only two reasons, in her opinion, they could be followed and attacked for, which was to be robbed, or to capture her, and seeing that the cart of weapons was at the front of their convoy of komodo rhinos, in either case, they'd have to come toward her.

"Everyone, take formationsǃ" she called on her guards, who did the same as she had, turning their komodo rhinos around and readying some flames in hand.

Sokka and Ty Lee both seemed concerned about what might come their way, but they didn't relent to follow her as she prodded her komodo rhino to move forward. She suddenly heard what sounded like a small explosion, and she turned her gaze to her boyfriend, who was equally concerned about it.

"What kind of people are going to have bombs?" he asked her, the Princess narrowing her eyes in thought.

"Elite soldiers... or perhaps, bounty hunters." she guessed, the look on his face shifting to one of annoyance.

"Nobody's taking anybody's bounty today." he declared, already deciding that victory was necessary; she appreciated his resolve, and turned her gaze ahead, feeling confident that whoever they were about to face, they would be victorious.

There were more small explosions after the one she heard first, and shouts and cries, though it was hard to discern if it was her guards being hurt or the enemy. She watched as she saw the flames spurting into the air get closer, and watched her guards who were presently being attacked turn themselves around, though many of them were forced from their komodo rhinos as their steeds had presumably been startled by the explosions she had heard. Some of them moved back toward her and the others, as she saw that they seemed rather panicked in their stances.

"Your highnessǃ It's bounty huntersǃ" one of them warned her, the Princess spinning her right hand around, charging some flames in her open palm.

"How many?"

"At least two dozen of them." he warned, the Princess narrowing her eyes; that was quite a few, given she had only ten guards with her, and the enemy was likely going to be a varied threat with multiple types of weapons, not to mention firebenders.

"They will regret trying to take me." she declared with confidence, knowing that bounty hunters would be little threat to her, though clearly their numbers might pose a danger to the group as a whole, given they and their komodo rhinos could be injured, which would slow down their march back east to her base of operations.

She watched as a bomb went off, frightening a komodo whino, which threw its rider off of the saddle; he shouted out, and grunted as he hit the gravel road, Azula's attention turning to the bounty hunters who were rushing toward them on foot. A few firebenders immediately took form, moving in synchronisation to send fire streams toward Azula and her guards, who all bent their own flames toward the enemy in return. The flames crashed together, creating a swirling mass of flames that exploded upward into the sky above them, as well as to the sides, catching a few nearby trees and bushes alight.

"Move forward, take out the benders first. Then we'll clean the rest up." she ordered Sokka and Ty Lee, who both jumped off of their komodo rhinos, given it would be impossible to chi-block when they couldn't reach their opponents.

They both dashed forward, and when the flames dissipated they were able to aim right at the firebenders, who clearly hadn't been expecting the attacks; the pair easily chi-blocked the enemy, and though some of them tried to firebend at them, they were agile enough to move around them and block their bending before they had a chance to hit them. Another few firebenders rushed forward to attack them, and Sokka distracted them with his boomerang for a moment; that was all the guards and Azula needed to conjure more fire streams, which soared all toward the same targets, crashing together to create a massive explosion of flames, forcing the firebenders back,a dnc resting a temporary wall of flames between her forces and the bounty hunters.

The few guards who had been injured or forced to dismount all moved back to stand in formation with the two chi-blockers, who were ready to take down the enemy as soon as the flames cleared up. When they did, Azula was surprised to see a number of men charging forward right at the group, some of them wielding pikes, while the others were armed with swords; the attacking party rushed toward them, and lunged at the guards and two friends, who were able to hold them off, though they were forced to take defensive formations. The two chi-blockers defended themselves from the weapons, and Sokka was able to use his club effectively as a defence against the enemy, who didn't seem to be push-overs when it came to using weapons. The weapon-wielders were backed up by the firebenders, who created fire whips, which caught the pair by surprise, though Azula's guards were more than capable of dissipating their attacks.

She charged a fireball in her hand, and commanded her men to follow in suit, "Fire!"

Each of them conjured their own fireballs, which grew to massive sizes as they readied them to be launched at the enemy; a few moments later, they let their attacks loose, shooting the fireballs across their allies, and right at the enemy firebenders, who struggled to hold back the attacks. Azula pursed her lips upwards, confident that she was already winning; she raised her right hand up once more, and decided to call on her guards once more, knowing that they couldn't give up until the enemy was on the run.

"Again!" she commanded, charging another fireball in her hand; she kept her gaze focused upon Ty Lee and Sokka, standing in the middle of the group ahead of her, holding back the enemy fighters, who they were able to pick off and chi-block one by one.

She sent her attack at the enemy once more, and so did her men; the enemy seemed more than intimidated by her firebending, and the firebenders raised up a wall of flames to protect themselves and their comrades, though she was sure it wouldn't hold back her guards for long. Once the wall of flames was parted by her guards' firebending, she was confused to see that the enemy had drawn back, not even trying to defend themselves from her guards' fire streams, which soared ahead, striking the enemy as they tried to get away.

"What a bunch of cowards." she scoffed at their willingness to flee already, given there was no real suggestion the enemy were losing the fight yet; she was sure she would come out victorious, but that didn't excuse the enemy's cowardice.

She glanced up ahead, and noted that there were a few men standing ready behind the fleeing soldiers, and assumed that they were about to come in and fight instead of their comrades; Azula readied her hand once more, aiming it so she would hit them once they came forward to fight. Suddenly, however, they all tossed what she knew had to be explosives, and she only had a split second to give out a command.

"Wall of flames!" she commanded her guards ahead of her, who moved into stance as the explosives were tossed their way; the wall of flames came up just as the explosives went off, hitting the ground just before they were set off, spurting up dirt and smoke into the air.

Azula was confused, realising that the explosives hadn't seemed to have made much of an effect in terms of damage, but clearly caused a lot of smoke and dust to spread around, obscuring Sokka, Ty Lee and her guards from view. She grit her teeth, knowing that she could assist them, but she knew that she was safer commanding from afar; part of her knew that victory could only be attained by her hand, and another part knew she was obliged to help her comrades. For once, it seemed that her father's teachings about strength and her understandings of camaraderie and respect that she had learned from Sokka had coincided; without any further deliberation, she leapt off of her komodo rhino, and turned her gaze to her guards behind her for a moment.

"Cover me!" she commanded them, before sprinting on into the cloud of smoke.

Her vision quickly became constrained, and the smoke caused her eyes to hurt, making her want to force them shut, so she compromised by closing her left. She could hear shouts and cries ahead of her, and the sound of flames moving around, like a violent wind gust; Azula saw a few of her guards, who were moving back toward her, though not because they were thinking she could defend them. There were a number of men running in wearing masks, presumably to hold off the smoke, some of them armed with axes, others with blades, while some were unarmed, throwing fireballs at the guards.

The Princess immediately threw her hands forward, creating two fire streams, which burst from her palms and flew right into the enemy; once she had knocked them back, she was forced to stop bending, coughing as she covered her mouth. The fumes from the smoke obviously weren't good for her, and she knew she'd have to deal with them while she fought off and defeated the bounty hunters. Her guards were struggling to bend effectively with all the smoke, but they were holding their own. She didn't know where Sokka and Ty Lee were, but she couldn't imagine they were facing any better chances than herself.

She glanced up toward the enemy, and decided to aim for one of them, knowing if she could steal one of their masks, she could keep the smoke out of her lungs; she reached forward, forming a fire whip which grappled him by the arm, before she intensified her flames, causing the whip to burn through his sleeve, making the bounty hunter cry out with pain. Another bounty hunter came at her with an axe, and she moved out of the way of his swing, though he decided to put his axe back onto his belt; they obviously didn't want to hurt their prize, but she would make it as hard as possible for them to capture her.

He reached out and grabbed her by the arm, and she reflexively threw her fist forward into his gut, winding him and throwing him down to the ground. She turned her attention to the bounty hunter she'd already hurt, and spun her hands around, creating a narrow arc of flames which she used to cut through the man's robes, making him lurch as he struggled with the pain. She had little care for his suffering, knowing that he stood in the way of her victory, which would require the mask on his face.

"Give up." she decided to warn him, before he tried to firebend at her, the Princess catching his flame covered fist with her palm left; because of the smoke, she found it harder than usual to dissipate his flames, and stomached the pain from the burn she had just received, uppercutting him with her right fist.

With her opponent in a daze, she grabbed him by the neck, allowing her to rip the mask off of his face; he coughed and cringed from inhaling the smoke as he slumped down to the ground, clearly pained from the beating he had received. As she moved to put the mask over her own face, she was struck by a fireball in the side; given her armour was designed, like most Fire Nation armour, to be non-flammable, it didn't worry her, though the force of the hit threw her down to the ground, and forced the mask out of her hands.

The smoke was draining her energy, as she found it harder to breath, with a near burning sensation all down her throat; Azula knew that she had to get the mask on, but the enemy was her first priority. She snarled, kicking her left foot up to send a fireball out of her sole, hitting her attacker square in the chest. Another bounty hunter, armed with a chain, which she assumed to be for ensnaring her came her way, and she almost wanted to laugh; she could cut through steel with her firebending, though she assumed that wasn't the only precaution they had in mind.

"Try it." she prodded him, the man throwing his chain, which was looped in the middle, right toward her, and she pulled her arm through the loop, allowing him to tighten the chain and hold her arm in place; he looked rather proud of himself as he shunted on the chain, pulling her closer- he didn't realise, however, her intent was to make sure she was close enough to beat him in one hit.

She lunged forward, punching him in the head, before she grabbed him by the neck, forcing his nose right down into her knee; in the few moments he spent dazed from the hit, she cut his mask off making him cough as he struggled to breathe due to the fumes. She formed a bright blue torch in her left hand, and though she was a little dazed from the smoke, she didn't miss when she swung her fist across his face, her torch burning his eyes, making him scream out in pain; as he dropped to the ground, writhing in agony, she moved the torch across the chain around her arm, cutting herself loose.

The other bounty hunters didn't seem discouraged by her small victory, and rushed at her, intent on doing what they had yet failed to. Azula swung her right leg up, and with her foot, bent a small wall of flames, narrow enough to conserve her energy, but strong enough to block her opponents while she moved to grab the mask she had dropped a few moments earlier. She picked it up, and pulled it over her face, before tying the bands around the back of her scalp; when the enemy got to her, she didn't relent to swing her right arm up, the metal chain that was still bound to it whipping the enemy in the jaw, audibly breaking it, before she let flames course down her arm, and onto the chain, setting it alight.

"You made a big mistake." she warned them through the mask she was wearing, taking a long, deep breath as she realised she could breathe normally again; she felt her inner fire grow brighter, and smiled under the mask, knowing that she was now capable of destroying her opponents thoroughly.

She spun the flame covered chain around, smacking a sword out of one of the bounty hunters hands, before she moved forward charging flames in her left palm before she threw her flame covered fist into one of the enemy. Her guards were taking advantage of Azula's beatdown by moving to surround the remaining bounty hunters who were trying their hardest to capture her. She saw one of them draw out another bomb, and she didn't know whether it was a smoke bomb or an actual explosive, so she hit its wielder with the chain in the leg, forcing him down to his knee. She then grabbed the bomb out of his hands, before tossing it away into the woods to her right. It exploded, and it made a clear booming noise; realising the man intended to kill them, she immediately spun around, ripping the mask off of his face. He coughed and sputtered as he inhaled the fumes, before she kicked him down, leaving him for her guards to deal with.

"Get her!" one of the bounty hunters pointed her way, and she shot a fire stream out of her hand, striking said bounty hunter square in the chest, throwing him down onto the gravel road; she glanced back and saw that her other guards were moving into the smoke as well, intent on taking down the enemy.

"Take their masks." she pointed down to a few of the men she'd already beaten, before she spun her right leg around, flames coursing out in an arc which forced the enemy to duck down.

She then threw the chain forward once more, hitting one of the men in the shoulder before she reignited the flames on the chain, tossing it across the other bounty hunters who had to jump back, lest they find themselves set alight. Without any more time to spare, she swung her left hand down onto the chain bound on her forearm, cutting it, and allowing herself to run on past the bounty hunters, who were rather preoccupied with her guards, who were using firebending to cage them into a fight they clearly wouldn't win. She, however, was less concerned about beating them, and more so focused on finding Sokka and Ty Lee, who she still hadn't seen yet.

The Princess charged forward into the smoke, toward the sound of fighting; she didn't know what state the pair would be in, but she had to assume the worst. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bounty hunter came rushing toward her, though he clearly wasn't running to her, but rather, away from somebody else. She tripped him over with a fireball to his shin, before jabbing him in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. She glanced around, and noted that there were no enemies coming her way just yet. She continued pace ahead, cautiously listening out for the sound of fighting, and noted an eerie silence. When she made sight of a few downed bounty hunters, she smirked, seeing proof that the other two had fought the enemy off; Azula knelt down, grabbing one of the soldier's by the neck, noting that his mask had been taken off.

"Where are they?" she asked the bounty hunter, who coughed, and failed to cover his mouth, as his arm was still limp, presumably due to chi-blocking, "Answer me, or I'll burn your face off." she threatened him, before she heard a shout in the distance.

"Azula, is that you?" she heard Sokka calling out toward her, the Princess glancing over her shoulder to see that the Water Tribesman was standing nearby, with a mask over his face, "Thank the spirits you're here."

"Something's wrong." she deduced, before eyeing past him, "Where's Ty Lee?" she asked her boyfriend, who looked around in all directions.

"I can't find her. I think one of them got her. The smoke was really getting to her." he explained, the Princess narrowing her eyes at the man she had been threatening.

"You took his mask." she realised, before standing up tall, knowing that her priority was to ensure that Ty Lee was safe; she would be a terrible leader and a dishonourable friend if she didn't come to her aid, wherever she was, "Let's find Ty Lee."

He nodded, and with that, the two of them began to pace on down the road, Azula keeping her focus ahead of them, where she could hear footsteps; suddenly, she heard a whole lot more footsteps, on all sides. She thought for a moment that it was her guards catching up, and she did hear one of them shout out, sounding clearly concerned.

"Princess?! What do you do with her?!" she could hear her guards accusing the enemy, which confused he, given there were no bounty hunters dbehind her, from the best of her knowledge; she didn't know how many bounty hunters had looped around her, and felt frustrated at herself for letting it happen- the smoke was a perfect cover for their flanking.

Five men came rushing at her and Sokka from all directions, and a few fireballs were tossed their way, the Princess deflecting them while her boyfriend drew out his boomerang, quickly tossing it into the head of one of their attackers. More men joined the five who had appeared out of the smoke, and Azula began to realise that there was a reason Ty Lee had been taken; it was so the enemy could surround her and trap her. They probably didn't realise she would be wearing a mask, however, which made their little smoke trick worthless, as she could bend effortlessly, though the mask did force her to take swallower breaths, limiting the amount of fire she could conjure in a single breath. That didn't worry her as she and Sokka stood back to back, holding off the enemy together; although she wouldn't admit it, given the circumstances, but fighting with him was something she truly enjoyed.

Despite their numbers, the bounty hunters' swords and axes were no match for his chi-blocking skills, as well as his club, which shielded both of them from firebending. She kept up her offensive, knowing that she couldn't relent, lest the enemy get close enough to try and trap her with chains again; she kept her left hand up, creating a fire shield which coiled around her whole left arm, allowing her to block weapons and firebending alike, while she used her right hand to create fireballs which she fired off in quick succession, hitting her opponents' extremities. One of the bounty hunters charged at her, ducking under her attacks, attempting to tackle her, though she grasped Sokka by the shoulder, switching their positions, so her boyfriend could jab the man in the gut, blocking his chi before he whacked him in the head with his club.

"Aha, take that!" he proclaimed, proud of their fighting so far, before he began to move forward, weaving around the fireballs that came his way, before he disarmed one of the sword-wielding enemies.

Azula noted in the corner of her eye as he used the sword in his left hand, while wielding his club in his right, using both to defend himself, while she raised a wall of flames in front of herself to block the enemy from reaching her. She turned to face her boyfriend, and grasped his left hand, sending flames up the blade of the sword.

"Make a good show." she simply requested, the Water Tribesman smirking as he turned around, ducking under a fireball before he swung the flame-covered sword at one of the bounty hunters, who lunged back in fear.

With Sokka providing a useful distraction for the enemy, she turned her attention back the way they had been walking earlier, and decided she needed to find her friend before she could help her, "Ty Lee!" she called out her friend's name, "Where are you?!"

A few moments later, after having raised her hands up to create two walls of fire, giving her a clear path ahead, she heard her friend's voice, "Zula! I'm h-" she shouted out, before suddenly her voice was muffled' her assumptions were proved correct- Ty lee was being held captive by the enemy, and it was up to her to go assist her friend.

"Keep them occupied, Sokka." she simply requested of her boyfriend who nodded, a slightly worried look on his face.

"Go be the hero." he simply told her, before turning around, readying his club in hand to fight off the bounty hunters; usually when he'd say something like that, he was usually mocking her, but at that very moment, that was quite obviously what he wanted her to do- Ty Lee was his friend too, even if she was annoying at times and too flirty for her own good.

She charged in the direction of her friend's voice, trusting Sokka to do what was necessary while she did what she had to help her friend. Quickly enough, she reached what seemed like the edge of the cloud of smoke, which had been spreading and slowly getting thinner over time, and made sight of Ty Lee, who was being held down by a bounty hunter who held a knife against her throat. Another man had some flames charged in his right palm, aiming it right over her face, ensuring that even if she chi-blocked him, he would burn her face, and from the looks of how bright the flames were, it would not be a grazing burn.

"Don't step any closer, or I'll cut her throat!" the bounty hunter warned her, edging his hand closer to her neck, "Finally, we've fucking got you!"

"Oh, is that what you think this is?" she scoffed at his words, raising her hands up, indicating that she wouldn't attack, "I recommend you let her go." she warned them, the two bounty hunters looking at each other with skeptical faces.

"And why would we do that?" the firebender asked her, Azula keepibng as straight face as she responded to his rather stupid retort.

"Because I will kill you if you even get a drop of blood from her neck." she warned them, "And if you do kill her, I will kill every single one of your comrades, and send their mutilated bodies back to Shengchang, so my brother can go look at them and realise how much of an idiot he is." she explained her intentions as clearly as she could.

"Really?" the one holding a knife against her friend's neck looked at her with a surprised face, "Well that makes this a whole easier. You're going to come with us. If you don't, we'll kill your friend."

"I don't negotiate with anyone." she retorted, pointing her right hand toward him, "Drop the knife, and I'll make this easier for you."

"No." he retorted, before glancing behind himself, "Get the chains! She won't move. Turns out Princess Azula has a conscience." he assured his comrades, a few of which began to approach Azula, who sighed, knowing she couldn't reasonably attack yet; she decided that to ensure her friend didn't get her throat slit, she would play along with the demands she was receiving.

"To your knees!" one of the bounty hunters demanded, the one with the knife looking at her with a cold, serious glare, to assure her that he wasn't joking around as he held the blade to her friend's neck.

The Princess dropped down to her knees, and eyed Ty Lee, who was looking at her intently, clearly afraid, though that did not mean she lacked determination; she made a slight nod, understanding that Azula was going to provide her 'capture' as a distraction. It was the only way the enemy would become calm and careless enough for her friend to defeat them; it wouldn't be that hard- she only needed two seconds, and she would have chi-blocked them both.

"Don't you dare move." one of the bounty hunters warned, covering his hands with flames, "Or I'll singe your eyebrows off."

"Careful there. I'm sure your reward will be reduced if there's a scratch on me." she warned them, making the bounty hunters look at each other with slightly concerned faces, before one of them put shackles on her hands, before a chain was tied around her torso, forcing her hands closer to her torso, the chain wrapped around her, all the way to her feet, where it was looped over itself.

The man holding a knife smirked, and pulled Ty Lee up to her feet, "Ah, now she can't attack us." he declared, "Good luck bending when you can't move your arms and legs."

The bounty hunters lifted her up, and she let herself smile, knowing that with Ty Lee now on her own two feet, she could attack them, even if her own hands were bound. One of them pulled the mask Azula had on her face off, tossing it to the ground. She could still smell the fumes, but they were a lot less potent than they had been earlier; she wanted to laugh, knowing they'd just doomed themselves by freeing her mouth.

"Did you all forget your firebending basics?" she asked them, their eyes looking toward her, some of them taking firebending forms.

"Of course we didn't." one of them retorted, "You can't even move. It would be pointless to try."

"You obviously did forget. Firebending doesn't come from your muscles, but from your breath." she explained, before opening her jaw wide, letting a fire stream course out, firing it right into the man who had been holding Ty Lee captive; he was thrown to the ground, and before the firebender beside him could attack her friend, she flicked her right foot up, jabbing him in the gut, disabling his bending before he could land a hit.

Azula gleefully grinned for a moment, before she fell back-first to the ground, raising her bound legs up to shoot a fire stream out of her heels, hitting the men to tried to go and restrain her friend, who was quickly dodging about, aiming to reach her friend. When she got close enough, she raised her bound hands up into the air, and the Princess shot a thin stream of flames into the metal bindings; she seemed to be pained from the heat, but the bindings shattered open, and she immediately chi-blocked the men who tried to tackle her. Azula didn't even need to fight, and simply watched as her friend gave them a well-deserved beat down.

"Get them!" she heard the Captain shout out behind her, and she leaned her head back to see him and Sokka leading the guards right towards them, clearly intent on taking the remaining bounty huners down.

One of them was confident, or perhaps simply desperate, and leapt at Azula, holding a blade toward her chest, "Call them off!" he demanded, before he was struck in the head by Sokka's boomerang, knocked out cold.

She snickered at the turn of events, and watched as her guards approached, surrounding her as they attacked the bounty hunters, burning them and throwing them to the ground, preventing whatever escape they might have had in mind. Her guards then sent flames down onto the chain that was tied around her body, shattering it in multiple positions, allowing her to pull herself off of the ground, confident that they were victorious. The last part came with a few desperate bounty hunters charging at her, sending fire streams into her guards, probably hoping to beat them back so they could restrain her again. They never got the chance, as she let out a fire stream out of her bound palms, and created a wall of flames between her and the bounty hunters, the mixture of orange and blue flames coursing up into the sky above them. A moment later, one of her guards grasped her by the left hand, and though she usually would reflexively tell them to not touch her, she was simply pleased to see them cut her bindings with their firebending.

"I feel like we've been here before, your highness." he commented, the Princess recalling his name to be Shan.

"Yes. That was when we took over a whole battleship." she recalled, making Shan smirk, obviously understanding that they had won the fight, just as they had that one, despite the best efforts of Zhao's loyalists

She then thrust her hands forward, dissipating all the flames between her group and the bounty hunters, and she saw Ty Lee, who had one of the bounty hunters grappled by the neck, with his face bruised and bloodied.

"That's enough, Ty Lee." she simply told her friend as she approached the remaining bounty hunters, who cowered in fear as her guards stood around them; her friend stood to the side, letting the man fall to the ground.

"What did I say I was going to do to you all?" she asked them rhetorically before she grabbed the man she had beaten by the shoulders, glancing back momentarily toward Sokka, wanting a feel for his opinion on what she was about to do- he simply nodded, and she glanced down at the man, "Eh, I don't even need to kill you all. I prefer lessons." she explained, before creating a bright blue torch in her right hand, glancing down at the man, who had been the one to hold her friend with a knife by her neck, "You're all so weak and pitiful." she looked at him, disappointed that anyone would try to oppose her in such a fashion- they didn't even give up when they should have, which was immediately.

"You're the weak one." he scoffed, "You lost your spine." he chided her, the Princess snarling slightly before she ran the torch on her fist over his left eye, burning his face, and blinding him in that eye; his screams of agony did not bring her pleasure, but she was willing to do what she had to prove her point; those who came for her, and for her friends, would suffer a fate unlike any other.

"Burn out one eye each. That should be enough of a warning to the rest." she explained, before raising a finger up into the air to specify her request, "Always the left."

"Wait." Sokka stepped forward, a look of suspicion on his face, "Is this your idea of a joke?" he asked; he had seen her brother's face, after all.

"This is my idea of showing my brother that he's a weak little coward. If he had any guts, he'd come here and fight me himself." she decided, before slamming her fist into the man's face, shutting up his cries and whimpers.

The other bounty hunters seemed clearly seemed intimidated by her order, and those that weren't paralysed from Sokka's chi-blocking tried their best to get away; she shot one of them with a fire blast in the chest, keeping him down, before she turned around to face her guards.

"Did I stutter?!" she questioned them, the men moving forward at once; she then turned around to face Ty Lee, who had cuts on her arms, and blood coming out of her mouth.

"Th-thanks, Zula." she acknowledged her help, before glancing behind her toward the men who were about to be maimed, "I guess you're still yourself." she acknowledged, "Thank the spirits."

"Princess Azula didn't die at Yu Dao." she assured her, before turning her gaze to her boyfriend, who seemed rather uneased by what she had just ordered her men to do, "She simply decided to hold back against those who did not deserve her fury."

"And what happens to Zuko? Or Ozai?" he asked her bluntly, the Princess crossing her arms; the answer had not changed, and she had non intention to do so- her brother was the reason the bounty hunters were there in the first place, and thus, the reason they'd be losing their left eyes.

"If they come anywhere near you." she stepped closer to him, grasping him by the shoulder, "They'll wish you drowned in the Eastern Sea, Sokka." she assured him, the Water Tribesman making a nervous laugh, before looked at her with a slightly confused face.

"I'm pretty sure your father thinks that already."

* * *

The shaking caused by the engine and rapid motion of the tank-train around Iroh was quite frustrating, to say the least; he was struggling to enjoy a simple cup of tea, the kind of thing that he found to be most frustrating. Tea was meant to be simple, but when one was in a machine that had no care for the natural movements expected of any living creature, then it came as no surprise it conflicted with his most regular of activities, barring sleeping and eating. The former General would have preferred to have been taking a nap instead of sitting down to discuss actual matters relating to his trip, but given he wasn't the Fire Lord, it wasn't his choice to make; Zuko wanted him to go to Omashu, so, being the loyal and considerate uncle he was, he did just that. He didn't want to interrupt his nephew's honeymoon, after all, as he had gone to Ember Island with Lady Mai.

He wished the very best for the couple, but couldn't help but wish they'd chosen a different time for their wedding. He and his nephew had already discussed numerous times the threats that were posing his regime, and it was becoming apparent that they'd have to take decisive action sooner or later. General Mak, who was the attache coming with Iroh to provide advice on military affairs, was presently sitting with him, enjoying a cup of tea, just to break up the monotony of discussing the present affairs that were facing their forces in the Earth Kingdom, and that was before they considered the meeting in Omashu.

He hadn't seen King Bumi in many years, but was sure the old king had the support necessary to facilitate a peaceful turnover of the city, which was in the best interests of all parties. Iroh knew that Governor Ukano wasn't happy about losing his job, but Zuko had already sent him assurances that he had a ministerial position awaiting him in the capital, providing him with good reason to cooperate, not even considering the fact his daughter was now the Fire Lady.

"This is very good tea, General." Mak acknowledged the cup of jasmine he had been drinking, "Might I ask, how did you become so skilled at making tea? It doesn't seem like something your tutors would have taught you when you were young."

"It was a hobby at first. Tea is very calming, and was a good way to bond with my subordinates while on campaign."

"Oh..." he the General's eyes widened, before chuckling, "So, are you going to bond with me?"

"Well, I'm always willing to make new friends, General." he acknowledged, before narrowing his eyes, "So, back to the matter at hand. You were mentioning the colonial garrisons."

"Ah, yes. The Fire Lord's martial law order in Yu Dao has remained in place, and the populace seem content with the reconstruction project after battle a few months ago." he explained, "It has cost the government much, I assume, but there is a firm control over the city and its environs."

"So, General Shinu's men have been able to handle that well, I assume." he guessed, "There hasn't been any attacks from my brother's loyalists?"

"No. They've mostly cleared out of the area, given the amount of soldiers we have there." he assured him, "Ozai's loyalists do, however, have a presence to the south, in the Hu Xin provinces."

"So, perhaps we ought to head there after the meeting, and see what can be done about them." he acknowledged, the younger General nodding.

"I believe that would be a good idea, General." he agreed, "Our forces still have firm control over the southern provinces of the Earth Kingdom, and the coastal colonies in this region. Inland is a different story."

"I assume Bumi's forces have posed some issue."

"Patrols have been kicked back when trying to go any further east than Omashu, and I've heard reports of sandbender tribes raiding convoys moving to the southern provinces. The sea routes, however, are even more contentious. The Southern Raiders have captured five ships in the past two months." he explained with an uneasy face, "Impressing our sailors into their ranks, and forcing them on their 'expeditions'."

"The Fire Lord voiced his disgust on those matters to me." he explained, recalling how furious Zuko had been when he had learned of their enslavement of Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe commoners to build weapons and infrastructure for Ozai's loyalists in the region, "Admiral Liang's forces are being refocused to deal with them as we speak."

"And, with any luck, the Southern Raider fleet will be sunk to the bottom of the Southern Sea by spring's end." he explained, "However, Admiral Zhao's fleet has continued to pose a threat to our naval blockade. They haven't been able to reach the colonies yet, but they continue to harass the northern wing of Liang's fleet, and threaten our supply runs to the northernmost colonies."

"Well, it is good news that the Fire Lord is planning to have those colonists withdrawn to Garsai Province." he acknowledged, "They will be safe there, from Earth Kingdom renegades and Zhao's goons alike." he explained, before narrowing his eyes, "Well, they're technically not Zhao's anymore. Have you been informed of what occurred at the North Pole?"

"Just rumours, General." he acknowledged, "I heard the Avatar and your niece fought the Admiral there."

"He has been made a prisoner of the Northern Water Tribe, according to my contacts, and... supposedly, my niece has been intervening in Water Tribe politics."

"How so?"

"By forcing the Chief to relinquish control over the Southern Water Tribe." he recalled what Pakku had told him his latest message, "Which makes sense, given the fact they've had little to no contact for the past sixty years."

"That'd be our fault, wouldn't it?" Mak grimaced, the former General nodding.

"My father's specifically, but yes." he acknowledged, before sipping from his teacup, realising what his niece was doing, whether intentionally or not; righting the wrongs of their family was something that he had tried to do himself, but Azula seemed to be achieving such an aspiration, far quicker and more effectively than he ever had, "I won't say my niece was wrong to do that."

"Well, a divided Water Tribe is probably better for the Fire Nation in the long run, isn't it?" the younger General asked him, "They would pose less of a threat to us, and we could earn the respect of the South by taking out the Southern Raiders. They're their biggest threat, after all."

"I am sure my nephew has something in mind for that group, and I assume his thinking is similar to yours on the matter." Iroh acknowledged, before placing his hands together, "You've heard about the Avatar's encounter at Crescent Island with some of Admiral Liang's forces, haven't you?"

"Yes, I have." Mak confirmed, "That probably ran counter to the Fire Lord's official policy, but he did attack them."

"That he did." the retired general nodded, "I assume that may have partly been my niece's doing, given she likely wants the Avatar as an ally against my nephew, and against me."

"But the Avatar is probably the only one who could... well, quickly clean up all this mess." he acknowledged, "Ozai's loyalists and a fractured Earth Kingdom are making a rather combustible situation; Omashu itself was under threat just under two months ago from some of Ozai's forces encroaching on the region."

"General Zhang." he recalled who had been leading that force, "He and his men were captured by King Bumi's forces along with the Avatar." he explained, before looking down, "My niece's rather unsavoury message wasn't taken very well in the palace."

"Sorry?" the young General raised a brow, "I'm confused. What message did she send?"

"She expressly suggested my nephew do indecent things to himself." he recalled, not wanting to repeat the message word-for-war, "He was not amused, to say the least."

"Well, he might be pleased to learn that the bounty we've held for her is still in place, and there are men looking for her across the Northern Earth Kingdom. She was last reported to have arrived along with the Avatar, according to our spies."

"How many men do we have in that base?"

"Only three." he clarified, "They're not in danger, because they've been sending their messages indirectly, through private messenger hawks."

"Well, I hope they don't do anything foolish. Aggravating my niece any further would not help us in the slightest." he acknowledged, "Even if we could capture her, I doubt the Avatar or any of her other allies would take it well. They might go after us in retaliation."

"Specifically, as in the high command and Fire Lord's cabinet?"

"Well, I'm sure they're not fools. If they wanted to overthrow the Fire Nation government, they'd know who to aim for." he admitted, knowing that his niece's knowledge of their nation's politics likely didn't merely remain in her head, but probably was explained to her allies, such as Sokka and the young Air Nomad Avatar she was travelling with.

"Do you know much about the Avatar, sir?" Mak asked, "Obviously... he seems to be closely associated with the people we're going to be speaking with."

"That he is. King Bumi informs me that the Avatar is a good friend of his, from before the war."

"Sorry... from before the war? But isn't he a child?"

"Supposedly he hasn't aged since then." he recalled the message he'd received from his old friend, "A young man of peaceful temperament and good humour. In the past month, he has mastered, or at least effectively learned waterbending." he explained what he had learned from Bumi and Pakku about the Avatar, whose name he recalled to be Aang.

"He sounds like a threat." Mak acknowledged, "How will we deal with him?"

"Diplomatically, I hope. My nephew explains that he would prefer to meet the boy and help strike out some kind of partnership, though... I personally doubt that's going to work with his friendship with Azula."

"Perhaps a truce with the Princess and her forces may be in order, at least for the sake of stopping Ozai's supporters from gaining any more ground."

"As much as I'd like that to happen, I doubt she'd trust us." Iroh conceded, "She has some good reasons to mistrust us, and we have good reason to believe she'll stop at nothing to get the throne. My nephew, her brother, could have killed her during their Agni Kai."

"Well, that is how duels can go." Mak noted, before grimacing, "Though between siblings... that is a bit extreme, I will admit."

"It was." he nodded, "The duel the Fire Lord had with his father was shorter, but similar in results. We're just luckier we were able to restrain and capture my brother before he had a chance to escape."

Mak looked away, perhaps just wondering how it all could have come to what it did; a son coming to fight his father, potentially to the death. It was a shocking fact of Zuko's life, and now a fact of Fire Nation history; he had become the Fire Lord, and his grip on the throne, though clear, was threatened in multiple directions. Iroh wished things could have gone more smoothly; if Azula had been in the capital instead of out on her mission to Ba Sing Se, perhaps they would have been able to defeat her then and there and stifle opposition to Zuko, instead of letting it fester and explode, causing chaos in the Earth Kingdom and instability across the homeland. Kidnappings and murders were not unheard of, and Iroh feared that his brother was orchestrating some of it, though perhaps not directly, given his position in a dark, gloomy cell under the palace.

"Ozai's loyalists are still a serious threat." Iroh acknowledged, placing his teacup down in front of him, "More so than my niece's." he added, before narrowing his eyes at Mak, "Do you have any reports of recent activity they've made in this area?"

"No, not really." he shook his head, "After General Zhang's army was shattered by the Avatar, there's been little activity around Omashu. I assume they're reorganising themselves before they try anything again." he noted, "I believe we should be safe. The Governor has a large number of men protecting his palace, and we have convoys ready to help the colonists withdraw."

"Well, if everything goes according to plan, it should only take us a few days to get everyone on the move. Disassembling the factories and allowing those refugees who fled to return will be handled by our transitional government." he explained simply what he knew was about to occur, "I hope that Governor Ukano and King Bumi can set aside their differences so the process goes along smoothly."

"That would be best for all parties involved." the young General agreed with his proposition, "We don't want a repeat of Ba Sing Se."

"Do we have any spies there?" he asked, curious if they had any recent intelligence from the city.

"Some spies amongst your niece's loyalists there have reported back about their circumstances. It's not looking very good for them- they only control the Outer Wall, as the city has fallen back to Dai Li control." he explained, "I know that is not our place to deal with such things, given we have no interest in maintaining control over the city, but I do believe they pose a threat to our withdrawals from the Earth Kingdom."

"I concur." the Dragon of the West nodded, finding Mak's judgement to be reasonable, "The Dai Li have a similar aspiration to my nephew when it comes to the Earth Kingdom, however, they clearly want to make sure they are on top at the end of this conflict... which wouldn't be good for the Earth Kingdom in the long-term."

"Perhaps sending some support to the Outer Wall to try and appease those men might work in our favour. They might see that working with us can help stop the Dai Li's plans, whatever they might be." the younger general suggested, "We may succeed in getting their support, and stymieing the Dai Li in one move. That's what my teachers at the academy would call playing Pai Sho well."

Iroh let out a little chuckle, "Oh, they were right to say that." he acknowledged, "It's my proverb, after all."

"Wait, seriously?" the General asked him, "I thought that was from some old military scholar."

"Well, I am an old military scholar." he gestured to himself, "When I visited the Capital Officer's Academy many years ago to help inspire the students, that was one of the things I told them- a little advice from an avid Pai Sho player."

"Well, uh, I guess we could play at some point." Mak suggested, "I'm not that good. People say I'm always too quick to make my moves."

"It's not about speed. You can be fast and effective, but only when your intentions are disguised. If your opponent knows exactly what you're doing then you're at a clear disadvantage." he explained, "At the moment, we have the advantage of the Fire Nation's intelligence apparatus against my brother and niece, but it has to remain secret for it to be effective."

"I assure you, sir, our agents take the greatest caution in reporting their findings." he assured him.

"I don't doubt that. You simply shouldn't underestimate my niece's intelligence and perceptiveness. She will be cautious to trust anyone and everyone with her plans." he acknowledged, "Or perhaps, she has changed."

"Whatever she may think, our operatives will remain on task." he stressed, "Just as we will. Even if Princess Azula has built rapport with King Bumi's entourage, that doesn't mean they will refuse to work with us." he acknowledged, "They have a goal, and we are the only ones who can provide them with their victory."

"That is quite true, General." Iroh nodded, thinking his judgement to be rather astute; he could see why Zuko had assigned him, given that any military man could have done the job- he chose someone who could complement his uncle intellectually, "We have more pieces than anyone else... that does not make us invulnerable, however."

"If there is danger coming our way, we will see it before it arrives." he stressed, picking up his teacup, "The Fire Lord has hundreds of operatives across the world reporting on every movement that could be of note to our operations."

"And I assume my brother has the same. If we act like he and his supporters knows what we are doing, then we will be less surprised when they make their move." he acknowledged, "My associates in the Order of the White Lotus have been unable thus far to determine who exactly has been leading the loyalists while my brother has been imprisoned."

"There are dozens of high-ranking officers who defected... or rather, remained loyal to Ozai." Mak observed, "Any one of them could be the leader. Perhaps it's a collective leadership... like a war council without the Fire Lord."

"That may be the case." he nodded, "But I can't be so sure of that."

"Why so?"

"Because my brother wouldn't trust so many men to do his bidding. He must have somebody he trusts enacting his plans." he explained what he thought to be most likely, knowing his brother well enough, "And I have a feeling this person is in the Fire Lord's government. If they were openly against Zuko, there would be no way for them to possibly reach Ozai and directly communicate with him."

"This is just a hunch, General." the younger general observed, "We need concrete evidence of this individual and their activities before we can make a move on them."

"Hopefully, my associates turn up some intelligence soon, or I fear my brother's loyalists might try and sabotage our government and operations." he acknowledged, "For all we know, they could have compromised the very operatives you trust for your intelligence."

"I... well, I surely hope that isn't the case." he admitted, grimacing slightly as he looked off to his left, "They could be anywhere." he added offhandedly.

"That is why stopping them is vital. My brother is a very useful hostage, given that we could... well, get rid of him if they were to try and murder the Fire Lord, or do something of that same degree of damage to our nation." he admitted, not taking the idea of having his own brother exuected very lightly, though he had a feeling his nephew would have less qualms about it, after what had happened to him in the Agni Kai chamber, and those five years at sea.

"Is that why the Fire Lord didn't kill him?" Mak asked, rather bluntly, and unexpectedly.

"Uh, he simply failed to do so. He was using a technique that I invented, and I assume that the power of my brother's attack, which was deflected back at him, was weakened in the process." he acknowledged, before placing his hands down on the table, "Believe me when I say my nephew was willing and is able to kill his father. I don't think I have to tell you why."

"No, you do not." he conceded, seeming uneased by the thought; patricide was a terrible thing, but when terrible people faced justice, it could be tolerated, if only for the benefit it might bring to the world, "I think I need to go stretch my legs." he decided, seemingly unnerved by the topic their conversation had ended on, rising up to his feet, "It was good to speak with you, General Iroh."

"Oh, it is fine. You are quite a knowledgeable man, General Mak." he conceded, before pursing his lips upward, "So, when you feel like that Pai Sho game, just tell me. I'm looking forward to it."

"Of course." he nodded, before bowing toward him; he then paced out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Iroh in his relatively small quarters by himself.

He sighed, and glanced back toward his desk, remembering that he had received a letter from Zuko earlier in the day, just before they set off in the tank train for Omashu. He rose to his feet, and picked up the still bound scroll of paper; he pulled the letter opener off of the desk, and cracked the letter open, letting it unfurl by itself. He then sat back down and laid the scroll on the table, looking over its contents slowly, trying to imagine what his nephew might have been doing while he wrote it.

"Good day, Uncle, I hope this letter comes to you when you are able to read it. If not, I apologise for interrupting whatever you were doing." he read out the beginning of the letter, a simple formality given by his nephew, given it was a proper letter- he wasn't just sending him a letter for the sake of it.

"I have received some news from the colonies that might be of interest to you." he read out the next line, Iroh raising a brow before he continued, "A garrison of soldiers in the colonial town of Huangcha had to attend to an Earth Kingdom attack on the town hall. We don't know their motives, but what we do know is that the Avatar and a waterbender were there, and they tried to heal the commoners who were hurt in the attack." he continued to read down, "It seems that the Avatar is interested in protecting civilians, Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom alike."

Iroh smiled at the thought, knowing that was good news; if the young Avatar held similar concerns for all innocents, that would make it rather unlikely that he would try to fight the Fire Nation directly. He knew that there was a danger of his niece inciting the Avatar to fighting them, but it didn't seem very likely at the moment.

"I have rescinded any order for the Avatar to be dealt with as a hostile in response to his actions, as I believe it would be foolish for us to make him our enemy when it is clearly not the case." he continued to read Zuko's words, the Dragon of the West pursing his lips up, happy to see how much his nephew had grown.

The young Fire Lord was a lot wiser than he had been even a year prior, and was learning how to make decisions that Iroh knew would be hard. The Avatar had been an enemy of the Fire Nation, but now, his nephew was willing to take the steps necessary to reconcile the conflict that Sozin had incited by killing the Avatar's people.

"I hope that you are travelling well Uncle, and I wish you the very best for your meeting with King Bumi and my father-in-law." he continued to read, another formality, in Iroh's eyes, "I miss you, and hope that you come back home soon. I am looking forward to seeing how we can further ensure that my father's machinations don't come to fruition. We will not let our work be in vain, after all we have done, and the suffering I have inadvertently caused. Your loyal nephew, Zuko." he finished reading, smiling at his nephew's words; he truly had grown as a person- two years prior, he would be shocked to see his nephew be so reflective and warm toward him, even through text.

"You are a good man, my nephew." he whispered to himself, knowing that even if Zuko couldn't hear him, he deserved to have it told to him; he had grown paranoid and near manic due to the fear of assassination attempts, and though his wedding to Mai had perhaps lessened these fears, it was probably to be a momentary distraction.

Zuko had a very good reason to be afraid, and Iroh had reasons to be afraid for both his own life, and the life of his nephew, though he doubted that anyone would try to attack either of them. They both had the support of Imperial Firebenders, not to mention personal connections with the Order of the White Lotus, in the case of the need to hide and escape from assassins or any other kind of serious threat to their lives.

Going to Omashu was probably one of the more dangerous things Iroh could have set out to do, given that he was going out away from the security of the Fire Nation Capital, where he would be threatened by potential attackers. His tank train was already being led by some mounted troops, and followed by more of them, to ensure that he wasn't attacked, and that if he was, those soldiers would be able to deal with the situation before it grew out of hand.

He trusted General Mak's judgement and intelligence, which told him that after General Zhang's encounter with the young Avatar, Ozai's loyalists had been trying their best to avoid going anywhere near King Bumi's forces, nor the city of Omashu itself. He was as safe as he could be, given the wider circumstances his nation was facing, and as he rose back up to his feet, he decided that he would have a nap, and sleep off his breakfast; he needed to be ready for the meeting in Omashu, which he'd be reaching within two days.

"A man needs his rest." he recalled the phrase he always told his nephew, and felt that it was still as applicable to the young man as it was when he was a frustrated, lost and confused exile; Zuko was always worried, and Iroh wanted to do the best could to assist him, but sometimes, just taking a rest was the best he could do. He chuckled at the thought that the Fire Lord and his new wife were off on their own holiday while he was on his own, though his was clearly more dangerous and would be a lot less fun.

"I hope his holiday is better than mine."


	22. Chapter 22

Wrapping the bandage around Ty Lee's arm, Sokka couldn't help but feel sorry for her; she had gotten beaten up, cut by swords, grazed by firebending and held hostage for the sake of capturing Azula, and she was stomaching the pain and aches, all while they had continued travelling back to their base. So, when they set up camp, he offered to help her tend to his wounds, knowing she deserved to at the very least have a little help; she seemed to appreciate it, though that was masked by the grimace on her face as he reapplied her bandages.

"Sorry." he simply told her, before continuing to wrap the bandage around, tying it up to make sure it stayed in place when she moved around.

"You don't need to apologise, Sokka." she assured him, "This isn't your fault."

"No, I know, but you didn't deserve this." he stressed, which made her chuckle.

"So does somebody deserve it?"

"I don't know." he admitted honestly, before glancing away from her, wondering who truly deserved to suffer; the only person who came to mind was the man responsible for his mother's death, but he pushed that thought away, knowing that it was just going to make him needlessly angry.

"Sokka?" she addressed him, sounding a little bit concerned by the long silence.

"Sorry, I was just... nevermind." he raised his hand and shook it, knowing he didn't want to discuss those kinds of things with her, "Okay, are there any other injuries you've got that need to be treated?"

"No, I think that's it." she admitted, "I mean, I've got a few bruises, but I'm sure you do too." she noted, the Water Tribe teen nodding before he rose up to his feet, glancing about the campsite; the sun was already low in the sky, and he was sure they were going to have dinner sooner or later- the campfire had already been lit, and tents were being set up before his eyes.

"I guess it's dinner time." he acknowledged, before turning his eyes back down to Ty Lee, "Uh, so, are you going to come with me to find Azula, or are you going to go flirt with the guards?"

She snickered, and raised her hands up to verbally defend herself from his claims, "I never said I was going to flirt with anybody."

"You're an injured girl. If that doesn't get you the pity points, I don't know what will." he noted, making her rise up to her feet with a confident glare.

"I'll have you know that I can attract anybody with no need for pity." she declared defiantly, making him scoff.

"Oh, okay, so you're not going to flirt?" he questioned her once more, the Fire Nation girl crossing her arms.

"No, no, I'll go with you, and make sure Azula's so awkward that there's no chance she'll even touch your hand." she declared, "How does that make you feel, Mister Tough Warrior?" she asked, the Water Tribe teen cringing.

"Well, I'm not trying to get all like that with Azula." he assured her, "I'm just thinking about what we might eat, and then, maybe, what she might have to say about what happened today." he explained, the acrobat's confident expression fading as she recalled what happened.

"That was... a lot of eyes." she admitted, before stepping closer toward him, her expression growing nervous, "What is she going to do to Zuko?"

"I don't know." he admitted, before wincing, imagining what she might be intending, "But I know it won't be a nice experience."

Ty Lee stepped even closer, momentarily eyeing the guards, before she turned her gaze back toward her, "We can't... we can't let this get out of hand."

"I mean, I can't say I agree with what she did, but those guys were hunting her down." he acknowledged the justification Azula had for her rather horrific punishment, before he sighed, "But I know what you mean. Pakku... Pakku was right, the damn arsehole." he snarled, recalling what the snide and cocky waterbending master had told him- that he was blinded by his love for Azula; such a proposition seemed absurd at the time, but now that he had quite recently witnessed the ruthlessness and antipathy she was capable of, he understood there was truth to those words.

"Pakku..." she mumbled, "That's Aang and Katara's waterbending master, right?"

"Yeah." he nodded, "He's a dick, but he's not stupid." he admitted, before sighing, knowing that he'd have to address matters with his girlfriend, sooner or later; he could just deny it, and keep calling her great and noble, but he knew that was just a way to deflect away from the serious flaws she had as an individual.

"Do you need to talk with Azula about stuff?" she asked him, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"Yeah, but I can do it later. Let's just find her and go eat something." he decided, the acrobat nodding, and following after him as he made his way into the campsite, intent on finding Azula, unsure what state of mind she'd be in; possibly still angry over what had happened to them, or perhaps just tired and frustrated, which would describe his own state of mind quite well.

They made their way over toward the campfire, and Sokka noted the guards were sitting around it, chatting amongst themselves, though he missed the context of their conversation; they turned their heads up to look their way, and their grimaces marked the sympathy they held for Ty Lee, given what had happened to her.

"Are you alright?" Yi asked the acrobat, who nodded.

"Uh, yeah, I'm good." she assured him, though the Water Tribesman couldn't be sure she was telling the truth; she definitely seemed like the kind of person to disguise her problems with wide smiles and a cheery attitude, "Do any of you know where Azula is?"

"Uh, I think she went down to the stream to get some water." the Captain clarified, the pair nodding before they began to pace off in the direction of the stream, which was pretty easy to locate, given the sound the flowing water made.

They paced on through the campsite, moving downhill toward the stream, and Sokka glanced about through the trees to see if he could spot Azula; he couldn't just yet, so he decided to continue moving along toward the bank of the stream, the sound of the water getting louder as they approached its edge. Once it came into full view, the trees peeling away, he turned his head around, and made sight of his girlfriend, who was sitting by the edge of the water, and from the looks of it, she wasn't filling up her flask of water. She was thinking, and he had a good idea what she was thinking about; the fact that they were being tracked down, attacked and it had everything to do with her. She didn't have much control over it, given that she didn't really betray the Fire Nation as such, but simply refused to be her brother's prisoner, and now she opposed his rule; he understood why she did so, and he equally understood Zuko's reasoning to have her captured- the Princess was a threat, and everyone knew it.

"Azula." she spoke her name, and she turned her head towards them, seeming almost annoyed that they had come out to find her, though her expression shifted soon after; he couldn't tell what emotion she was feeling: it could be regret, or just simply fear for her own safety, "Are we going to have dinner, or what?" he asked her bluntly, the Princess rolling her eyes at his question.

"Of course you're here about food." she commented with a clearly annoyed tone, the Water Tribesman narrowing his eyes at her.

"I mean, it's just rations. I can eat it at any time." he clarified, "I'm not asking you to cook anything."

Her expression softened, and she dropped her shoulders down, suggesting she didn't want to get up just yet, "And, so?" she asked, "It's not like you need me to hand feed you, Sokka." she mocked him, making Ty Lee snicker.

"That's a good one." she mumbled, before glancing toward the Water Tribesman, who didn't appreciate her comment, "Sorry."

He stepped closer toward his girlfriend, and pouted slightly, "Could you please come have dinner with us?"

She glanced off into the water for a while, before she turned her gaze toward him, their eyes locking, "Fine." she accepted his demand, before picking up a pebble, and tossed it into the water; it splashed on the surface, but any ripples it made were consumed by the flow of the water.

"What have you been doing here?" Ty Lee asked her, "Meditating?"

"Something like that." she replied vaguely as she rose up to her feet, "Time to reheat some rice." she described exactly what preparing her meal would consist of, before she strode toward Sokka, narrowing her eyes at him, "What's with that face?" she questioned the Water Tribesman straightening his lips; he could try and discuss what he had on his mind at that very moment, but decided that going to eat their dinner first might put her in a better mood, no matter how little she claimed to care about things like eating.

"Nothing." he told her, before following after his girlfriend as she paced up through the woods back toward their camp; Ty Lee strode along beside him, narrowing her eyes at him, though she remained silent as they made their way back toward the camp.

She didn't need to say what she was thinking, because he was sure it was the same thing as he was; Azula had been thinking about things, and that was important. If she had come to some realisation about their plans, then they needed to hear about it, sooner rather than later. Sokka wanted to talk about what happened with the bounty hunters; though he wasn't going to say that they were justified to go after her, he didn't think that she ought to have reacted so savagely, and more than than, essentially try and prod her brother into coming after them. He didn't want her to face Zuko again, because he knew that it would break any chance they might have had of a peaceful resolution; he wanted Azula to see some kind of compromise, and though he had been agreeing with her plans, he knew that just going around and conquering the Fire Nation colonies wasn't going to do much other than stop her father from doing the same. If anything, that was the primary good that would come out of her plans, given that her intended use of the airships would allow them to have supremacy over the skies, and thus, ring the death knells for Ozai's loyalists.

They made their over toward the edge of the campsite, and Azula remained silent, not addressing her guards as she made her way in, approaching her tent, which she had set up herself; Sokka recalled how confused they were by her doing such menial work herself, but of course, they hadn't seen the life she lived at the South Pole. Setting up her own tent was little compared to having to hunt and fish for her own food and help prepare meals for a whole village so they didn't starve, and had enough people able to do said hunting and fishing. He glanced toward Ty Lee, and decided he'd go get his own rations, and sit down with Azula.

"Let's just get our food and meet back at the campfire." he decided, the acrobat nodding, before she paced off toward her own tent.

Sokka approached his own, which was set up just nearby his girlfriend's, and knelt down to part the canvas of the tent; he pulled out his bag, picking out from the jerky and rice crackers he had inside, and took them with him back toward the campfire. He glanced over toward Azula, who had pulled out a package of pre-cooked rice, and a bowl; she was already pouring some water into it, and proceeded to heat it up in her hand as she made her way over to the campfire.

He followed after her, and sat down beside Ty Lee, who had already come out with some rice crackers, which she was beginning to eat; she turned her eyes to the Princess, and made a small smile, "So, what have you got?" she asked, Azula simply shrugging her shoulders before pulling out some chopsticks.

"Rice." she explained, "And some kind of meat." she noted, one of the guards raising their hand up.

"It's pig-cow." he clarified, the Princess nodding, gesturing to her friend.

"There you go. Pig-cow." she simply confirmed, before taking a bite, "And it doesn't taste like dirt."

Sokka took a bite from his jerky, and sighed, wondering if she'd get out of her mood any time soon; he understood she had her reasons to be unhappy, or really just on edge about their whole situation. He decided that he'd just try and make conversation, knowing that there was little else he could do.

"So... uh, what do you think Katara and Aang are doing right now?"

"Hopefully not getting attacked by the Fire Nation." the Princess gave her opinion on the matter, "They'll be hiding out in the wilderness, if they're not stupid."

"They're not stupid." Ty Lee spoke up, "They're just... well, you remember that battle before we got to Crescent Island."

The Princess nodded, though she clearly didn't seem to approve of what happened that night, "Unnecessary interventions." she recalled, "We should avoid those in future."

"I mean, sometimes it's okay." Sokka admitted, remembering how they'd helped a family of refugees find safety, "We helped a family of refugees, back before we got to the North Pole."

"And how did that work out?" his girlfriend asked him, sounding rather skeptical of the potential outcome; contrary to her presumptions, things actually turned out alright.

"I got a home-cooked meal and met some friendly people. It was actually nice." he explained, "We took them to a nearby free settlement, and then we were able to go get some supplies."

"So, no battle?" Ty Lee raised a brow.

"There was no need. We did go intervene again with some fighting... I don't know if the soldiers were from the base or not." he admitted, shrugging his shoulders, before he narrowed his eyes, deciding to stick his ground, "It doesn't really matter if they were or not, actually. Aang just wanted to stop the Fire Nation from encroaching on their settlements."

"I did receive a report of that, though I tried to dissuade the Admiral and the others from doing anything about it. I was right to assume that you were just passing through, and that Aang would leave them alone after that." she acknowledged, the Water Tribesman cringing as he realised that turn of events might have played into Zhao's suspicions.

"Sorry about that... if it played a role in, you know." he admitted, his girlfriend sighing.

"Well, that could've, but I assume it might have had more to do with my discussions with the guards and Ty Lee. Somebody probably just heard something and reported it."

"I'm inclined to agree with her highness on that matter." Renshu spoke up, "The Admiral seemed more worried that the Avatar was going to attack our forces, as were the other officers; nobody mentioned the Avatar being her ally."

"Well, I can't recall it." she acknowledged, "Though, Zhao might have figured it out himself. I am sure what happened with Bumi's rebels against Zhang is known across the world by now, given how much of a thrashing Aang gave them."

"Yeah, that news might have spread a little quicker than we might have liked." Sokka conceded, before sighing, "Maybe going there was a bad idea."

"No, it was necessary. We needed to get your father the allies he needs to do what he wants... what you want, Sokka."

"Yeah." he nodded, knowing that getting rid of the Southern Raiders was one of his primary aspirations, and that couldn't be done with the warriors of his tribe alone, "I guess there's just some things we need to do." he acknowledged, and he was certain his words would remind her of what she had done a few hours earlier; she didn't respond, at least not immediately, and took a bite of her meal.

"Yes, yes, there is." she agreed with him, before continuing to eat her meal, pulling out more meat with her chopsticks, and chewing it down.

"You know what's really necessary? A spa session." Ty Lee spoke up, making Sokka snicker; she really did have her priorities set straight.

"After what we've been through today, I am inclined to agree." Azula acknowledged in between taking bites, Sokka narrowing his eyes in thought.

"Yeah... I could agree with a little relaxation." he acknowledged, before sighing, "But we've got to go deal with those Earth Kingdom rebels as well." he recalled, knowing that was their priority, given the danger said rebels might pose to Azula's base of operations if they were to remain their enemies.

"Yes." the Princess confirmed, "That is the main priority until Aang and Katara return."

Sokka took another bite out of his jerky, and glanced toward the flames in front of him, "I hope they've got better luck than us." he mumbled, wishing that his sister wouldn't have to face the same kind of frustrations they had; if all was well, they'd be heading straight to New Omashu, and Toph would join them without issue.

He didn't really think they'd be that lucky, and was sure that some issues were going to come about along the way, but he just hoped whatever they ran across was nowhere near as bad as what they had had to deal with that morning.

"We can make our own luck." Ty Lee spoke up, sounding as hopeful as ever, the Water Tribesman looking down at the rice crackers in his hands; he knew that their lack of luck had come about from the choices they'd made, and the places they'd gone- the only way to make their own luck was take a new approach, something he doubted Azula would agree to.

Once he chewed down on another piece of jerky, Sokka leaned himself back, glancing up toward the night sky above them, which was quickly coming darker and darker, the glinting of stars just barely visible through the light scattering of clouds above them. His mind wandered, going back to the events at the North Pole; he remembered how annoyed and angry had been about Azula's behaviour, and how it had put her in danger. He didn't feel that angry anymore, knowing he couldn't blame her for what had happened, at least not more than he already blamed Zhao and his conniving; he could blame her for not letting him come with her, and he knew that there was a chance something like that could happen again.

He imagined what might happen if she decided she'd go after her brother again, and try to seize the throne far more directly than she had been trying to as of late. He mightn't agree, probably because it was going to be a dangerous venture, and then she'd run off without him again, and get herself into needless danger. He didn't want that to happen, above all else; he didn't want reasons to spite her, and to fear that kind of betrayal, even if she didn't view it that way. She probably would just say she was protecting him again; even if she told him she wasn't going to do anything of the sorts, she tended to come up with new plans and plots on the spot.

So, he wasn't surprised when she finished her dinner that she turned to face him, and narrowed her eyes at him, "Sokka, come with me." she requested, the Water Tribesman nodding, before he rose up to his feet, taking his food with him as he followed after her, the Princess leading him back in the direction of her tent.

She did come to a halt outside of it, as expected, and she turned around to face him, seeming suspicious of his own intentions, "What is it that you want?" she asked, the Water Tribesman scrunching up his lips, finding the question to be vague and open-ended.

"Like... right now, or in general?" he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes, before she grasped his collar.

"I know you came down to that stream because you were worried... there's no other reason you'd stop yourself from getting right into eating that jerky." she deduced, and he nodded, thinking that was accurate enough to warrant his approval.

"Yeah, I mean, you're about right." he acknowledged, "What happened today was... a little crazy, honestly."

She raised a finger up, seeming unamused, "Are you calling the situation crazy, or me?"

"I..." he trailed off, unsure how to phrase his thoughts in a way that wouldn't agitate her, "What you did, it was a step too far." he acknowledged, the Princess tensing her grip on his collar, "And I get why you did it. They were going after you, so you taught them a lesson, to make sure nobody would try the same."

"I did." she nodded, "So, why is it wrong? Because they didn't deserve to suffer?" she asked, "They were going to kill Ty Lee, Sokka." she reminded him, the Water Tribesman nodding.

"I know." he acknowledged; he hadn't seen what happened himself, but he knew Azula wouldn't let her enemies chain her up just because she wanted to trick them, "But they didn't." he stressed, "She's fine. I mean, as fine as she can be."

"I know this is my fault." she acknowledged, raising a hand, "I should have just travelled with less guards, and on foot. The enemy tracked us all the way from Shengchang."

"It might have helped, but that's in the past." he dismissed her comments, knowing there was little they could have done to avoid the bounty hunters, "Those people were going to come after us, sooner or later."

"Then what's your issue, Sokka?" she questioned him once more, "Was I not merciful enough for your taste?" she prodded him, demeaning the idea of mercy, when in fact, mercy was the only reason either of them weren't in some prison cells in the Fire Nation capital.

"You can't just brutalise everybody that gets in your way." he simply put it, "Zhao was a dick, I get that, but not everyone's as bad as him."

"Why do you think I'm doing any of this?" she asked him, "I've got to prevent them from doing the same to us."

"The only reason any of this is happening is because you want to be the Fire Lord." he retorted, the Princess snarling as she tapped her fingertips on his sternum.

"So, you're finally admitting it." she declared, "You don't even think I should be the Fire Lord."

Sokka sighed, knowing that she was drawing the wrong conclusion from his words; he wished she had won that duel, and though he certainly wouldn't wish death upon anyone, even her brother, he would have preferred if she had just killed him then and there, and then it could have been done with. Of course, that was wishful thinking on his behalf, even if truly wanted her to be the Fire Lord; acting like Azula would have suddenly become more kind-hearted and considerate was just stupid, and he knew that all that had happened to her at the very least helped her grow as an individual, instead of being stuck under her father's thumb.

"No, I do." he retorted, "But... this is all going to cause needless suffering. It already has."

"They came after me."

"Because your brother is afraid of you, and has that bounty on your head, because he rightly believes you're going to come overthrow him." he simply explained the situation for what it was, "If we had just kept our heads down, all of this could have been avoided."

"I'm not giving up, Sokka." she retorted, now clearly angry with him, "Why do you want to undermine me? Do you really want that idyllic little igloo so badly?"

"Do you?" he questioned her in return, "You said you were joking about that earlier, before the fight... but I'm starting to see what Ty Lee means." he acknowledged, "You never chose to be Crown Princess, Azula. You never chose any of this... I guess you chose to work with me, and be my friend, but you didn't chose to be who you are." he told her what he knew she needed to hear, "Since Ba Sing Se, you've been able to choose for yourself, yet all you're doing is to sticking to the same shit your crazy father drilled into your head."

"And you think your way is better?" she retorted, "How is doing nothing going make anything better?" she questioned him, "I need to win."

"What is winning?" he asked her, "That's not a trick question, by the way." he added, "I know you think beating Zuko and taking that crown is going to fix something... what's it fixing?"

"My pride." she argued, the Water Tribesman sighing, before he pointed a finger at her, knowing that was a rather absurd thing to be concerned about when she was intending to overthrow her brother, and presumably, throw him in prison for the rest of his life, if not kill him.

"Your pride?" he asked, "Why would you be proud about killing your brother?"

"It has nothing to do with killing him. He disgraced me during that duel. I have to redeem my honour." she declared, before she clenched a fist and flared her teeth, "For fucks sake... now I'm sounding like him!" she angrily shouted, raising a fist to punch Sokka; he grasped her hand before she could do anything.

"Calm down." he pleaded with her, "Please, Azula... just calm down."

"This isn't your fault, Sokka." she told him bluntly, drawing her fist back, "I'm sorry about that." she conceded, before she snarled once more, "But I'm not sorry about burning their faces, or wanting to defeat him. That's my choice."

"I know, Azula." he assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "But I know there has to be a better way. A better end to all this."

"The end is where I sit on that throne and you are by my right side." she declared, before snarling once more, still angry with his questioning, "That's what I want." she stressed.

"Is there something else you want?" he asked her, hoping for a straight-forward answer; she wasn't completely consumed by that one goal, and he wanted to hear it for himself.

"I-" she began, looking at him, first with anger in her eyes, before it faded, "I want something better."

"Better than what?"

"Better than this." she gestured to the ground below them, "I don't want to live the rest of my days a vagrant and a fugitive."

"You won't have to." he assured her, knowing there was a future for them, even if she simply thought of a very specific one, "You have a home, Azula, and there's nobody there to tell you what to do. Once we get rid of those Southern Raiders... it'll be better, and we can make that home better than whatever you used to know."

"I want to help you do that, Sokka." she admitted, before turning her eyes away, "But that isn't my home." she bluntly told him; she might have thought that, but the people of his village might disagree.

"What, because you're Fire Nation? My village looks up to you now. They trust you, and doubt any of them hate you." he assured her, "You did that. You proved yourself. If you want to say you lost your honour, well, maybe you did, but I'm sure in the eyes of those people, you are more honourable than ever."

She sighed, clenching her fists; she didn't seem angry now, only confused, and conflicted over what she ought to say. He just waited, letting her figure out her thoughts, and soon enough, she turned around to face him.

"I wish I could say I loved living in that palace, with all those servants to do my every whim... I mean, I liked it, I was content, but I wasn't... I was never happy." she admitted, "I was always worried about failing father... becoming like Zuko, or being anything he wouldn't like."

"And now that weight is lifted. He's not going to scar and banish you, Azula. There's no way that can ever happen." he acknowledged placing his hands on her shoulders, "Were you happy at the village?"

"Happier." she admitted, "But maybe that was just you. Maybe I'm just so damn infatuated with you and your stupid jokes that I thought maybe I could be happy there. Maybe I thought I was stuck there, and I could be happy, and maybe I wished your sister would be nicer, because I was going to be stuck with her for the rest of my life."

"I-is that you what you actually thought?" he asked her, realising that he hadn't really thought about her thoughts before Aang had showed up; she didn't seem like she'd lost hope, but she didn't seem very set on sailing back to the Fire Nation to face her brother either.

"Yes." she admitted, "But things are different now. Now, I have a real chance." she stressed, Sokka pulling her closer.

"I know you have a chance... but we have a chance for that too." he acknowledged, "I know you don't want to trust Zuko, and I know he's not making it easy for us to do so, but maybe we just need to try and take a leap. Don't think about helping him, because that's not what this is about. It's about Ozai."

"We need to stop him." she agreed with the point he was about to raise, "I know that's more important than making myself Fire Lord. He's set on destroying the other nations, and I can't let him have the chance." she acknowledged, something they could both easily agree upon, before narrowing her eyes, "I don't know how we can get rid of his supporters... or bring them into the fold."

"I don't know either." he admitted, "Maybe Aang could go to the Fire Nation Capital and try and sort it out." he acknowledged, "If he could publicly assure the Fire Nation that he would fight Ozai if he dared to start a revolt or escape prison, and show him his abilities, then he wouldn't dare to rise up, and his supporters would be forced to surrender."

"Maybe." she mumbled, "I don't know if they'll believe Aang is really that much of a threat. Maybe they'll go after him." she suggested, sounding afraid, and not the usual kind of fear he saw in her eyes; Azula wasn't afraid of much, and that told him that she cared- Aang was her friend, even if he was just and goofy kid, and she wanted to make sure he didn't get hurt from all the things he had little choice in ,"I don't want them killing a twelve year old. He's innocent and no threat to the people of my nation, no matter what stupid history tutors like to say."

"They won't." he assured her, "They're not going to kill him, because we'll protect him, and if necessary... we'll defeat them. General Zhang was just the beginning." he emphasised as he pulled her closer, "We'll stop them from doing anything crazy with the little power they already have."

"What, so am I a judge now?" she asked, "I thought that was the Avatar's job."

"Other than the reckless violence, you'd be a pretty good Avatar." he suggested smugly, his girlfriend rolling her eyes.

"You know, that's really not a compliment."

"No, it is. You're capable and willing to do what is right." he assured her, "I mean, you might not act like it, but you're out to get the bad guys."

"I am the bad guy." she declared, the Water Tribesman raising a finger.

"Okay, how about we meet in the middle: you're the good bad guy." he suggested, making the Princess stare at him for a few good seconds before she gave a resolute nod.

"I can tolerate that." she conceded, Sokka kissing her on the cheek.

"That's great to hear." he acknowledged, before glancing down, "Can I finish this jerky?"

"I wouldn't dare stop Sokka from finishing his meal. That's how I'd really get him to spite me." she explained her thoughts in jest, stepping back, "Go ahead. I'm going to go rest... and have a think about your advice."

"That's exactly what I want to hear. Use that big brain of yours." he pointed at her forehead, the Princess struggling to hold back a laugh.

"I don't know whether I find your stupid humour endearing or infuriating." she gave him her thoughts on that matter, making the Water Tribesman cock a smirk.

"Both. Good and evil, cute and annoying." he gave her some dichotomies.

"Wait." she raised a hand, "Did you just dare call me cute?" she questioned Sokka, who scrunched his lips up.

"Well, actually, I was calling myself cute." he placed a hand on his own chest, making her snicker.

She leaned forward and whispered to him, "You are cute sometimes." she admitted, "Don't you dare tell Ty Lee I said that." she warned him, before eyeing behind him, "At least she didn't eavesdrop on this conversation."

"I would have chi-blocked her for that... despite her injuries. That'd just be rude."

"Says the person who makes an effort to denigrate his opponents, especially when they're powerful men." she retorted, Sokka smirking.

"I just like to burst people's egos... even yours." he acknowledged, "Just so you can build it up stronger than ever, with better reasons to feel confident in yourself."

"You're weird." she bluntly commented, before pointing to the food in his hands, "Just eat your jerky." she suggested, turning her heels as she moved back to enter her tent.

"I'm optimistic." he countered, "And I will eat this jerky." he declared, before whispering toward her tent, rather loudly just to be sure she heard, "And then do I go in the tent?"

"Well, are you brave enough?" she asked him, leaving the Water Tribesman wondering whether that was her being suggestive or not, before closing the folds of the canvas, leaving him standing there by himself; he decided that he would, because he knew that despite all the screwed up things Azula did, and perhaps, intended to do, the future was not set- they had to make their own future.

"Yeah, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe has enough balls to whack the Fire Lord in the head; he can barge into your tent any day of the week."

* * *

The city of Omashu was very different to what Iroh remembered it to be the last time he visited; that was many years prior, before his nephew's banishment, when King Bumi still ruled it. He remembered how lively the city was, and the distinctive design of the city on a large, conical mountain, with its intricate mail system powered by earthbending. He found that rather interesting, in contrast to most Fire Nation technology and infrastructure, which didn't usually require any firebending. That made building their industries in an Earth Kingdom city rather simple, which led to the ugly factories he saw before him, bellowing out massive smokestacks; he wished they at least considered aesthetics when building such structures, but what was worse was that they had been built to begin with.

A city's resources and populace were forced to partake in the Fire Nation's war effort, and once Ba Sing Se had been taken, forced to perpetuate the empire that had taken over its country. The only reason Iroh hadn't immediately advised for withdrawal from Ba Sing Se was because they needed to withdraw from other areas first, as to ensure that neither Ozai nor Azula's supporters could take advantage of their weakened position in the Western Earth Kingdom. He just hoped that the transition would go smoothly, and that King Bumi would be able to rein in his supporters, so that no more needless conflict would arise between each party. They obviously had bigger threats to worry about than each other, so Iroh was glad that all parties had agreed to a handover, which had been precipitated by Governor Ukano withdrawing much of the industry to other colonies on the Earth Kingdom coast.

As he strode down the streets of the city, earning looks from Fire Nation colonists and Earth Kingdom locals alike; he was flanked by Imperial Firebenders, General Mak, and a few attendants bringing his luggage, which he'd be keeping at Ukano's palace while the transition took place. He expected to stay for a few nights, and with Bumi, oversee what would be the effective removal of the Fire Nation colonists, along with their military presence in the city. The transition would hopefully be peaceful, and relatively painless; some of the colonists might not be very happy to be expelled from the city, but Iroh was sure to be providing them with accommodation in nearby colonies, and small amounts of compensation to allow them to find new places to live. Some of the people had been forcefully relocated, or coerced to, from the homeland, and he was sure most of them would be more than willing to return.

"General Iroh." Mak addressed him, sounding almost humoured, "It seems you've got a lot of attention."

"I was once the man who led the Fire Nation to conquer Ba Sing Se. People know of me." he admitted, the General nodding, before narrowing his eyes.

"And Crown Prince of the Fire Nation until your father's death." he added, "You are well known, sir."

Iroh recalled when everybody viewed him highly, at least in the Fire Nation, and saw it fondly; he didn't want to be hated by his nation, and even after all that happened, he doubted people did, even if some might not have trusted him, given what he and his nephew had been doing. It wasn't that people thought him a traitor, but their views of him were tainted by his withdrawal from Ba Sing Se, and essential retirement. He became like any old man, who just happened to be the Fire Lord's brother, and after that, the man who essentially enabled the Fire Lord's overthrowal. He wondered if they would have viewed him more kindly if he had been the one to fight Ozai in an Agni Kai, and reclaimed his birthright, as some might have liked him to.

As he paced on up toward the Governor's Palace, he made sight of Governor Ukano and his wife Michi, standing by the railing, overseeing Iroh's procession; they didn't necessarily seem that happy to see him, though they were probably just glad things were going smoothly. He knew that they must have only gotten back from the Capital recently, given they were at the Fire Lord's wedding, just as he was. The Fire Lord had decided Iroh wouldn't be leaving the capital immediately, despite the fact the handover was pre-planned before the wedding; Zuko wanted him to have some time to rest after the big day, and deal with any policy matters at hand while he was on his honeymoon with Mai. At that very time, he assumed Zuko had just returned from his honeymoon, and was probably back to working on ironing out his policies in the colonies, as well as pushing harder against Ozai's loyalists, given they were clearly present in his government. Ratting them out would be harder than simply demanding they step forward, though he trusted his nephew to find a way to do so safely.

He made his way up the staircase to the front of the palace, and let his guards step up in front of him, making sure nothing unexpected happened; though he doubted assassins might come at him in broad daylight, it wasn't completely unreasonable. As he approached the Governor and his wife, they bowed toward the General, obviously counting him their superior; he was royalty, so that didn't surprise him, though he didn't come to the city wanting to be treated as such. He was simply there to oversee the process, rather than to order anyone around.

"Governor Ukano, Lady Michi. It is good to see you again." he addressed them, the Governor nodding.

"It hasn't been long, your highness." he acknowledged, "Have you received any news from the Fire Lord?"

"The last I heard from my nephew, he and your daughter were returning from their honeymoon. I assume they're back at the capital already." he explained, before glancing around, "Where's your son?"

"Oh, Tom-Tom is being taken care of by the servants while we have our meeting. I couldn't have him interrupting." Ukano explained, before gesturing to the front door of the palace, "I received a message from the King. He will be arriving soon with his entourage."

"Good." Iroh nodded, "I was looking forward to beginning as soon as possible." he acknowledged, before glancing down the staircase, "Bring my things in at once." he addressed his attendants, turning his gaze slightly over to the head of his guards, "Check the area around the premises. I just want to be sure that this meeting will go along smoothly."

"Of course, your highness." the head guard bowed toward him, before he snapped his fingers, the other guards fanning out to check around the area surrounding the Governor's Palace.

"I assure you, your majesty, there's nothing for you to fear. The city's guards have been checking every nook and cranny for subversive elements that might seek to disrupt this turnover." he assured him, the retired general nodding, understanding that he too would have taken precautions; he didn't want his resume as governor ruined by such a mistake, given he was looking forward to his new job in the Fire Lord's ministry.

He cleared his throat and gestured into his house, "Please, come inside. I have tea."

"Oh, so you've been told." he chuckled at his choice of persuasion, the Governor making a slightly embarrassed expression.

"Uh, yes, Mai informed us how much you enjoy your tea. Ginseng, is it?"

"Yes." he confirmed with a smile, glad that he'd be getting what he liked without having to request it.

"Well my servants are already getting it ready for you." he explained, before Iroh followed him and his wife inside, his eyes darting around the foyer of the palace; if he hadn't seen the city outside, he might have thought he was in a large manor house in the capital, not in a city in the Earth Kingdom.

He followed them through the foyer toward a large sliding door, which the Governor's servants drew open, revealing a large room with a long table in the middle; the Governor gestured to some seats on the table, and he sat himself down, crossing his legs before he glanced around the room, noting that the walls had a number of traditional Fire Nation paintings on them, depicting the landscapes of the homeland- volcanoes, cliffs, valleys, bays and streams. He wondered if the paintings were to help remind them of the country they didn't visit very often; he was sure that the wedding was the first time either of them had been to the homeland since Ukano became Governor of Omashu. He knew that many people did miss the homeland, in his experience, when they had lived there their entire lives.

Homesickness was very common amongst soldiers, and he too felt it when he was away for too long, though it was less that he missed his home, and more so, that the life of a soldier was stressful, and being a well-respected General was something that placed much pressure on him, much of which came from the expectations his father, Fire Lord Azulon, had of him. He wondered how someone like Mak felt when it came to such stresses, given like himself, he had had a fair amount of experience on the battlefield, even if it was a lot younger than he was; perhaps he was glad to have his job as an attache, so he wasn't out there, putting men's lives on the line, instead focusing on ensuring that both the military and the Fire Lord himself was best prepared to deal with the threats that faced them, both visible and hidden. The General and Iroh's guards entered after him, and the former sat down with him, while Ukano and Michi sat across from them.

"So, your highness, how was the trip?" the Governor asked him, Iroh giving a small smile as he recalled how smoothly things had gone; his ship sailed straight to a Fire Nation port just west of Omashu, and there had been no issues along the way.

"Good. The weather was fine, and my tank-train got me here with no issue." he acknowledged, before eyeing the paintings he had been looking at earlier, "You have some nice artwork in here. Where'd you get it?"

"I bought them from a painter in the homeland when we first moved here." Michi explained, "I wanted us to have a reminder of where we came from with us."

"I mean, this house looks like it was taken right out of the capital and plopped down in the city." he acknowledged, before narrowing his eyes, "Have you missed your daughter since she left?"

"She has written to us regularly." Ukano explained, "We're happy for her and her new life. I am sure she approves of living in the palace over this city, given how far she has been from her homeland and everyone she knows."

"Well, her best friends were my niece and... uh, what was her name... the acrobat girl." he tried to recall her name, unsure what it was.

"Ty Lee." Michi clarified, "She hasn't seen her in a few years." she noted, "We haven't heard much about her, actually, other than that she joined a circus. Her parents were rather worried about it, but supposedly all seven of their girls joined up."

"Hmph, they must be quite the act." he guessed, knowing that seven identical girls would be able to work together quite well, not just because of their similar appearances, but behaviours too; he hadn't met that many identical siblings in his time, but if Lo and Li, Azula's firebending masters, were any indication, they seemed to be very similar in behaviour and mindset.

"Sir, the tea is ready." Iroh heard a servant speak up, and he turned his head around, smiling as he saw the pot of ginseng come over to them.

"Brilliant." he grinned, "Thank you very much." he made a slight bow to the servant, who smiled in appreciation, before they placed the tray, containing a teapot and a few cups.

They then poured out some tea for each of them, Mak picking his cup up first, taking a sniff, "Hmph, I can see why you like it so much, General."

"It is the best." he smirked, before taking a sip.

"We could bring out appetisers too, if you'd like some." Michi suggested, the retired general nodding.

"That would be a good idea. I'm sure the King and whoever accompanies him would appreciate that too." he noted, the servant nodding.

"I'll go tell the cooks to get some things ready."

"Thank you, Chuan." the Governor acknowledged the servant, "That's all we'll need for now."

The servant strode out of the room, and Iroh turned his gaze back toward the Governor and his wife, "Well, the King should be here soon." he assumed, "Did he give an exact time?"

"No. He said... uh, that he would come as soon as he knew you were here." he explained, making the Dragon of the West raise a brow, finding such a specification to be interesting; he would have to have some way to find out if Iroh was there, so he assumed he already had people in the city, spotting about, or perhaps, he was already waiting there, hiding with the use of earthbending, to reveal himself when he desired.

"Well, if he pops right out of the ground, I won't be surprised." he admitted, before taking another sip from his teacup.

"Governor, might I ask, what have your men noted recently in the area?" Mak spoke up, "I'm curious, and I'm sure the General is too, as to exactly what's been going on around here."

"Uh... nothing too out of the ordinary. King Bumi has his men patrolling around the mountains, and we do too, just to make sure they don't try anything." he explained, "Of course, we won't have to worry about that, soon enough, but ensuring the safety of the people living in the city is my first and foremost goal."

"As should it be for any governor." Iroh acknowledged, "Has there been any insurgent activity?"

"Not that I know of." he admitted, "There's been a few posters here and there decrying the Fire Lord's policies, but no mass demonstrations."

"So, better than what's happened in some of the other colonies." the Dragon of the West noted, recalling what had happened in Yu Dao after his nephew and niece had their Agni Kai; Admiral Zhao had attacked, and though his forces were defeated and either captured or repulsed, support for his niece did not waiver, and nor did the fears of the people in the city for their livelihoods- they had rose up in mass demonstrations, demanding the Fire Lord halt his withdrawal from the colonies, and there had been clashes between pro-Earth Kingdom and pro-colonist groups.

"Yes, I've heard about what's been occurring in some other colonies. Truly, it's a shame that our nation is divided in such a manner." he acknowledged, the retired general letting out a sigh.

"My nephew has spoken to me at great lengths about his desire for unity, but it seems rather challenging to appease all sides of the debate, let alone the other nations." he conceded, realising that achieving the peace he and Zuko had set out to find would be a lot harder than they might have first expected.

The Fire Nation itself was being torn apart by conflicting views on the future of the nation, given his nephew's plans to draw back colonists and give more freedom to the Earth Kingdom; that policy was what had led to him going to Omashu, and what had caused the revolts in the colonies, from what he understood.

"Well, we can only hope that peace comes about sooner rather than later. It would be a shame for years to be squandered with all this infighting." Ukano admitted, before suddenly, all of their attention was drawn to what sounded like a crumbling noise, along with the ground shaking below their feet.

"I believe that would be the King." Iroh clarified, rising up to his feet as he approached the door of the room, wondering how long Bumi and his men had been waiting underground for.

A few moments later, the front doors of the palace were opened up, and in walked King Bumi, flanked by a number of elite earthbenders, who were covered with armour and clearly dressed for a fight. When the King made sight of his friend, he let out a little smirk, and raised his hands up.

"Iroh." he addressed him, "It is good to see you, old friend."

"And you, your majesty." he acknowledged the King with a small bow, "Please, come sit. Governor Ukano has gotten us some tea."

"Brilliant." he smirked, before glancing back at his men, "Well then, you all can keep guard on the outside." he explained, before gesturing for somebody to come forward, "Toph, Yung, you two will attend the meeting with me."

"Yes, sir." a soldier acknowledged his king with a salute, before a stout teenage girl stepped forward, wearing armour similar to the other soldiers, though better sized for her proportions.

"Do you need me to check them first, your majesty?" she asked rather bluntly, turning her head towards Iroh, and the others behind him.

"That won't be necessary yet." he assured her, before the King strode on over into the room, "This is quite an ugly building." he simply observed, which seemed to offend Ukano and Michi, though they didn't dare to respond, "What happened to my palace?"

"It was demolished." the Governor clarified, making the King sigh.

"Urgh, I'll have to rebuild it then." he acknowledged, "What about the ugly statue? Are you going to take that apart when you leave?" he asked, the Dragon of the West chuckling.

"I'm sure my nephew would appreciate you demolishing that statue yourself." he suggested, knowing that Zuko held little love toward his father, nor the images of him that appeared around the Fire Nation and its territories.

"Ah, that's good to hear. The Fire Lord has a sense of humour." he smirked, before striding over to the table, sitting himself down on the opposite end from Ukano and Michi.

Yung and Toph, which he assumed to be the adult soldier and teenage girl, respectively, sat themselves down beside the King, the former eyeing them suspiciously while the latter blankly stared at the wall. A few moments after that, some servants strode on into the room, hands full of bowls of snacks, such as fire flakes, rice cakes and small dishes of fried duck, komodo rhino and pig-cow. Iroh licked his lips, looking forward to enjoying a meal while they discussed the matters at hand. Once the servants had put everything down, he picked up a pair of chopsticks in front of him, and took some of the roast duck onto his plate.

He glanced over at the teapot, and realised that Bumi and the others might want some, but probably couldn't reach, "You wanted some tea, right?" he asked the King, who simply smirked, before raising his left hand up, the teapot levitating off of the table, before it was drawn over to him.

"It's a ceramic teapot." he simply clarified, "I can bend it." he explained, before grabbing the pot with his hand, pouring the two accompanying him some tea.

"Uh, so, should we get to the matter at hand?" Mak spoke up, the retired general nodding.

"Yes." he agreed, "King Bumi, may you tell the Governor what you have planned on your end for your handover?"

"Well... this is my city, after all. As soon as I see it safe to do so, I will have my subjects return to the city, and I expect their houses to be returned to them."

"The colonists will be all leaving in the next week. Everyone has had some forewarning, so there should be no issue as long as the houses are vacant." Ukano explained, "Organising their movement is something I assume the Fire Nation Army will be handling for us."

"That is correct." Mak confirmed, "There are convoy guards and steeds on the ready to retrieve whatever goods need to be taken out of the city." he explained, "The Fire Lord told me that he will be covering the costs of the immediate removal of people's belongings, but they will need to cover costs if they are going beyond the port towns we are taking them to."

"And what will they do beyond that?" Ukano asked, "I understand that many people here have come from the homeland."

"There is a charity organisation that some nobles in the capital have established." Iroh spoke up, "Those that are sympathetic to the situation faced by these colonists. They will be providing them with transportation, as well as covering their food and housing costs while they are here."

"That must have been quite some money." Bumi acknowledged, "These nobles wouldn't happen to be the same that have benefited from all the industry you've built here, Governor?"

"Uh..." the Governor's expression became nervous, before he turned to face the elderly king, "Well, I don't know who is funding this charity."

"I believe you are right." Iroh admitted to his friend, "But there is no harm trying to fix our mistakes. Those people will leave, and your city will be restored to its former glory; I believe it is better that they leave without feeling as if they have been robbed, as much as your own people have suffered."

"They have." the King admitted, "But we have had peace these last few months, and I have you to thank for that, Iroh." he acknowledged, "What compensation will they receive?"

"The city's coffers are yours to keep." Ukano acknowledged, "We have used some of the tax money to cover the withdrawal process, but much of it remains, ready to be used. There is also the treasury left from when you and your people left the city two years ago. Some of it was appropriated by the army, but most of it has remained here."

"Were you planning to use it for something?" Iroh raised a brow, the Governor shaking his head.

"It was merely security. If there was a war tax enacted by Fire Lord Ozai, we were ready to pay it." he explained, the King chuckling at his words.

"Oh, well, aren't we lucky that that tax never came about." he acknowledged, before sniffing some of the fire flakes, "I've never had these before." he admitted, "They smell rather odd."

"It'd be the spices, your majesty." Yung clarified, the King tossing one of them into his mouth; he chewed and swallowed it with a blank expression, before cringing, picking up his teacup, before taking a rather long sip.

Iroh didn't want to laugh, knowing that Earth Kingdom people were unacquainted with the tastes of Fire Nation cuisine; Ukano grimaced, and raised a hand, "Chuan." he addressed the servant who had been serving them tea earlier.

"Yes, your excellency?"

"Could you get some of the milder fire flakes from the pantry?" he asked, the servant narrowing his eyes.

"The ones your son eats?" he asked, the Governor nodding; the servant turned his heels, and paced outside of the room.

"I apologise for any... uncomfortable feelings you might be having, your majesty." Ukano conceded, the King nodding.

"Oh, well, you've got to try things to know you don't like them." he acknowledged, before turning his attention toward the girl sitting across from him, "Is something wrong, Toph?"

"Uh, no, not really." she assured him, before the King of Omashu glanced toward the Governor and his wife.

"Now, I'd like to hear about how exactly you're going to handle the inevitable unrest amongst your people, Governor." he suggested, "Even people in the Fire Nation mustn't agree with everything their government does."

"Well..." Ukano began, seeming unsure of himself, "I will work in accordance to the Fire Lord's policies. We cannot let the anger of a few compromise this important step for us all." he acknowledged, the Earth Kingdom girl who was sitting beside the elderly king clearing her throat, pointing toward the Governor without looking at him.

"That was a lie, Bumi." she told him, Iroh glancing toward her with interest, slightly confused as to why she would be accusing the Governor of doing so; he understood most people in the Earth Kingdom weren't that trustworthy of his people, but she seemed rather resolute in her statement.

"And, may I ask, why do you think that?" he asked her, Toph turning her head slightly before she smirked.

"I don't think so, I know so. I can tell when people are lying." she declared, the King beside her nodding.

"This is true. That's why she's here." he explained, Iroh scrunching his lips up.

"Hmph." he mumbled, before scratching his goatee, "So, how can you tell?"

"Earthbending." she clarified, "I can sense the heartbeats of everyone in this building. It's a little harder when I'm sitting on a mat, but I can do it."

"The floor is made of stone tiles." Iroh observed, knowing that it wasn't wood, at least on the ground floor, meaning it was possible, though a challenge for an earthbender to sense through it, "You must be quite the earthbender."

"Well, I'd say I'm-" she began, before holding her tongue, "Uh, I'm good." she chose her words, perhaps wanting to soften them instead of coming off as rather cocky; he was unsure exactly what kind of temperament she held, but he guessed, given her confidence in her bending abilities, she had to be rather self-assured, not too unlike his niece.

"Being able to detect if someone is lying must be a very useful ability." he noted, "Especially for interrogations."

"That's what I mostly do, actually." she admitted, "That and beat up any Fire Nation scouts that come too close to New Omashu."

"Well then..." he began, turning his gaze back to Ukano, who was clearly uncomfortable, "What are you lying about, Governor?"

"Nothing." he assured him, "This girl is mistaken. I'm just worried about any insurgency."

"That wasn't a lie." Toph clarified, "The last part, specifically."

"Why are you so worried, Governor?" Bumi asked, "You are the one ruling this city, after all."

"I-" he began, before rising up to his feet, "I need to go to the toilet."

"Wait a second." General Mak spoke up, standing up beside the Governor, "We need to know what you're lying about, Governor. Anti-government forces and plots are concerns of national security, and are under my purview." he stressed, pointing a finger on the Governor's sternum, "Given I was installed in this role by the Fire Lord himself, I outrank you."

"Fess up." Toph prodded the Governor, who looked down at his wife, who seemed just as intimidated as he was.

"What happened, Ukano?"

"I received a letter." he explained, tensing up as he looked down at Iroh, "I've been threatened to ignore their actions in my city, otherwise, they'll order the assassination of my daughter and son-in-law, the Fire Lord."

Iroh blinked a few times, before placing his hands on the table, "Ukano." he addressed him, "Please... please tell me they aren't coming for us right now."

"I don't know. I told my men to ignore any of their actions. They made me burn all our intelligence reports." he told him, Toph nodding to confirm that he wasn't lying.

"Why did you go along with this?"

"They sent me one of Mai's knives." he explained, "And this wasn't something she'd left behind here when she went to join Zuko all those months ago- this was from the palace." he explained, placing a hand over his face, "If they can take a knife, then they can... they can do much worse things to her."

"I knew it." Iroh clenched his fist, realising that his assumptions had been true, "There are people in the palace following my brother's orders." he explained, "This all has to be his doing. He's trying to scare us."

"Why?" the Governor asked him, "Ozai's in prison, and the Fire Lord could have him executed at any time."

"Because he wants the war to continue." Iroh bluntly put it, "That's the victory he thinks he can get from our failure." he acknowledged, before turning his eyes to Bumi, "I apologise for this inconvenience, Bumi, but I believe that we might be in danger right here." he explained, the King nodding, not seeming intimidated in the slightest.

"That's why I brought Toph." he clarified, "She doesn't just check for liars."

The Earth Kingdom girl rose up to her feet, and stomped her right foot down onto the floor, and quite hard at that; the Governor and his wife trembled with fear, while Mak only seemed angry with the situation they'd found themselves in.

"What can you sense?" Bumi asked her; the straight look on her face told Iroh that she wasn't very concerned, but she furrowed her brow in thought.

"Well... there's definitely some people. Your guards, and I think... General Iroh's guards." she noted, before pointing to her right, into the foyer of the house, "Wait." she spoke up, now sounding more concerned, "I can sense some people moving our way, out in the city."

"How close?" Yung asked her, the earthbender dropping her hand.

"Maybe they'll be here in a minute, if they keep up their pace." she noted, before turning around, pointing toward Iroh, "Get your men ready to fight... unless you're fine with getting assassinated." she suggested.

"I am not." he assured her, before turning to face Mak, "Let's deal with this threat."

"Of course, General." he agreed with him, "You two stay here; it might get messy." he warned Ukano and Michi, who nodded, seeming afraid of what might happen next.

The King of Omashu rose up to his feet, and sighed, before he flexed his shoulders, revealing his impressive height and build as he dispensed of his robes, that seemed to surprise most people in the room, other than Iroh, Yung and Toph, given they had all seen him like that before, "This'll just be like old times, Iroh." he acknowledged, before chuckling, "Except I'm fighting with you instead of against you."

"I am glad that's the case." the Dragon of the West agreed with him, before the group moved toward the foyer of the palace.

"Everyone, get ready to protect the palace!" Yung shouted out to the other Earth Kingdom soldiers, who immediately moved into form as they turned their attention toward the doorway.

Toph suddenly shouted out, raising her hand up, "Something just got set off at the walls!" she warned them, Iroh's eyes widening; the walls of Omashu were lined with artillery, presumably there for the scenario that Ozaai's loyalists attacked- he now realised that they must have been utilised by those very loyalists to attack them.

"The artillery." he muttered under his breath, "Everyone, get away from the doors!" he warned Bumi's men, who immediately raised their hands, pulling earth out from underneath their feet, creating a shield of stone walls that blocked off the front of the palace from view.

Iroh cowered down as he prepared for the artillery to hit the palace; when it did, the ground shook violently as smoke and dust spurt from the front of the building, as well as a large amount of wood and metal debris, which was thankfully blocked by the makeshift earthen walls. He coughed after he accidentally inhaled some of the dust, and covered his mouth with his left hand while he glanced around, trying to check if anybody was hurt. He could see Bumi and Toph, both of them already moving into form, caving away the walls that had been formed to protect them; feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned around, and saw that Mak was behind him, seeming rather concerned by the turn of events.

"General." he muttered, covering his own mouth to block out the dust and smoke, "We've got to get out of here. Back to the tank-train." he explained, the Dragon of the West shaking his head.

"They've probably already destroyed it, or set it up as a trap. We can't go there." he warned him, "We need to fight the threat, and eliminate it." he declared, before eyeing the two earthbenders pacing ahead of him, "We need to trust they can protect us."

"I never thought I'd be relying on earthbenders." he admitted bluntly, before turning his eyes toward the Governor and his wife, "You two should come with us. It's not safe in here."

"Everybody, evacuate!" Ukano called on those inside, Iroh noting that many of the servants were probably confused as to what was going on.

He followed after the King of Omashu, watching as he created pillars of earth, which he fired out into the distance, presumably at the artillery that had attacked them; he watched with awe as he saw the top of the wall be shattered, and a number of artillery pieces knocked off of the wall, down into the gully surrounding the city on all sides. Suddenly, he heard the sound of flames flying through the air, and realised they were being attacked from multiple directions. To protect himself, as well as those who were outside the front of the palace, he raised his hands up, creating a vortex of flames, which surrounded them on all sides, which surprised Bumi and the other earthbenders.

"Woah." he heard Toph murmur, "That's a lot of fire." she acknowledged, the Dragon of the West gritting his teeth as he bent the flames away from them, into the sky, sending the attacks that had melded into the vortex away, dissipating into nothing in the process.

"Defensive formations!" he heard Yung shout out, and the earthbenders all moved into form, surrounding them with walls, and blocking off any potential attackers from reaching them.

Iroh's Imperial Firebenders were rather confused by the turn of events, but they too moved into form, drawing closer to the retired general, who was ready to face off whatever came his way next.

"General, we have to get away from here." one of his guards warned him, "Should we push through?"

"Not yet. We don't know how many people are here to fight us." he acknowledged, before eyeing the King who stood nearby, "Plus, we've got another way out."

"That we do." Bumi smirked, before he motioned his hands around, pulling a boulder out from the ground below him, before he gestured a finger to Iroh.

"Some flames, please." he requested of his friend, who complied; he bent flames around the rock, turning it into a massive flaming rock, far larger than what the artillery that was attacking them would have used.

The King of Omashu then launched it up into the air, before tossing it right up behind them; Iroh was a little confused where it was going, until he turned around, and realised that it was poised to strike the giant statue of his brother in the head. It did, shattering the top of the statue, which crumbled apart and fell over, making quite a spectacle, which the King's men seemed to approve of.

"Well, that'll show 'em." Yung acknowledged with a smirk, before returning to form, "Let's show them how two nations are better than one."

"Oh, I couldn't have said it better myself." Iroh acknowledged his comment, before he spun his hands around, "Please, just pull the walls down for a moment." he requested, and Toph stepped forward, caving one of them down for him, allowing him to see down the main avenue of the city, where he spotted a number of men, clearly soldiers, rushing in their direction.

He spun his hands around, sparks forming at his fingertips, feeling his chi move around and pool into his gut; he then aimed his right hand out toward the avenue, and without any relent, let those sparks form a lightning bolt, which flew forth, and a moment later, struck the ground, creating an explosion which threw the soldiers off of their feet. Toph turned around, surprised by what he had just done, and smirked in approval.

"Okay, that was pretty impressive."

* * *

In hindsight, Toph was almost certain that those suspicious trails and campsite Jet made her look at had something to do with the people trying to kill the Fire Lord's Uncle, the Governor of Omashu, and King Bumi, all at once. She wished she had realised the source of those tracks a little earlier, given that it certainly would have helped her advise Bumi on not going to the meeting, that effectively seemed to be a trap. Now, instead of standing safely in the caverns of New Omashu, barking orders at earthbenders while she played out hypothetical battles for them, she was facing a real battle, where her life might be on the line.

Out of self-preservation, she considered that perhaps just pulling herself into the ground and digging her way back to New Omashu might be the best course of action, but she knew that it was bigger than that; she was thrown into something rather political, and she was unsure exactly why. The timing made a little sense, given two important people were meeting in a city that was clearly full of Fire Nation people, some of which might not be approving of the current Fire Lord. She didn't really care for the politics, and only considered it in one regard- who her enemies were, and did she have to kill them.

Toph did not take killing her opponents lightly, even if she was completely capable of doing it, but she knew that, at least in the past, prisoners were more useful to them than dead Fire Nation insurgents, given they could be exchanged to the Governor of Omashu for resources they required to keep their own rebellion of sorts functioning. She held her hands up, tossing boulders out onto the street in front of her, where men were swarming toward them; Fire Lord had the advantage of shooting lightning from his hands, which she would admit, was a very cool ability, while the rest of them tossed boulders or fireballs, depending on which nation they were from. Fighting along the Fire Nation was honestly very unusual, though she trusted them to protect themselves and their superiors, so she didn't feel that suspicious of them. She imagined how Jet might have interacted with them, and smiled, just glad he wasn't there; the Freedom Fighter was a pain in the arse at times, even if he wasn't a complete idiot.

Bending the earth in front of her, Toph carved out disks from the earth, drawing them up before she shot them forward, propelling each toward the men attacking them; she felt the disks shatter as they struck her enemies, and carved out more of them, tossing them forward in a quick succession. The attacks didn't seem to do as much as she would have liked, given the enemy seemed to be using their firebending to destroy the disks before they could make contact.

"We need to withdraw, your majesty." she heard Yung warn Bumi, "They're going to get too close."

"Not yet." he warned him, "We need them in the perfect position first." he explained, Toph raising a brow, unsure why he wasn't willing to withdraw out of the enemy's range yet.

Sensing ahead of her, she felt a few distinctive cavities beneath the ground below them; it took her a little sensing around, but she realised that they had to be the city's sewers; which Bumi had avoided when bending them a route into the city. Below the sewers was the cavity created by their bending, a long tunnel leading out from under the city back in the direction of New Omashu. She smirked as she realised his intentions; they weren't going to escape, but rather, the enemy was going to go on a rather slippery and presumably disgusting ride.

"Fireballs!" she heard one of the firebenders warn them, and everyone's attention must have been drawn to the sky above them.

Being unable to see, and her seismic sense limited to the ground, she was unsure where exactly the danger was coming from, but she pulled up a wall of stone to defend them from the attack; when it struck her wall, she tensed up as the weight and forced pushed back on her bending, the wall shattering. Before the debris could land on her, it suddenly disappeared, presumably bent away by Bumi.

"Now." he proclaimed, and with that, the ground shook violently beneath them as the King of Omashu bent away the very street their attackers were standing on, causing them to fall into the sewers below, and a few moments later, he further bent the ground to funnel them down into the cavity they had created earlier.

"Well... that's one way of solving it." one of Iroh's men spoke up; he was in the meeting with them, but she didn't know his name, "Should we aim for the tank-train now, General?" he asked him; the general turned around, and presumably was looking at Bumi.

"King Bumi, could you make a new path for us?" he requested, the elderly king cackling before he raised his hands up, bending the cavity he had created shut.

"Did you just trap them all down there?" Toph asked, the King shaking his head.

"Well, if they want to trudge through those sewers, they can find a way back up. It's not that hard, even without earthbending." he explained, making her furrow a brow.

"How would you know?"

"Well, when I was six years old, I accidentally got lost in the sewers. I wasn't such a good bender back then, but I figured my way around."

"Why were you in the sewers in the first place?" she questioned him, confused why anyone would just decide to go into a sewer; Toph had snuck around when she was little, but she never would have gone to any place that disgusting.

"Eh, that's a story for another time." he refused to answer, striding forward, bending himself a staircase right down to the street level, "Let's get out of here!"

"Bumi." she addressed him, having already sensed around to realise that they weren't done yet, "That wasn't all of them." she stressed, the King of Omashu chuckling at her words.

"Well, nobody's in our way." he simply put it, before turning to face Iroh, "Are you coming?"

"Of course." he agreed to his proposition, "We need to get out of the city, at once." he ordered his men, who began to pace on ahead, ready to defend him while he followed after Bumi.

Toph sensed men coming toward the street from both sides, and she raised her hands up, bending walls that got in the way of the enemy, who were now sitting turtle-ducks, ready to get battered up by her comrades.

"Let them have it!" she shouted out, and with that, rocks were tossed off into the side-streets; she could sense the boulders striking soldiers, and their footsteps moving around, suggesting they were pulling back, at least for the meantime.

"Are you commanding my men?" Bumi asked her with a humoured voice, Toph raising her hands, ready to bend at anything or anyone that got in their way.

"I'm keeping us safe." she described her role, "If you're getting senile, then I'll just have to start giving out commands." she warned him, the King cackling at her joke.

"Oh, that's a good one." he acknowledged, before he spun himself around, bending toward the end of the street, far off in the distance, where a metal gate stood; he used the earth below it to force the gates open, which gave them a path out of the city.

Her fellow fighters moved forward, bending more boulders into the streets on either side of them, Toph ready to do the same if she sensed any serious threats; she sensed around the city, and could sense people running away, which was the most logical thing to do when catapults were being fired and streets were caving in on themselves. Further afield, she could sense more catapults aiming their way, as well as a number of men taking formation behind them. She turned around, taking form, and ready to send them sinking into the ground.

"Wait a second!" she heard the man who had been sitting with Iroh, whose name she didn't know yet, "Don't attack them. Those are the Governor's guards." he warned, Toph scrunching her lips up.

"Are you sure they're on our side?" she asked, the man turning his head around.

"Oh shit." he gasped, "Everyone, take cover!" he warned them, before she suddenly felt the men move, and a few moments later, felt a gust of wind pushing in their direction.

She pulled her hands up, creating a defence out of earth, which barely covered her as what must have been a number of fire streams scorching the street. She heard cries and shouts of her comrades, and grit her teeth, realising they'd been tricked. Perhaps the Governor was actually on the side of the enemy, though she couldn't be sure; she remembered his heartbeat, and sensed around, noting that he was back at the palace.

"You're joking." she scoffed, before gritting her teeth, deciding that a little further interrogation was necessary, "I'll meet you all on the other side of the gates." she explained, Bumi turning back to face her, his heartbeat rising.

"What are you doing, Toph?"

"Figuring out why the Governor just betrayed us." she clarified, before sinking herself into the ground, letting the earth immerse her in every direction. She could sense the cavern Bumi had made earlier, and could feel that the men inside were trying to firebend to break the roof, to no avail; the ground was solid rock- the only thing that could break it would be a powerful earthbender, or a very massive object.

She dug forward, moving as fast she could, ripping apart the earth in front of her before placing it behind her just as quickly; she could sense the Governor standing with his wife, both of their heartbeats going very fast. Whatever was going on, they were very worried about it. She dug all the way until she was underneath them, noting they were surrounded by men, presumably the people that were intended to guard them.

Toph bent herself back out, shooting rock and soil up into the air as she pushed herself to the surface, immediately taking fighting form, "What's going on here?!" she questioned with a shout, "You better start talking, or you'll start drowning in earth!" she demanded, the Governor immediately pointing toward one of the men.

"They took our son!" he explained, "They won't let us leave with him." he explained, Toph nodding; perhaps he wasn't betraying them, but simply a fearful parent.

"It's no use, Governor. You won't find him." one of the soldiers warned, "You're wanted for treason by the Fire Lord!"

"Ozai isn't the Fire Lord!" Ukano retorted, "You're all a bunch of idiots for even trying something this heinous!" he decried them, before Toph pulled her hands down, dragging some of the men down into the earth, scaring those she didn't.

She then drew up walls of earth to block them off from the rest of their comrades, sensing where all their feet were before she twisted the earth around their feet, tripping them all over. The Governor and his wife seemed aghast by her fast attacks, and stepped closer to her as she drew up small stone pillars from the ground, knocking the soldiers in their heads to prevent them from bending at her. She pulled one of the closer to her, which she hadn't knocked out, and bent bindings around his arms and legs.

"Tell me what's going on here!" she demanded, "And where's their kid?"

"It doesn't matter, dirt-eater. We've already won!" he proclaimed proudly, "Nothing you do here will change the fact."

"Oh, but I could break your bones. That'd change your life, wouldn't it?" she retorted, tensing her stone shackles that she had bound around his arms and legs, which made him cry out with pain, "Where's the kid?" she asked, before sensing around the palace behind her; there were a few people inside, and she could tell that some of them were just servants, trying to hide from the fighting, but she could sense a few men in a secluded portion of the palace, holding something else that had a heartbeat- maybe it was the Governor's son.

"You won't find him." he snarled, Toph tensing her grip even tighter.

"I can sense heartbeats with my bending, you moron." she retorted, "I've already found him... and just for being so uncooperative, I'll leave you with a little parting gift." she explained, before flicking her wrist up, creating a small stone pillar which whacked him in the crotch.

"Argh!" he screamed out, Toph turning her heels, knowing she had more important things to do than gloat at his pain.

"Come with me." she told the Governor and his wife, sure she could get their child to safety, as long as she reached him.

Not wanting to waste any more time, she ran on into the manor house, remembering that the front of the building, including the door, had been broken apart by a catapult; she kept her attention on the men she could sense, presumably those who had the couple's son, and made sure to check if they moved. They mustn't have heard her moving into the manor, and she rushed down the hallway, sensing right under their feet; she decided that at the opportune moment, just before she knocked the door open, to bend the tiles under their feet so they were stuck in place.

She kicked the door open and pointed toward them accusingly, "Drop the kidǃ" she demanded, the men all turning their attention toward her, and their heartbeats dramatically rose in pace, "Do itǃ"

They seemed unsure what to do, so she pulled them deeper into the ground, and the one who was holding the boy placed him down on the ground, "Fine, fineǃ" he assured her, "Please don't sink us in the ground."

"You're already stuck." she warned them, "Are any of you firebenders?" she asked, sensing whose heartbeats rose, and quickly bent some tiles out from the ground below them, tossing them right up into their faces, smacking them as hard as she could to knock them out cold.

"Arghǃ What was that for?ǃ" one of the non-benders asked her, and Toph simply chuckled.

"Oh, just to make sure they didn't try and hurt me." she admitted, before she heard the voice of the Governor's wife.

"Tom-Tomǃ" she called out to her child, who giggled.

"Mamaǃ" he exclaimed, running up toward her, all while the captured guards just stood there, their attention still on the skilled earthbender who had ensnared them.

"Is anybody going to tell me why you all betrayed the Governor?"

"He betrayed us." one of them argued, making Toph scoff.

"What, he didn't agree that the Fire Nation should rule this city, so that makes him a traitor?" she asked, the men's heartbeats slowing.

"Uh, yeah. That's it." one of them clarified, Ukano stepping into the room a moment later, and pointing at them accusingly.

"How dare you take my sonǃ He's innocentǃ" he barked at them, making the guards laugh.

"But you aren't, Governor Ukano. You betrayed your nation." one of the guards mocked him, Toph sighing before she used more tiles to knock the remaining conscious guards out; they grunted, and slumped over, unable to move very far given that she'd sunken their feet into the ground.

"Now that's dealt with, let's get out of here." she decided, "Unless, you'd like to try and rule over the city you clearly have no control over, Governor." she offered, the Governor shaking his head.

"I... I was so foolish to even cooperate." he admitted, "But my daughter, I need to keep her safe."

"That's the Fire Lady, right?" she asked, having been briefed on basic information about the Governor as well as General Iroh, who were the two people she expected to be dealing with at the meeting that just got cancelled by what could only be described as a mass mutiny.

"Y-yes." he nodded, "We need to get out of the city at once, before somebody tries to kidnap or kill us." he admitted, his wife turning around to face him.

"Ukano, you're an idiot sometimes." she chided him, before turning her heels, "We should have just stayed in the capital." she added, the Governor sighing before he followed after his wife; Toph made her way after them, sensing ahead to check if any more guards had entered the manor.

She could only sense the cowering servants she had before, and could sense the same guards out the front of the manor, though they hadn't come inside yet. Pacing into the foyer, she thrust her hands forward, bending the ground in front of her, just outside of the manor; the guards were all thrown off their feet, and sent flying into the air. She then dashed ahead, racing through the destroyed entrance of the manor, sensing around for any potential attackers; when she sensed some men moving into firebending stances, she pulled up walls between herself and them, blocking their attacks. She then tossed said walls forward, the flat projectiles slamming right into the firebenders, who were thrown back onto the ground.

"Now, somebody tell me something useful, or I'm going to sink you all into the ground!" she declared her one and only warning, the enemy tensing up; some of them moved back, while others took fighting stances, "Urgh, fine." she snarled, frustrated that she couldn't get anything out of them; it was less out of curiosity, and more because she saw it her job to gather intelligence for Bumi- if they didn't understand why they had been attacked, they'd clearly be less capable of dealing with whatever came their way next.

She shot pillars from the ground, below her enemies' feet, knocking them out cold, before she ensnared everyone's feet and legs into the ground; the firebenders would probably try and free themselves, so she knew she had a short window of time to get back to the others; she turned around, and gestured for Governor, his wife and young son to follow her, which they did, as she bent up walls of stone to carve a relatively safe path down toward the road.

"Drop your heads!" she warned them, and they did cower down as they made their way down the damaged staircase, which she had no issue with, given her bending allowed her to retain solid footing on stone, but the others mightn't find it as easy.

She bent the staircase into a ramp of sorts, flattening out the slope, allowing them to run down after her as she readied herself to attack the men who were more than certainly about to move on her once she left the cover of her stone walls. Toph ran forward, bending pillars to either side of herself as she left the cover of her walls, striking two soldiers at once, throwing them into the men behind them. They all tried to rush at her, but she was able to draw the earth from underneath her, creating armour out of stone, which allowed her to block all their firebending attacks.

"Wow, was that meant to do something?" she mockingly questioned her opponents, before firing her stone gloves off, shooting the enemy in their chests, before she turned around, moving into form, sensing exactly where each of the soldiers were.

She fired rocks out from the ground below their feet, hitting them in the guts, head or crotch, each move sufficient enough to send them back, and allow for the Governor, his wife and child, all to run past her, heading toward the gates of the city, where she could sense a few of General Iroh's men, firebending back at the men pursuing them. She thrust her hands forward, sending a wave through the street, tearing up the rock from underneath the ground, throwing the Fire Nation soldiers off of their feet. She was forced to turn around, and raise a wall up as the guards tried to fire on her again; being able to sense where their feet were made it very easy for her to figure out that they had escaped from their binds.

Once she reached the firebenders who weren't trying to kill her, she let out a sigh of relief, and sensed that Bumi and the other fighters had been bending a bridge out of the deep gully for them to reach what she assumed was General Iroh's vehicle; it was massive, and made out of a lot of metal, so she guessed that it was some kind of contraption- a ship on wheels, was what she could best guess. She turned her attention back the way she had come, and raised up another wall, hopefully just to keep their attackers off for a bit while they could cross over and escape.

"Everybody, get across!" she heard Yung call out, and she heeded his advice, following after the rest of the group as they made their way along the stone bridge that crossed the gully; it was deep and wide, and she guessed that once they demolished their bridge, the enemy would have a hard time following after them.

She could sense the enemy moving into form behind her, and soon after, she felt the walls she had bent shatter; she kept up her pace, and sensed around, making sure that no one was straggling behind. As they approached the other end of the bridge, she could feel heat moving toward her, and pulled up a bit of the ground behind her, shielding herself, and everyone in front of her, from the firebending attack.

"Argh!" she heard the Governor cry out, "That was a close one."

"Keep moving!" she chided him, pacing on after him and the others, sensing as everybody safely reached the other side of the bridge.

Bumi had been waiting for her, with his arms crossed, and turned his head down, presumably to look at her, "So, you got the Governor's son. That was kind of you." he noted, before raising his hand, "Would you mind destroying this bridge with me?"

"It'd be my pleasure." she smirked, before turning around, taking an earthbending stance; she raised her right hand up, pulling on a portion of the bridge, before she threw her hand out, tearing it from the bridge and causing that portion to collapse down into the gully.

She then felt as Bumi did the same, tearing the bridge apart with his bending, tossing portions off into the gully; Toph could still sense their pursuers on the other side of the gully, back inside the city's walls, and they must have all been watching as they bent their own way to follow out of existence. She smirked at the thought of it, knowing that if she could see, she would enjoy it even more than she already was; she turned to face the king, and raised a brow, wondering what their next move was.

"So are we just going back to New Omashu?" she asked, the king snickering before he turned around.

"That we are." he confirmed, before addressing the retired general, who was resting with his men nearby, "Now, Iroh, I believe this is where we part ways." he acknowledged, "I'll take Omashu back soon enough." he assured him, "We have our means."

"I can clearly see that." Iroh conceded, before rising up to his feet, "I don't think anyone's going to be happy about this in the Fire Lord's court. Nobody has made such a bold move in months."

"We should send a messenger hawk at once to the capital, to inform his majesty." one of his men suggested, and Iroh turned around.

"Yes, we should. Luckily, the tank-train seems to be undamaged. They mustn't have thought we would have got past their little army." he chuckled, obviously finding their victory, as simple as it was, to be funny; the Fire Nation renegades who attacked them clearly had the advantage of numbers, but they had a number of skilled earthbenders, and the tactical genius of King Bumi, which Toph had seen for the first time on full display.

"Thank you for the assistance." the retired general spoke to them, "We would not have gotten out without your help."

The Governor's wife then turned to face Toph, and she reached in; she hadn't been expecting a hug, but she didn't stop her from doing so, "Thank you so much. You saved little Tom-Tom for us."

"Ah, don't worry, it's nothing. Nobody should be trying to hurt kids anyway." she admitted, "Will you two go back off to your country now you don't have a city to rule?" she asked, the Governor's heartbeat rising.

"Uh... yes. I do have my ministerial position waiting for me in the capital." Ukano noted, before turning his attention to the retired general, "Let's go, General."

"Yes, let's." he agreed, striding on over toward the tank-train, when all of a sudden, a man jumped out of it; Toph immediately sensed his heartbeat was going crazy, and that was not good news.

"General Iroh!" he called out to his superior, "Th-there's... a messenger hawk. It just arrived." he explained, Toph raising a brow; obviously, it wasn't just any message, given how he was reacting.

"From who?" Iroh asked, sounding rather confused as to why he was panicking.

"From your brother." he bluntly admitted, the General's heartbeat rising.

"Wh-what." he gasped, "How did Ozai send me a message?" he asked, the man striding forward to hand him something; the General took it, presumably the message, and looked at it for a few moments- his heartbeat, within the span of a second, was even worse than the man he had just received the message from.

"No." he flatly refused whatever he just read, "This can't be." he mumbled as he raised his hand to his face.

"General, what's happened?" one of his subordinates asked him, "What does it say?"

"That Zuko is dead. That the entire loyalist ministry has been imprisoned. That he has sent out messages demanding the Fire Nation swear fealty to him." he explained, before turning to face the Governor and his wife, "I-I'm sorry." he simply told them; the Governor's wife fell to the ground, and began to sob, her husband doing the same, holding her shoulder tightly- their son obviously didn't understand what was going on, and tried to comfort them.

"How can you believe this message?" his subordinate asked him, "This could just be fabrications."

"It was officiated by the Capital Fire Sages. The Head Sage has signed it himself." he explained, "There is no way they would have signed this without what this letter says has happened being true." he admitted, before clenching his fists, "I- I have failed, once again. Why?!" he shouted in anger, before he punched his right fist down to the ground; Toph could sense how his flames burnt hot, disturbing the soil as it blasted dust and pebbles into the air.

"Iroh." Bumi addressed him, now sounding genuinely solemn, "You... you can't go back the way you came."

"I-I... I know that." he nodded, the fear and distraught in his voice audible, as he turned to face the man who had sent him the message, "We're taking the tank-train to New Omashu."

"Y-yes, your highness." he bowed to him, before pacing off back to the contraption.

"Your highness, are you going to... claim it?" the same subordinate asked him once more, obviously referring to the throne.

"No." he refused, "I oversaw Zuko's executive will when he first came to the throne. I'm not the heir to the throne."

"Then who is?" Bumi asked, Toph already knowing the answer to that question; there was only one other royal who could stand against Ozai's claims.

"Azula. It's Princess Azula." she deduced, Iroh turning his attention toward her.

"You've met her, haven't you?" he asked, and she nodded, "Well, do you think she would accept to cooperate with me?"

"She seems like she doesn't trust many people." she admitted, "But it's worth a shot." she acknowledged, "She's not a bad person."

"Far better than your brother ever was." Bumi spoke up, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I'm... I'm sorry, Iroh. That it has come to this."

"The one who truly will be sorry is Ozai... when he realises what he's done."

* * *

Katara was glad to be back in some place where she could feel comfortable; though she might have argued that they needed to continue flying, she was getting tired, and it was already late in the day. Omashu was still at least a few days' flight away, but she knew that they could spare a little time in town; she doubted they'd run into the same issue twice, and she and Aang were wearing their disguises, once again, ensuring that nobody would look at them twice. He had suggested they go into town, and though she had tried to come up with an excuse, she really couldn't find one, knowing that Appa needed to rest, and night was yet to fall.

She actually didn't mind going into town, knowing that being around people was something that made her happy; she preferred to be in an environment that felt lively over a silent and eerie forest where they might be ambushed by Fire Nation soldiers. They had been taking precautions to avoid that, and had hidden Appa in a cave nearby the town, where they hoped to camp out for the night. She doubted they'd be spotted, given the location was so far off from any nearby tracks that someone would have to go well out of their way to find them.

"You seem like you're in a good mood tonight." Aang observed, smiling at her, "Did you want to get some food?"

"Uh, maybe just a snack." she suggested, turning her eyes up the street, where she could see a few pedestrians walking their way, "Let's just have a look around, first. Maybe we'll find something interesting or useful."

"Maybe." he mumbled, before glancing behind them, "So... do you think people might figure out who we are?" he asked her, whispering as quietly as he could.

"I hope not." she gave her opinion, "I don't think they will if we don't do anything crazy. No bending or anything like that."

"Even if kids try to rob us?" he asked, reminding her of what had happened just before that explosion.

"Oh, I guess we'll just have to do what Sokka does."

"Intimidate them?" he asked, before scrunching his lips up, "I don't know if I can be that intimidating."

"I mean, you're a nice guy, Aang." she acknowledged, "A pacifist and a vegetarian. I don't think you could be mean even if you wanted to."

"I can make fun of people." he argued, "I'm not that much of a softy."

She smirked, and crossed her arms, wondering what he might be able to come up with, "Oh, okay then." she accepted his suggestion, "Prove it."

"Uh..." he mumbled, eyeing her for a few seconds, probably trying to find something to insult her about, "You need to choose a new hairstyle." he suggested, "You're literally copying Azula."

She snickered, finding that 'insult', if she could call it that, to be rather amusing, though she self-consciously touched her bangs, realising that she had inadvertently imitated her hairstyle when dressing up in her Fire Nation disguise.

"Maybe I should do Ty Lee's instead." she proposed, Aang shaking his head.

"Nope. That's just your hairstyle without the loopies." he argued, Katara blinking a few times as she understood that was the case.

"Huh." she mumbled, "Then what should I do?"

"You could just wear it down, maybe put the top in a bun like you have it now." he suggested, Katara tilting her head as she imagined what she might look like.

"Well, that's not a bad idea." she agreed to his proposition, before glancing ahead, "I won't change it right now. That'd just be a waste of time."

Katara continued pacing along the street, noting the various houses and other buildings that lined it; the colonial town was full of brand new buildings, or at least, buildings that were well maintained. The streets were lined with gutters and there were unlit street lamps, which she assumed would be turned on once it got dark enough. They walked past a few commoners, who didn't seem to be Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom; it was actually hard to tell, given their clothes were rather drab and monotone, or varied in colours to the point where it was hard to discern their background. That confused her, but she tried to focus on the more pressing issue, which was finding the market.

She was sure that it was located near the centre of town, or the port, which was downhill from where they were at present. The street was leading down to a slope, and she could see smokestacks coming from what she assumed were ships either coming into or leaving the town's port; there were also a few other smaller smokestacks, coming from the numerous houses and factories in the town, though the latter were probably closed at that time of day. The street became progressively more crowded as they got closer to the docks, where she could see people walking around, taking goods from the ships at port to the market; she guessed with so many ships about, there'd have to be a lot of variety in terms of hoods they sold.

"That's a lot of ships." Aang observed, "I wonder where they've come from." he mumbled, the Water Tribe girl raising a finger to her chin.

"Probably the Fire Nation homeland." she guessed, "Or some other colonies."

"I wonder if the civil war is making it hard for people to get goods." he furrowed a brow, "I mean... it can't be that easy to protect all these ships when everybody's trying to sink each other."

"I wouldn't like to be a sailor at the moment." she conceded, before pointing ahead, noting a number of hanging lights that crossed over the street; in another town they had visited, that was indicative of a market, so she came to the conclusion they were just about to enter it, "We must be nearly there."

When they reached the end of the street, she turned to their left, and as she expected, they were standing at one end of the market; there were dozens of stalls, and hundreds of people walking about or standing in lines. She understood it was a large town, so such a number of people out in the market shouldn't be so surprising, but it was a sight to behold; in the Southern Water Tribe she hadn't seen anything in comparison, and even in the Northern Water Tribe, she didn't think she'd ever seen that many people massing at once.

"What are we getting?" she asked, before recalling she had already said what she wanted, "A snack, that's right." she remembered, "What do you want?"

"I dunno." he shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe some fire flakes or something." he suggested, "They're pretty spicy though."

"Maybe we can get something a little sweeter." she suggested, the young Avatar smiling at the idea.

"Okay, let's try and find something like that." he accepted her proposition, before he began to pace on into the market.

She was unsure what kind of sweet food they'd be able to find; she guessed that pastries, or perhaps, some kind of rice cake would fit that description, though she wasn't that well versed in non-Water Tribe foods. At the South Pole, there was practically no sweet food to eat, so when they went to Kyoshi Island, and got a feast of sweet dishes, she took a liking to them. Of course, most food people ate on a day to day basis, even in the Fire Nation, seemed to be rather savoury and not-especially flavourful, though Fire Nation cuisine certainly was spicy. Unlike Sokka, she didn't really like it that much, and much preferred milder foods over such dishes.

The market was packed full of people, and that made it a struggle for them to move around, forced to walk in single file, Aang leading Katara long past the various stalls of the market, which they checked to see if they sold anything of interest. Her friend was eyeing off various stalls of street food, but none of them they were walking by seemed to sell sweet foods; it was mostly just snacks, which consisted of fire flakes, meat skewers, and various dishes made from fried vegetables and meat. She would admit they smelled nice, but they weren't what she was interested in.

She had been paying a little too much attention to the food, so she accidentally walked into another market-goer, and fell down flat on her bottom; she grunted as she hit the ground, and turned her eyes up, seeing that she had walked into a rather burly man, who looked intimidating to say the least. In her village, the only men she saw who were that big were the toughest warriors that her father relied on in battle. His expression, however, seemed rather surprised, and he offered her a hand.

"Apologies, Miss." he acknowledged his mistake, "I accidentally walked into you." he noted, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." she assured him, before glancing over to Aang, who had just turned around to see what had happened.

"Are you looking for something? You look lost." he observed, the Water Tribe girl scrunching her lips up; she guessed that asking for help from a stranger wouldn't be the worst idea, given he didn't seem to be an ill-tempered individual.

"Yeah. Do you know where they sell sweet foods around this market?" she asked, the man blinking a few times before he gestured to his left, that being her own right.

"There's a stall over there, by the shore. It sells rice cakes." he explained, "Are you new around here?"

"Yeah, I just came here from the homeland." she lied, before stepping closer to Aang, "Come on, let's go get some food."

"Thanks for the advice." the young Avatar smiled at the man, giving him a wave before he walked along with Katara in the direction he had gestured.

"Wow, I never would have expected somebody like that to be so nice." she acknowledged, Aang nodding in agreement.

"That guy did look like the kind of man who'd be a soldier."

"Maybe he was." Katara suggested, "I guess the Fire Nation has nice people too."

"Of course they do. Ty Lee's got to be one of the nicest people I've met." Aang acknowledged, "I mean, she can make some nasty jokes at times, but she's always ready to help."

"I thought she was an exception, honestly." she admitted, before chuckling, "Well, I guess that's good. Peace is easier when people are less... well, inclined to throw fireballs and rocks at each other."

"That's true." he agreed with her, "Now, let's get some of those rice cakes." he suggested, Katara nodding as they approached the stall where they were being sold; there was a bit of a line in front of them, which was a little annoying, but they stood in it, and both remained silent for a few moments as more market goers walked by them, the loudness from all the talking making it a little less awkward to not speak.

"Um, so, are you looking forward to going back to New Omashu?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl raising a brow.

"I mean... I guess I'm okay with seeing Toph again, but otherwise, no, not really."

"You don't like the cave city?" he asked, making her snicker.

"It's not because it's a cave, it's just because Jet's there. He was being really mean to Sokka; I don't want to have to deal with him again."

"I get that." he nodded, "We can avoid him, and if he annoys us, I'm sure we can get Toph to shut him up."

"I'd have a feeling she might have given him a chiding after we left." she noted, "But she mightn't care."

"It was kind of her fault Sokka got harrassed, though." he reminded her, the Water Tribe girl cringing.

"Oh, yeah. She did reveal her identity... and Sokka got angry." she recalled, "You were passed out at the time, but my brother, he really took it the wrong way."

"He just cares about her." Aang suggested, "Though... I don't want him to fight people just because of that. Otherwise, he's going to be whacking a lot more people with that boomerang." he observed, "You know, like you know who."

She nodded, knowing that he was talking about Zuko and perhaps even Ozai; both of them were going to want to 'deal' with Azula, the Water Tribe girl having a feeling the former might be more considerate than the latter, given what Azula had to say about the two of them. She didn't want to see her brother facing either of them, and honestly would prefer if they could avoid conflict all together, though she had a feeling that they weren't going to be that lucky. Facing off the Dai Li was already going to be dangerous enough, and with all the other things on top of that, she couldn't help but feel worried that they mightn't be as victorious as the Princess hoped they would be.

"Aang, can I ask for a favour?" she asked, the young Air Nomad's eyes widening, surprised by her question.

"Uh, sure. What is it?"

"I don't want Sokka to end up in a stupid fight he can't win... so if... uh, Saila decides to do something stupidly dangerous, we need to try and persuade her out of doing it. The North Pole was already bad enough."

"Y-yeah, it was." he agreed with her, "We should try and avoid stuff like that."

She made a small smile, before glancing around the market, "Maybe we should just talk about something that's less... I don't know."

"Something that doesn't make you nervous?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"Yep, that's it." she agreed with his suggestion.

"How about you tell me a story?" he suggested, "I mean... you must have some."

"Nothing as interesting or tense as what happened to Sokka." she admitted, not wanting to dare say she was jealous of his experience with Azula; she was a romantic at heart, and did wish that she could find an experience like what her brother had, though she'd prefer to avoid the tough parts, "I guess this is our story."

He snickered, and nodded, "Yeah, I guess it is." he acknowledged, "There's got to be something, though."

"I guess I could tell you about something that happened a while before we found you." she decided, remembering back to when she had still yet to come to trust or even like Azula; she did regret how she had treated the Fire Nation Princess, though at the time, she felt justified in her treatment, "It's about her- uh, Saila." she called the Princess by her pseudonym, knowing it wasn't safe to refer to her by her actual name in public.

"Oh." his eyes widened, "So, did you fight with her about something?"

"Uh, no, actually." she admitted, "The story I'm thinking of isn't about a fight."

"Okay." he nodded, "So what is it?"

"About a week after she showed up, Sokka took her out to go on a hunt. I assumed that was just an excuse for them to leave the village, but they actually went off on a hunt." she explained, Aang furrowing a brow.

"Well, that's not much." he noted, making her chuckle.

"Oh, well, the hunt was just the beginning. I had been making my family dinner with my Gran-Gran, but then Dad came into the tent and asked where Sokka was. We said we hadn't seen him, and he told us he hadn't come back from the hunt. This was about the time of day where it got quite dark, but given it was summer, the sun was still above the horizon; worse was that it was getting windy, and snow was getting whipped up into the air, making it hard to see outside." she explained, Aang's eyes widening.

"That doesn't sound... very nice." he noted, "So, where were they?"

"We had no idea." she admitted, "So, I went out with my dad, and we walked around for a bit, checking the places they might have gone hunting. It wasn't too dark, but we were finding it hard to spot out tracks in the dark, so we tried to spot out light from her bending, because it would be pretty easy to see."

"I mean, it is unique." Aang noted, "So, did you find them?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"We did. Dad saw some blue light, and we walked over to an ice cave that was in the hills near our village. They had been taking turns sleeping, making sure no predators came into the cave, and we... well, she got freaked out."

"Did you have to bend to stop her?"

"I mean, I threw some snow at her." she admitted, "It was kinda funny, actually, though she was pretty scared, and Sokka got a shock when he woke up. They were surprised to see us, and we stayed in the cave with them until it got light again, because the wind was making it hard to walk around." she explained.

"So how'd they end up in a cave?"

"That was a funny story." she clarified, "They had gone to get some seals, so the village could have some more meat. She had never used a club before, but Sokka insisted she learn."

"She... she didn't actually kill one, did she?"

"No, she whacked the club into the ice because the seal was faster than her. When she got it stuck, she tried to firebend at the ice to break the club out, but she made a big fissure in the ice; they both fell in, and Sokka broke one of his legs. The seals were angry, and there were a lot of them, so they were stuck down there for a while, waiting for them to leave. When they got out, it was already dark, so they couldn't find their way back."

"Well, that isn't very funny." he admitted, "They must have been scared."

"Maybe they were." she conceded, "But then, Sokka got carried on her back to that cave." she explained, making him snicker.

"How'd she do that?"

"She's a lot stronger than she looks... bending isn't the only thing she's good at." she admitted, finding it a little hard to compliment the Princess, though she couldn't deny the truth, "They went to the cave, and then hid there. Maybe they did some... oogies there too, but I don't know."

"Oogies?" he raised a brow, "What's oogies?"

"Just when couples get all smoochy and romantic. The kind of thing that makes you awkward if you see it."

"I mean, I think it'd be kind of sweet." he admitted, the Water Tribe girl making a small smile.

"I guess it would be for them." she acknowledged, knowing that at least from her brother's perspective, he might have enjoyed being cared for by her, despite how much he liked to be macho and tough- it was a bit of an act, after all.

"So, what happened after that?" he asked, Katara furrowing a brow as she recalled what it was like to be stuck in close proximity with Azula for an extended period of time.

"We just stayed in the cave. My dad and I had brought some food, which we ate, and Dad tended to Sokka's leg. I wish in hindsight that I knew I could use my bending to heal; that would have been really useful." she admitted, before narrowing her eyes, "A- Saila appreciated the help, though by appreciate, I mean she wasn't that snarky, and just went along with my dad's advice. We sat there until it got light, and I talked to her for a bit. She talked about how she got herself in a similar situation as a little kid on Ember Island, which was a story in and of itself, and it opened my eyes to that... well, she's normal."

"Yeah, I mean, everyone was a little kid once." Aang noted, "I'm still a kid, despite... you know." he reminded her, "It's really weird."

"I know." she nodded, understanding that the world was probably still quite disorienting to him; in his eyes, a few months prior, he was living at the Southern Air Temple, before the war had even begun, and he had no idea of what was coming.

"Are you two going to order something?" she heard somebody address them, and Katara turned her eyes to realise that the stall owner was talking to them.

"Uh, yes, we are." she confirmed, stepping closer, "Could we get a rice cake each?" she asked, the stall-owner raising a brow.

"What flavour? Sweet, spicy or savoury?"

"Sweet." Aang gave an answer snappily, obviously intent on getting their snacks; the stall owner looked at their fingers for a moment before glancing up at them again.

"That'd be eight copper." he told them, and Katara pulled some coins out of the bag she had slung over her shoulder; she handed the coins to him, and a moment later, he placed two rice cakes in paper wrapping onto the counter, "Enjoy." he farewelled them, and the pair grabbed each of their rice cakes.

The pair made their way away from the stall, and Aang glanced off into the distance, standing still while Katara was left confused as to why he had stopped, "Aang, aren't we going back to Appa?"

"I thought we could watch the sunset." he suggested, "I mean, it's going to happen pretty soon." he gestured to the orange light of the sun peering through the clouds over the water.

"You know what..." she acknowledged, "That isn't that bad an idea." she agreed to his proposition, following the young Avatar as he paced over toward the docks of the port situated just behind the market.

He strode over to the waterfront, before sitting himself down on a metal bollard, sitting with his legs crossed while he balanced himself up on it. Not as well-balanced, she decided to just sit next to him on the ground, and glanced off toward the clouds, finding the mixture of colours, the clouds coloured pink and orange over the usual white, to be rather pretty.

"You know, at some times of the year, the whole sky can go this colour for a whole day." she explained, the Air Nomad boy's eyes widening.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah." she confirmed, "The South Pole's weird like that. Having a day and night close to equal in length is pretty rare. It's usually either dark most of the time, or it's light, but even then, it doesn't get very bright, because the sun's always so low in the sky. Coming to the Earth Kingdom showed me a whole new way of looking at days and nights."

"Is that why Sokka sleeps in so much?" he asked her, the Water Tribe girl chuckling.

"Well, at the South Pole, he's not that unusual; everybody sleeps when they can, not just when the sun's down. Though... he's pretty exceptional when it comes to sleeping in, even when it's light out." she admitted, chuckling as she recalled when Azula would get frustrated with him for sleeping in during the summer, when she thought he ought to be hunting or fishing; Katara did agree with her on that one, though she was less inclined to step into their arguments.

"Perspective." he mumbled, "It's all about perspective."

"Yeah, that's a good way of putting it." she agreed, before taking a bite from her rice cake, glancing out toward the pretty clouds; she didn't know how long they'd sit there for, so just decided to appreciate it.

A few birds fly by across the sky above them, and their silhouettes sat against the clouds, reminding her how far away they were, and how big some things were; the world was no small place, and they'd already travelled far and wide. Flying on a sky-bison made things a lot quicker than they would otherwise be; she remembered that Sokka and Azula had travelled from Yu Dao to the South Pole on a sail ship, and that had taken them months, and she understood that they were just lucky to have a way to travel that was so much faster than that.

"We've travelled a long way." she realised, "It's been less than two weeks, and we're almost there."

"Yeah, Appa's fast, isn't he?" Aang beamed at her, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"I was just thinking about how far he's taken us. We went from the South Pole to the other side of the world, and now we're going half way back." she acknowledged, "This is the longest I've been in my life from home. I hadn't ever left the South Pole until I got on Appa's saddle."

"Has it been good so far?"

"Learning how to bend... that was great. I mean, the whole thing with Pakku wasn't fun, but once we got training... I really enjoyed it."

"Me too." he nodded, "It was fun to train together, and we both figured out waterbending."

"We've got to keep up your training." she reminded him, "Maybe we can go find a stream next time we camp out." she suggested, the young Avatar nodding.

"I'd like that." he agreed, "I thought what we did with Chey and his fighters was good practice, though."

"Oh yeah." her eyes widened, "You firebent."

"That was... weird." he admitted, "It felt different, yet so similar."

"All the elements are your element, Aang. It makes sense that you'd feel familiar with it."

"I mean I've learned it heaps of times before, with all my past lives." he realised, "Maybe they can offer me some advice about mastering the elements."

"I think you can handle it by yourself for the most part, Aang." she suggested, trusting in his skill and resolve to learn, "You did it well enough with waterbending."

"You helped a lot there." he acknowledged, "I hope Toph's a good master, if she'll be my master."

"She will be." Katara assured him, "She's a really good bender. I'm not joking when I say she's the only person I've met who might compare to A- you know who." she explained, the young Air Nomad nodding.

"Yeah, that's why she's got to be my master. I can only have the best of the best." he proclaimed, making her chuckle.

"I guess that's right." she conceded, "You will need to master all four."

"And you're going to help me with one." he reminded her, "You're as much my master as Pakku is."

"Do I get to be called Master Katara?" she asked, half in jest, and half because she was kind of hoping to be called his master.

"No, Sifu Katara." he corrected her, "That's the right title." he clarified, smiling at her, before he made a curt bow, "Thanks for your help so far, Sifu."

"Don't mention it." she smiled at him, "This is a learning experience for me too."

"You'll be a great master, I'm sure of it." he assured her, before taking a bite from his rice cake, "These are- um, pretty good."

"It does taste good." she agreed, before taking another bite from her rice cake.

As she chewed down on it, she glanced back up to the sunset, and watched as the sunlight shimmered on the water's surface, making it glow orange on the crests, contrasting with the near black blue of the dips. She wondered if she could bend the water in front of her, and manipulate the reflection, though she decided against that, knowing that it would attract needless attention. Her attention was drawn behind them by people speaking, and louder and more numerous than they had before; she knew there were a lot of people in the market, but when she turned her head, she realised their attention had been drawn one way in particular. She stood up, wondering what was so interesting, and heard a few voices mention the same thing- 'mayor'.

She turned to face Aang, unsure what exactly was going on, "Huh, it looks like something's going on."

"I wonder what." Aang mumbled, dropping off of the bollard back onto his two feet, "Seems like something's about to happen." he observed, before pacing up toward the crowd of people that were looking toward a man that Katara assumed to be the mayor, "What's going on?" he asked some of the onlookers, a young woman turning back to face him.

"Oh, it's the mayor. He's going to deliver a speech. Some important news, I'd say." she explained, Aang nodding, before he glanced toward the mayor.

"Hmph." he mumbled, before turning his gaze toward her, gesturing toward the crowd, "Maybe we should listen in." he suggested, Katara nodding; though she'd prefer to just remain by the bollards and watch the sunset, news was news, and thus, of interest to them, given they were travelling around and potentially going to be dealing with the Fire Nation, perhaps sooner rather and later, given Azula's intentions.

They paced along the back of the crowd, moving toward the end of the market where they had entered, and Katara noted that they were approaching some kind of small town square, though she hadn't really noticed it when they entered, given it seamlessly connected with the surrounding streets and market. They came to a halt when they could no longer approach, and watched as the mayor of the town approached a stand, holding a scroll in his hand, while flanked by a pair of town guards, similar to the ones she'd already seen in colonial towns.

He cleared his throat, and unfurled the scroll, "People of Luwan, I have received a message from the Royal Palace, and... have been instructed to read the contents of this message to you, as citizens of the Fire Nation and subjects of the Fire Lord." he explained, sounding rather nervous, which made Katara feel uncomfortable; whatever had came in that message couldn't be any good.

After a few moments break, he cleared his throat once more, and began to read out the message, "Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai are dead, and by right of his claim, former Fire Lord Ozai has claimed the throne of the Fire Nation, and has been crowned by the Fire Sages. All former policies of the former Fire Lord are now, according to the Fire Lord's will, to be ignored and treated as null and void." he declared, people looking amongst themselves with shock; Aang turned to face her with a nervous expression, and didn't say anything as the mayor of the town continued to read out the document.

"The Fire Lord has proclaimed that all enemies of our nation are to be dealt with in due course... and that anyone who declares loyalty to Fire Lord Zuko or his sister, Princess Azula, will be executed for treason. All subjects of the Fire Lord that are earthbenders will be reprimanded on sight for using their element, and sent to labour camps to ensure compliance and peace throughout our nation. Anyone who cooperates with the Avatar or his associates is now accused of high treason and will be summarily executed if found in government custody." he further read out the message, Aang tensing up as he scrunched his lips up, trying to remain calm; it was easy to understand why he was feeling nervous, and she grasped his right hand.

"Don't panic." she whispered to him.

"The Fire Lord will now enact a regime of zero-tolerance toward insurrection, and anyone caught with materials associated with any rebel group will be held in custody, and if found to be an associate, sent to five years of hard labour." he further explained, before grimacing, "Furthermore, for their insurrection against the Fire Nation, as soon as it is feasible to do so, the city of Ba Sing Se will be razed, every Dai Li member found and publicly executed, and its population forcefully scattered to ensure that the Earth Kingdom may never rise again. This is the will of his majesty, Fire Lord Ozai, long may he reign." he finished the speech, "Thank you all for listening to this news... I apologise if it has come as a shock." he admitted, before turning his heels, stepping off of the stand, while the crowd burst into conversation.

Katara immediately pulled Aang away, not wanting to get involved with any talks about what was going on, and rather sought to make sure he understood that what was going on would not stop them, and that not all hope was lost; she knew that Azula could win, and fix her nation, and more than ever, she knew she had to entrust that task to her. She had feared what she might do to her brother, but now, she was more afraid of what her father might do to her; Ozai was coming for them, or at least, he would have people intent on stopping them from doing what they intended.

"Wh-what... what do we do now?" he asked her, his arm shaking as she held it, "How- how are we going to beat him?"

"By helping you master the elements, and by trying to get the Earth Kingdom ready for whatever he has in store for them." she told him what she thought; she was always intent making sure Aang mastered the four elements, but now, there was a rather serious imperative to do so.

They walked back towards the bollards, and the young Avatar leaned up against one, placing his hands in his head, "How do we know they're not lying?"

"I don't think the mayor would have read that out if he thought it was full of lies." she warned him, "Even if that guy doesn't agree with it, if I was him, I'd be pretty afraid to not comply."

"This isn't... I don't know what we should do now."

"We still need to get to New Omashu." she admitted, "This might change Azula's plans, but it doesn't change ours."

He nodded, before taking a bite out of his rice cake, still glancing around nervously, "Let's go back to camp." he decided, "I don't want to stand around here... when people might really be looking for me."

"People already were, Aang." she placed a hand on his shoulder, "But that's because they're afraid of you."

"Why? I don't want to hurt people."

"But you stand against the world Ozai wants. You're the only one... other than maybe her, that can stop him." she admitted, the young Avatar cringing.

"I know what Roku said... but I don't know if I can do it."

"You can do it. Maybe not right now, but you'll be ready. I know you will be." she assured him, before gesturing back into the crowd, which was dispersing away as people discussed the news they had just received, "You're right, let's just go back to Appa."

He nodded, and they paced off into the crowd, heading back toward the street they had walked down; she could see the top of the hill in the distance, where they had hidden Appa, and kept focused on moving forward, despite the crowd of people massing on the street. She could hear people talking but she tried to ignore them; she knew it would just make her more nervous, just as Aang already was; they mentioned 'the Avatar', and 'Princess Azula' rather regularly, to the point at which it made her feel concerned. Perhaps people already understood her intentions without her even publicly declaring them.

"Is- is she going to kill him?" Aang asked her, obviously having paid more attention to their conversations than she had.

"I don't know." she admitted honestly, "Maybe she still has an inkling of respect for him." she suggested, though she was really unsure what exactly was going on inside the Princess's head.

As they made their way up the street, and away from the crowd, he turned to face her, now seeming even more concerned than before, though she could tell instantly that he wasn't afraid for himself anymore.

"Ty Lee... she's not going to be happy." he realised, before his eyes widened, "Do you think she'll do something?"

"I wouldn't put it past her." she acknowledged, "She cares about her friends... and Ozai just had one of them killed." she admitted the blunt fact of the matter; she didn't know much about Mai, but she knew that both Azula and Ty Lee trusted and cared about her- neither of them would be happy about the turn of events.

"That wouldn't end well." he spoke his thoughts on the matter, "I hope she doesn't try anything... crazy."

"That's for Azula to do," she whispered to her friend, "and she'll stop her friend from doing anything like that. She's learnt her lesson about revenge... I think."

"And what will Sokka say?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl cringing.

"Hopefully something smart, and not something stupid." she whispered, "Sokka loves her... and he doesn't like him at all. I heard them having an argument about him back at the South Pole; let's just say, it wasn't a nice conversation to listen to."

"So... not good." he guessed, "I wish we didn't need to fight him. We might make things worse than they already are."

"I don't think things can get much worse, Aang." she admitted, "Let's just be glad that we're safe." she suggested, the young Avatar nodding; he mightn't have had his fears dissuaded, but at least, he could see that they were not the ones being attacked, at least not yet.

He took another bite from his rice cake, and swallowed it with a straight face; Katara wished she could help him deal with his worries, and concerns, which were exacerbated by the news they had just learned. Ozai wanted them gone, and that was clear enough by the part of the speech that mentioned them, and she knew there was a good reason for him to want them gone; they were the ones who could stand against his rule, and Aang was the one who could defeat him, once he mastered the elements and had complete control over his abilities.

He was the world's one hope, and even if he couldn't win alone, he certainly could lead them to a brighter future, and once and for all end the war. There would be no lull, or hiatus- Aang would end things in a far more absolute way than Zuko might have intended to. She felt a tinge of sympathy for Azula's brother, knowing that he probably didn't deserve what had come his way, and that he, like his sister, just was doing what he thought would be best for his nation, and for the world. Aang was not a good substitute for a friendly Fire Lord, which was why it was imperative that Azula became the Fire Lord, now that her brother was purportedly dead. She was unsure if that was the truth of the matter, but that fact was that as long as he seemed dead, despite whether he was or not, he would be treated as such.

Ozai hadn't died in the Agni Kai he fought with his son months prior, and the world only learned about his survival long after the event; she couldn't be sure of it, not until there was some solid proof. It made more sense for him to imprison him, if anything, given as a hostage, he could be used against Azula and Zuko's uncle, General Iroh, who she understood, from the Princess's musings, or more accurately, rants, about her family, had a strong bond with his nephew.

Whatever was the real situation, Zuko alive or dead, all that she could be sure of was that Azula was the only one who had the means and desire at that instant to go against her father, and she didn't doubt that she would. She had already expressed her intention to defeat him before, and though she didn't seem to despise him, like she did her brother, she certainly didn't trust him or want to work with him. Her desires to change the world for the better certainly went against the declaration that the mayor of the town had just read out.

As she and Aang reached the edge of the town, drawing closer to the cave where Appa was hidden, he let out a sigh, and ran his hands through his short hair, "So... we're going to New Omashu now?"

"Well, after we sleep." she clarified, "Don't worry, Aang. We'll get there, and we can talk with Bumi about this. I guess he'll have some advice, if he's as wise as he seems."

"Y-yeah." he nodded, "He'll know what to do." he declared, sounding more self-assured than before, narrowing his eyes in thought, "You know, you never finished explaining what happened after you all left that cave."

"Oh." her eyes widened, remembering the story she had been telling, "What was I up to... uh, that Azula was talking about Ember Island?" she asked, the young Avatar nodding, "Uh, well, after it got lighter, and wind died down a little, Dad and Azula helped Sokka move along, because of his broken leg, and then I cleared the path of all the snow that was laid down during the storm." she explained, "She was pretty thankful about us showing up, and after that, she started working around in the village more often. I still wasn't her friend... but I could tolerate her then." she added, before cringing, "I was so mean to her... I really should have made more of an effort."

"You can, when we see her again." he reminded her, making her smile.

"Yeah. She deserves a little respect for all she's done." she acknowledged, "Not just for us, but for my village too. I just wanted to prove her wrong all the time, prove that we were better than her... she was just trying to be her best."

"That's better than not even trying." he conceded, "I guess she's better in tough situations than me."

"Don't blame yourself for what happened Aang." she told him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You couldn't've known what was going to happen."

"If I'd actually listened to the monks, instead of just worrying about Monk Gyatso, then maybe I would have understood. They were right, even if they were mean." he spoke his mind, sounding saddened as he mentioned his mentor, "I miss him. I miss all of them."

"I know." she grasped him by the hand, and hugged him, "I'm sorry that all this happened... but we just have to do what we can. I'm a real waterbender now. I can fight." she told him, "Before I met you, I didn't have any hope of really learning how to use my element."

"If I can give the world a little of that hope to, maybe that'll be enough to get people to believe."

"Believe in you?" she raised a brow, the young Avatar shaking his head.

"No. Believe they can be better. Everyone thinks the worst of each other. You did with Azula, and she did with the other nations; but maybe, maybe people can see we're all not that different."

"I hope I see that day." she agreed with him, "And then when I say sorry to her, she'll know I mean it."

* * *

With morning sun rising over the base which laid in front of her, Azula felt relieved that her journey back was finally over, and that she would have a chance to relax, even if only for the day. She knew that she would have to start dealing with the local Earth Kingdom rebels as soon as possible, and though she had requested her subordinates go send men to contact the rebels, she doubted they would be listened to unless Azula herself went to meet them. She didn't want to spend weeks travelling around the region, meeting with every Earth Kingdom rebel she could find, knowing that it would be a waste of time, especially given that she would be able to travel much faster as soon as Aang and Katara returned with Appa.

She was sure that with the young Avatar's assistance, she would be able to secure peace with the rebels, and direct their attention to the project she sought to build- a better Earth Kingdom, one that could be both unified and at peace, without the Fire Nation needing to lord over it. Peace of that sort had not been seen in the Earth Kingdom in centuries, and she knew that it would be for the greater good of all nations if the whole of the Earth Kingdom could be unified once again, with a better form of government that was better suited for its massive size and diverse landscapes and population.

No matter what happened next, she knew that she would need some time to relax and recollect herself, knowing that her almost a week and a half away had been spent in constant worry, not even considering the fights she had with both Earth Kingdom rebels and bounty hunters. Everyone was safe, however, and though she had gotten hurt in the last fight, Ty Lee was back to her usual chirpy self. Though she found her bubbly personality grating at times, especially when she was in a dour, serious mood, she did prefer that over her being hurt and frustrated, without the usual gleam in her eyes.

Sokka's mood had improved somewhat, though he still seemed a little averse and concerned over what had happened with the bounty hunters; of course, now they were back at the base, and she hoped his unease would pass on, and he could go back to his usual humorous and playful self. He was, like her, concerned with the matters at hand, and wanted to be serious, but she knew that he too needed a little break, if only for the day, so they could recoup and figure out what they were going to do next. Even if they had imagined what they might do, it wouldn't be as easy as they'd like without Appa to fly them or Aang and his position of Avatar to assist them in whatever diplomatic ventures they undertook.

The Water Tribesman was riding his komodo rhino beside her, and made a small smile as he too saw the camp approaching, though that smile barely broke through the groggy expression on his face; she'd woken him up early so they could ride back to camp as quickly as possible, getting up just after daybreak. She regretted it somewhat, knowing that if he was in a bad mood for the day, she'd be to blame; however, she knew that arriving back at base in a timely fashion was probably in everyone's best interest, no matter how much Sokka liked to sleep in. The safety the base provided them could not be overlooked, and she never truly felt comfortable camping out in the wilderness with her men, knowing that their tracks were easy to follow, komodo rhinos slow, at least compared to creatures like mongoose lizards, and the danger of Earth Kingdom rebels, or just plain bandits, coming to attack them while they were idling was too great to ignore.

"Mhmm..." he mumbled, before turning his gaze toward her, "So, can I have a little sleep or something when you two go to the spa?"

"I'd prefer if you had a shower. You stink." she retorted, her boyfriend wincing, before he smelt himself.

"Yeah, I guess I do." he conceded, "Okay, once I've washed myself, then I can sleep?"

"I'm not ordering you to sleep, Sokka." she quipped, not wanting to be that controlling to the point at which it was absurd; she would drag him out of bed when need be, but if she really didn't need his help, she couldn't care less.

"Oh, okay." he mumbled, before chuckling, "Oh, I can already smell that bed."

"Do you want your bed to smell like... that?" she asked, gesturing to his tunic, which he looked down at for a moment.

"Urgh." he cringed, "I do need to wash."

"Even idiots can have reasonable priorities." she quipped, making him scoff.

"Oh, if you say so, your majesty." he retorted, before turning his eyes to Ty Lee, "Are you going to side with her on this one?"

"You're not stupid, Sokka." she assured him, "But you do have weird priorities sometimes."

"What?" he raised a brow at her words, "Are you saying you don't like sleeping in?"

"Well, I don't mind it. I just want to spend my day as best as I can. And right now... that day is going to be spent at the spa." she declared, raising a fist up into the air.

"Don't forget there's a meeting with the commanding officers." Renshu turned back, reminding them of what else was in store for the day; that meeting wouldn't take long, and Azula was just glad she had good news, and a new project for the men to work on.

Redesigning the airships would be one of their priorities, so that once they had control of the factories of Shengchang, and the support of the industrialist Mister Takumi, she would be able to quickly produce a number of those crafts, and have them flying across the Earth Kingdom to support both her campaign in the colonies, and the Earth Kingdom rebels in reunifying and pacifying their country.

"I have not forgotten, Captain." she assured him, the leader of her guards cringing for a moment.

"Oh, that was addressed to Sokka and Ty Lee... I wouldn't assume you'd forget a meeting you organised yourself, your highness."

"Of course." she acknowledged, realising she had misjudged his intentions in saying that, "He is right. We will need to all be at that meeting, and discuss what will be going on in Shengchang once we take it, as well as organising these meetings with the rebels."

"That's going to be a pain." her boyfriend mumbled, the Princess glancing his way before she nodded, conceding that he was more than right; she didn't want to deal with such matters when she knew it would be tedious and force her into a position where she would no longer be the authoritative, all-powerful Princess Azula, but simply one person trying to communicate her intentions to another.

"Well, we're not going to deal with that today." she admitted, "Whatever comes our way, we can handle it."

"I mean, you can handle it, if you can be bothered travelling to every single Earth Kingdom rebel hideout and somehow avoiding getting captured."

"That's why Aang is helpful." Ty Lee spoke up, "At least people listen to him." she mumbled, the Princess raising a brow.

"And people don't listen to me?" she questioned her friend, whose eyes widened, before she raised her hands, and shook them about, obviously wanting to stress that she didn't mean to suggest that.

"N-no! I mean, you're a Princess of the Fire Nation. People in the Earth Kingdom don't like the Fire Nation, so they won't like you. You've already seen that." she explained her thoughts, the Princess eyeing her for a few moments, before she gave a curt nod.

"You are correct." she acknowledged, "I can only garner support from people who are willing to listen to me. That group of people does exclude most of the Earth Kingdom at the moment." she admitted, "We need to find a way to earn their trust, and hopefully without having to wait for Aang."

"You already promised to help those peasants." her friend reminded her, "They might trust you when your men carry out those tasks you gave them."

"That is true." she agreed with her, "My men are instrumental in ensuring the locals don't mistrust us. I cannot expect them to do everything to earn the Earth Kingdom's trust, but I do need them to work with the locals. If they treat them how Zhao let them, then we'll never shake off their hatred."

"Yeah, that's what I've been saying for a while." Sokka piped up, making her roll her eyes.

"I learnt my lesson at Ba Sing Se, Sokka. You don't need to remind me again." she waved off his words, before turning her attention ahead of them, noting the soldiers who were looking her way as she approached the edge of the massive encampment surrounding the base.

She raised her chin, and appreciated, if only for a moment, the looks of awe she received; she certainly appreciated her rank and position, and knew that with their trust, she would lead her supporters to victory. She knew that was a serious responsibility, but she had been preparing for such a responsibility for most of her life, and certainly ever since her brother was banished from the Fire Nation more than five years prior.

"Why so smug?" her boyfriend questioned her, making the Princess scoff, before she pulled on the reins of her komodo rhino.

"I just know that I'm in charge, Sokka." she retorted, before turning her gaze ahead; she eyed the soldiers as she approached, and looked toward the gates of the palisade in the distance.

The base was just as she had left it, which was a good sign; she was glad that it seemed nothing had happened, such as an attack from Earth Kingdom rebels, or perhaps even her brother's forces. She knew she would have most likely been informed by messenger hawk if anyone had dared to attack the base, as that likely would have forced her to change her route when she returned, but no message had come her way.

As she made her way along, she noted that the soldiers were turning and moving away, perhaps not wanting to get in her way, which she approved of; too often, she had to deal with men saluting her and greeting her with bows and all kinds of deference, when she really just wanted to get a move on. Perhaps they had learned their lesson after all that time, and if so, she appreciated it. Sokka and Ty Lee had fallen silent as well, probably just waiting for them to get back into the compound before they did anything.

As she approached the gates through the palisade, some soldiers moved to open them for her, though one soldier stood ready by the side of the path, presumably to greet her; she slowed komodo rhino by pulling on its reins, letting them open the gates fully before she was to pass on through. The soldier who had been standing there raised his hand to salute her.

"Your highness." he addressed her, before reaching to his belt, pulling out a scroll, "I was instructed by your council to give you this message as soon as you arrived." he explained, the Princess raising a brow; she could tell from the look of it that it was an official message sent from the palace, or at the very least, from somewhere where official letters were written.

"Is this another bounty?" she asked, before furrowing a brow, "Or from my brother?"

"Uh..." the soldier mumbled, his straightened lips suggesting it wasn't any good news, "It's not." he clarified, though that was all he said, before stepping back, letting her pass.

She looked at the outside of the scroll for a few moments, certain that it had to have come from the palace, and she placed it on her belt, deciding she'd read it when she got somewhere more private. She had a feeling that whatever was in it, the soldier she had just spoken to had been informed of its contents; she continued to ride along with the group, which turned to the left to head towards the stables that were set off aside from the compound.

Sokka, who had still been riding beside her, made his komodo rhino get a little closer before he asked, "Azula, what's the letter?"

"I don't know." she admitted, "In case this is private, or confidential, I'll just wait to read it."

"Uh-huh." he nodded, sounding a little confused, before he gestured to it, "It's a fancy looking scroll."

"I assume it's from the palace." she gave her best guess, "My council must have already looked at it before I arrived... how this came into their possession, I can't be sure." she noted, the Water Tribe warrior narrowing his eyes.

"From the palace, really?" he asked, "Do you think Zuzu's going to be asking for a peace settlement or something?"

She snickered at his use of her brother's nickname, and shook her head, "I doubt he'd try and do that when he is the one in the position of power." she acknowledged, "He might try and come to some kind of agreement if I come to fight him, but while he can just sit back and let more of those damn bounty hunters come for me, he probably won't even consider it." she gave her opinion on the matter, before Ty Lee spoke up, obviously hearing her mention of Zuko.

"Wait, did you get a message from Zuko?" she asked, the Princess shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't know. I haven't opened it yet." she clarified, her friend scrunching her lips.

"Are you gonna?" she asked, leaning her head forward slightly so she could eye Azula, who sighed.

"Just give me a minute, Ty." she told her, pointing toward the stables they were approaching, "We're nearly about to get off these damn komodo rhinos, and then I'll see what this message is."

"Maybe we really did get invited to the wedding." Ty Lee suggested, making Sokka snicker.

"Ah, that's a good one." he grinned at her, before his expression faltered, "Wait, are you being serious?"

"She's just sad that she missed out." Azula gave her opinion on why her friend had made such an absurd suggestion.

"Okay, I am kind of bummed that I missed out on Mai's wedding." she honestly conceded, before pointing to the letter, "But maybe it's from her."

"I doubt Zuko would let her just message us... that doesn't sound like the pedantic Zuko I know." she argued, making the acrobat cringe.

"Okay, I can see what you mean. He doesn't trust or like you."

"The feeling is mutual, Ty Lee." she stressed, before eyeing the stables, "Let's just get back to our quarters." she explained, "I'm sure you'd like to lie in your bed after being stuck on that saddle all morning."

"Yeah, I'd like that." she agreed, before scrunching her lips, "But I want to go to the spa too."

"We will." she assured her, "That's precisely what we'll be doing as soon as we put our things back in our rooms."

"Don't you have servants to do all that carrying for us?" Sokka asked, the Princess narrowing her eyes at him.

"I'm only going to take my bag. The tent and the rest can be taken in by the servants." she explained her intentions concerning her baggage; though she could, in theory, carry all of her stuff back to her room, she couldn't be bothered, and seeing that she had the free labour available, she would make use of it.

When she reached the entrance of the stables, she rode her komodo rhino inside, before she placed her hands down onto the front of the saddle, swiftly dismounting before she grabbed the steed's lead; she pulled it along, leading it into one of the pens before she grabbed her bag off of the saddle, slinging it over her shoulder. She then turned to approach the entrance of the pen, closing the gate behind her while she waited for the others to dismount their own komodo rhinos. The guards rode on inside, and did the same as she had, and Sokka and Ty Lee were the first to finish dismounting, and left their own pens with bags over their shoulders, and in Sokka's case, his weapons as well.

"Okay, so are we going now?" he asked her, the Princess nodding.

"That we are." she confirmed, Ty Lee approaching her, seemingly at random; she thought she might have gone to hug her, but instead, she reached to her belt, and pulled off the scroll, "Ty Lee!" she snarled at her, annoyed that she would just snatch it like that, "Give me that back." she demanded, the acrobat refusing to her request, unfurling the letter; her cocky expression suddenly was shattered, as her eyes widened, and she looked at the letter with an aghast, frozen expression.

"Ty Lee?" Sokka addressed her, confused why she had become so straight-faced; Azula didn't understand and she grabbed the scroll out of her friend's hands.

"Give me that." she grumbled, before turning her eyes to scan the document.

The very first line told her exactly why her friend's expression had shifted as it had- Zuko and Mai were dead, at least according to the message; she only had to scan down to the bottom to see exactly who it was officiated by, that being her father, with his seal as Fire Lord. She didn't need to read the rest of the letter to know what it was saying; her father had reclaimed the throne, and his loyalists had either killed her brother and Mai, or perhaps less surprisingly, he had done it himself.

"Z-Zula..." Ty Lee mumbled, tears falling down her face as she struggled to remain composed.

It took her a few moments to click, but she realised what the big issue was; her friend was supposedly dead, and perhaps, by her father's hand. She hadn't thought about Mai much those past few months since Yu Dao, but she was sure of one thing- she had helped her and Sokka escape the city, and because of that, she was in her debt. She couldn't repay that debt, not now that she was dead; she didn't want to believe it, knowing that her brother had said the same things of her father, just to fool the world into letting him take the throne.

"What's going on?" Sokka asked, completely unaware of the contents of the letter.

"Zuko's dead." she bluntly told him what she had read, her boyfriend's eyes widening with shock.

"S-sorry, what?" he asked her, as if she thought she was making a joke, "You..." he mumbled, before eyeing Ty Lee, "You're being serious?"

"I can't be sure this letter is telling the whole truth, or simply what my father wants us to believe." she acknowledged, before glancing back down at the document, which Sokka was looking at as well.

She scanned across the content, trying to find anything of interest to her personally; one thing did sit out, and that was a declaration that anyone that was associated with Aang would have committed high treason, and thus, warranted execution upon capture. She understood that category of people implicitly included herself, and told her all she needed to know about Ozai's intentions; if he wanted her back on his side, he wanted Sokka, Aang, Katara and anyone else who worked with them dead in the process. That was something she couldn't stand for.

"That motherfucker." Sokka growled under his breath, before snickering, "Uh... perhaps a poor choice of insult." he conceded, before turning to face Ty Lee, and his expression upon looking at her was understandable to say the least.

She was already on her knees, sobbing as she covered her face, unable to hold back her emotions, "Wh-why?" she gasped out, "Why did..." she mumbled, and didn't finish her sentence, just tilting her head down as she sobbed.

Azula knelt down beside her, not knowing what to do or say; the only thing she could think of, and the only thing she thought might bring her friend any semblance of hope, was that it mighn't be true, "Ty Lee... we can't be certain this is true."

"Y-you know your father." she told her, "Do- do you think he'd let Zuko live for what he did?"

She knew the answer to that question, and no matter how much she disdained her brother for what he had done, she couldn't agree with what she guessed her father had done, "Yes." she confirmed, "If Zuko's alive, then Mai's alive, and you have nothing to worry about." she placed a hand on her shoulder, "And if he's not alive... then I'm the Fire Lord, and Ozai has committed treason by orchestrating the death of a Fire Lord... no, two Fire Lords." she corrected herself, "And thus, I will take what is rightfully mine, and have him executed for enacting that treason."

"Th-that, that won't fix it, Azula." she told her, looking at her with a near angry glare, the Princess sighing.

"I know you take no pleasure in making others suffer, Ty Lee." she conceded, before narrowing her eyes at her, "But if this is true... I will avenge Mai. I swear it on my honour as her friend. She risked Zuko's trust to save us..." she acknowledged what had occurred at Yu Dao; though she had been in a daze at the time, she would not forget what she had done for her, "I should have been able to do the same."

"I knew... I knew you wouldn't hurt her, but... now..." Ty Lee mumbled, glancing up toward Sokka, who was lost for words, "Now I can't help her."

"Azula escaped that Agni Kai with a bit of help." he acknowledged, "She escaped in my arms, and Mai, she beat my arse." he recalled, "So, listen to me, if I'm not dead, she's probably not dead either." he gave her his own deductions, which were reasonable; Mai was a skilled fighter, and if she was as observant as she believed she was, then there was a good chance she could have gotten herself and Zuko out of whatever Ozai had thrown their way, even if he had claimed the throne.

"And Zuko is too damn stubborn to die." Azula added, before offering her hand, "Let's just... go try and relax. Or at least, go somewhere that smells less like animal shit." she suggested, Ty Lee accepting her hand; once she did, the Princess rolled up the scroll and put it on her belt.

Sokka looked at her with an uneasy face, "Uh, so... did you still want me to have a shower?" he asked her, making her roll her eyes; she didn't really care for that, at least not anymore, but that didn't mean she was going to completely ignore his smell.

"I'd recommend it." she simply told him before turning her eyes to her friend, "We'll go to the spa, if that's what you want." she suggested, her friend nodding, though she seemed very much shaken and distraught by the news; she sniffled, and wiped the tears from her eyes, before turning her eyes to Azula.

"Y-yeah, we can go to the spa." she agreed, and with that, they began pacing on out of the stables; she heard some footsteps behind her, and glanced back, noting that Renshu, along with a few other of her guards, had heard their conversation- his face was uncovered, and he seemed a little bit concerned.

"Your highness, do you want us to deal with the baggage?" he asked, the Princess shaking her head.

"I'll get some servants to attend to it. You all should rest." she suggested, before turning her eyes ahead of her once more, "We have a lot of things we'll need to deal with, soon enough."

She then led Sokka and Ty Lee along toward the compound, and they both remained silent; her boyfriend, unlike her distraught and shocked friend, just seemed concerned. Not the same kind of concern that Azula had; he probably didn't care much about Zuko or Mai personally, and obviously his thoughts were far more focused on the fact of the events that had transpired. He was certainly thinking about Ozai, and how they were going to deal with him. It would have been a lot easier to do so if he was still in prison, though, publicly being the Fire Lord again made him rather easy to locate, and thus, easier to deal with, once she had the means to defeat whatever defences he would build against her inevitable attack on the capital. She would need many airships, but the engineers at the base would have the technical capabilities she required, and she most certainly had the resolve to do what had to be done. There were more pressing matters than defeating her father at that very moment, concerning the safety of her forces, and the situation in the Earth Kingdom, and she was sure she would have to deal with those first. She had intended to, anyway, so her father's moves ultimately would not change her plans much, other than when they concerned Zuko.

She couldn't be sure if she was relieved, or afraid; she knew she wished Mai hadn't got stuck up in what was effectively a dispute between her father and her uncle, with her brother serving as a proxy for whatever intentions the Dragon of the West had for the Fire Nation and the world. After considering their intentions, she couldn't say that she wholly disagreed with the Order of the White Lotus, nor her uncle and brother for that matter, but she couldn't stand for the way they were going about it. They let the Fire Nation be torn apart for whatever aspirations of peace they had; if her brother had just had the guts to execute their father, and doubled down on any resistance to his rule, then he would still be sitting on the throne. When she had left Ba Sing Se, intent on defeating her brother and claiming the throne for herself, her concerns were more about her nation and her father's legacy, but now, as she stood beside her friend, wondering, if so, how her brother and one of her best friends had died, all she could think was how she wanted to destroy her father and everything he stood for.

"The letter didn't mention your uncle, did it?" Sokka asked her, after a long silence had fallen between the three of them.

"It didn't." she confirmed, before narrowing her eyes, "Perhaps he wasn't in the capital at the time. I'm sure my father would have loved to have boasted how he killed the Dragon of the West." she noted, before she scrunched her lips up, wondering whether her father would even say such a thing in public, "Or maybe he wouldn't... given how much the common people and soldiers seem to love him." she acknowledged, before looking at her boyfriend, "Did you have something in mind, Sokka?"

"Uh... no." he shook his head, "I'm just wondering who else can stand against him."

"A good portion of the military." she guessed, "A lot of them might prefer to serve my uncle over my father. He was well-liked and respected across the Fire Nation before he lost the Siege of Ba Sing Se."

"Well, what about you?" he asked, rather bluntly, "Correct me if I'm wrong, you'd be your brother's heir, if he didn't mention another."

"That's correct." she confirmed, before sighing, "Though I doubt many people will accept me over Uncle."

"That doesn't sound very Azula-ish of you." he retorted, making her scoff.

"I'm just being realistic. He's better known and has more connections in the military than me. Even if some people side with me, I doubt all of them would just accept me as Fire Lord just because I'm my brother's heir by technicality." she argued, "I've learned my lesson. People support you because they think you'll win, not because you're actually stronger or better suited for the job."

Azula turned her gaze to Ty Lee, who had remained silent, her expression still solemn, almost seeming nervous; she wanted to try and give her some kind of assurance, but she didn't know what to say other than what she already had. As they approached the gates of the compound, the guards saluted her, and opened the gates for her.

"Your majesty." they bowed to her, and Azula raised her chin up; it seemed that upon hearing the news, they had taken it as cue to refer to her as if she were actually Fire Lord, given that legally, she ought to be; unless there was some proof of an Agni Kai, her father had almost certainly seized the throne through force, rather than a legally binding duel, making his position as Fire Lord one of a usurper.

"Where are my subordinates?" she asked, "Have they assembled a meeting on the news from the capital?" she asked, the men nodding.

One of them gestured toward the front door of the compound, "They're in the meeting room right now, waiting for you, your highness."

She sighed, simply wanting to go to the spa, but she knew that matters had to be dealt with, especially now that she had received such dramatic news, "I will discuss matters with them at once." she decided, before turning her gaze to Ty Lee, "Do you want to go back to your room and clean up?" she asked, "You don't need to come to the meeting."

"Y-yeah." she nodded, "I'll go to the room." she decided, Sokka grasping the acrobat by the shoulder.

"I'll... uh, come with." he decided, "I need to go have my shower, anyway." he decided, the Princess nodding; neither of them necessarily needed to come to the meeting, and she knew that she would rather process her thoughts about what had happened on her own without any needless commentary from Sokka- he obviously understood she'd need her space.

"Will you be alright?" Ty Lee asked her, now sounding a little more concerned, the Princess nodding.

"I won't be long. We can have our spa session as soon as I discuss these matters with them." she acknowledged, "Things have... taken a turn." she admitted honestly, knowing that no matter how she felt about him, things would be different now that Zuko was effectively out of the picture, at least for the moment, and perhaps not for the better, considering that her father seemed to be taking a rather absolutist, hardline view on opposition, now that he had finally reclaimed his position as Fire Lord.

"Good luck." Sokka simply told her as they entered the doorway of the compound; she nodded at him, their eyes locking for a moment- he might have been worried about her, but she and Ty Lee turning to the left to make their way toward their quarters, while Azula turned to the right to make her way to the stairs that would lead up to the meeting room.

She made her way straight to the staircase, not wasting any time to walk on up to the meeting room; she truly just wanted things to be dealt with as quickly as possible, so she could worry a little less about whatever her father was intending. She was sure that she would be ready to face his forces, if that was what it led to, and if necessary, to enact extreme policies to defeat his forces. She could imagine razing the forest between her and the nearest colonies, effectively wiping out whatever forces moved through it, as well as building some more airships at the base, using them to bombard whatever forces approached her base until they were dispersed or forced to withdraw. A more drastic, and perhaps dangerous policy would be directing as many Earth Kingdom rebels as possible to destroy those forces when they left the safety of the colonies; that was likely unfeasible until Aang returned, though she knew the Earth Kingdom forces might be more than willing to enforce their belief of sovereignty over the lands in which her base was located.

Of course, a greater danger was that all the men who had been supporting her would see the fragility of their position and betray her; she wouldn't think it illogical or stupid to do so, though she knew those who partook in such a move would find their lives in danger; Azula did not take treachery lightly, and she hoped that her actions toward Zhao at the North Pole proved her resolve in that regard. She knew that danger was exactly what she needed to squash in partaking in the meeting she was about to arrive at. As she approached the doors of the meeting room, she took note of two guards standing by the entrance, and they immediately bowed to her, before pulling the doors open; she then looked upon her subordinates, who all rose to their feet as she entered the room, bowing toward her in respect.

"Your majesty." they all referred to her in unison, and she strode toward the head of the table they had been sitting at; she sat herself down, and a servant stepped forward with a pot of tea.

She nodded, and a cup was poured for her, and the Princess placed her arms on the tables in front of her, putting her hands together as she eyed everyone on the table, "I have looked at this message. Do we have any good reason to accept its authenticity?"

"Because of how we received it, your majesty." Colonel Jinchi clarified, "It came from a spy."

"A spy?" Azula raised a brow, "I don't follow." she shook her head, raising her right hand up, "You mean to tell me there have been spies in this base?"

"Y-yes." another of the officers, Commander Koun confirmed, "Two men came forward with this message yesterday, having received it from their overseers in the colonies." he explained, "They told us that because of its contents, they believe that your brother Zuko has been killed, and thus, you have succeeded him as Fire Lord. Thus, they had no reason to continue spying on you, as their rightful ruler."

"Which is legally correct." Azula conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "But that doesn't reflect the situation we face now. If my father truly is in power in the capital, then it's only a matter of time before his threats become actions." she stressed the danger they were facing, before furrowing a brow, "And what of these spies? Are they in custody?"

"Yes." Koun confirmed, "We have them locked up in cells just below us." he explained, "If you wish to interrogate them, the opportunity has presented itself."

"I will attend to that in due course." she clarified, before sighing, "So, what do you recommend we do now that my brother's forces might choose me as their next Fire Lord?" she asked, the officers glancing amongst themselves.

"That we move on to Shengchang and the other colonies as soon as possible." Colonel Jinchi argued, "Was your meeting with your supporters there productive?"

"Yes." she confirmed, "I have assurances that I will be receiving financial and industrial support once I take control of the city, and I believe we will have the means to create a fleet of airships that will be necessary in defeating my father's forces." she explained, "Of course, I do not intend to move on Shengchang until we have the firm support of the Earth Kingdom rebels who I understand have been a thorn in your side for quite some time."

"Your majesty, if I may be frank." another officer, Colonel Zhengyi, spoke up, "I believe we ought to seize this opportunity. Our position here is weak and under threat from Earth Kingdom forces on all sides. We would be better placed to move to the colonies at once."

"I understand that." Azula acknowledged, "And, if any colony was to declare their allegiance to me, in respect to the present turn of events, then I will more than willingly move our forces there. We are not safe here, I understand that, but we should not go into needless conflict with my brother's forces if they do not approve of my succession to the throne."

"Perhaps we should contact your uncle, your majesty." Jinchi suggested, "He is the most senior member of the royal family, and the only one who probably could sway the majority of your brother's forces to our side if he agreed to cooperate with us."

"As much as I despise my uncle... I understand he let me off that field in Yu Dao for a reason." she acknowledged what he had done, "Perhaps he had seen this was a possible outcome, and acted in considering the threat to my brother's life." she suggested, before sighing, "I will cooperate with him, if need be, but only to assure my father is dealt with."

"Of course." the Colonel nodded, "We cannot trust the Dragon of the West after what your brother did under his supervision, but we have little choice but to work with him."

"Precisely." Azula agreed with him, before picking up her cup of tea, the aroma somewhat calming, which she appreciated, given the topic of conversation.

"So, what shall we do about the Earth Kingdom rebels? Will we wait for the Avatar to return and make peace with them?" Zhengyi asked her, the Princess raising a brow.

"I am sure that my time could be better spent here at the base, making sure the transition to civilian rule goes along smoothly." she admitted, "I made a promise to the locals, and they will not be as cooperative if we do not fulfil that promise."

"If any of my father's forces come to harass settlements under our control, then we will respond with ruthless force; if the people believe we will protect them, then they will have our trust." she acknowledged, Commander Koun clearing his throat.

"If the enemy are going to try and attack us soon, then perhaps we should prod them into doing so. If they attack when they are less prepared than we are, then a defence against their forces will be easier. Then we can repel your father's loyalists for as long as possible, while ensuring whatever gathering of support from your brother's supporters and the Earth Kingdom rebels can be made."

"Weakening them earlier would be a wise move." she acknowledged, "Unlike my brother's forces, they do not have as many numbers, so I agree." she decided, before narrowing her eyes, "I want as many ships as possible moving into the Mo Ce Sea. Any ships flagged under my father's command are to be harassed, and boarded, with any goods onboard seized for our war effort."

"Will we not sink them?" Koun questioned her, the Princess pursing her lips upward.

"We shouldn't, as once my father is defeated, those ships will be ours." she explained, "By harassing them, we can incentivise my father to order a naval expedition to come to this region and attempt to assault the base, assuming they believed that removing the command structure would stop those attacks. We will annihilate whoever comes our way, and with the time it takes for my father's loyalists to recover the lost equipment and men, we will take as many of Zuko's loyalists under our wing as possible." she acknowledged, before sighing, "I ask that one of you contact a scribe, and have them write up a letter asking my uncle for his loyalty. Even if he refuses to support us, that doesn't mean that Zuko's forces won't."

"What defences should we prepare around the base?" Colonel Jinchi asked her, making Azula furrow a brow.

"Mining the outer palisade with tripwire and pressure-spark explosives would be the best option in the short term, though I believe that building a trench around the exterior of the base might also provide some defence against tundra tanks and komodo rhinos." she decided, taking her best knowledge she had from her tutorials on siege warfare and putting it to use.

"Such a trench, deep enough to prevent tundra tanks from crossing, could reasonably be constructed within two weeks, at the latest, your majesty." another officer, Major Chui, gave her his first thoughts, which she trusted, understanding that he was the head of the forces engineering corps.

"Actually." Azula's eyes widened, realising that she had a brilliant reason to increase cooperation, "I will need a rider to go west at once. I want to request some earthbenders from the nearby rebel group come to this base and help us build those trenches, and if my father;'s men come here, to defend our base. In exchange, we will grant them a steady stream of supplies and arms, and offer them control over this base once we ultimately withdraw from it in the coming months and relocate back to the homeland, where I will be reigning as Fire Lord." she explained, pursing her lisp upward as she understood how this would further her aims to build her fleet of airships, "I met some of them a few days ago, and they seemed amenable to cooperation. They will most likely accept my offer, and that will free up resources and time for the engineering corps to work on building a new, larger airship prototype."

"So, do you want me to organise the engineers to design a new prototype at once, your majesty?" Chui asked Azula, who nodded.

"That's exactly what I want you to do. As soon as we can have that prototype built, we can begin test flights, and if necessary, use it to fend off any enemies who come our way." she explained, before furrowing a brow, "I believe that my associate, Sokka, might be able to provide some advice on the design aspects of such a craft, so I will have him oversee the design of this new prototype." she added, thinking that would be a good job for Sokka to do, given he seemed to be rather creative and interested in creating things; she was sure that his mind would be put to good use with that project, and provide a distraction while they were effectively stuck at the base until Aang and Katara returned.

"Well, when I get the engineers who built your last airship assembled, he can have a look over their plans." he suggested, the Princess nodding.

"Sometime this afternoon would be best." she gave her best guess on when Sokka might be bothered to deal with that, before taking another sip from her cup of tea.

"What will we do with the prisoners, your majesty?" Koun asked, the Princess furrowing a brow.

"I'll deal with them later. Don't starve them or anything of the likes; I simply require whatever intelligence they might have going the opposite way. We could use better intelligence on my brother's forces, especially given they might be mine, soon enough." she clarified her intentions, before placing her hands together, "I don't think it would be wrong to assume that my father might send assassins our way. That's something we should prepare for."

"Should we increase security around the perimeter?" Jinchi asked Azula, who nodded, believing that to be the best course of action.

"As much as can be done. I doubt there's anything they will do at this moment, given that we're isolated from my father's loyalists and their conflict with the rest of the Fire Nation here." she gave her opinion, thinking that the threat her father and his supporters presently posed was far less than Zhao had to her, even though it seemed he had similar malicious intentions toward her and her allies.

Once she finished her cup of tea, she rose back up to her feet, "Was that all that had to be discussed?" she asked, the men nodding.

"Yes that was, your majesty." Colonel Jinchi confirmed, "We are glad you didn't fall to the hands of those savages on your trip."

"I had the best protection I could have had barring an army." she argued, "Though, bounty hunters did come after us, after we departed from Shengchang."

"How were they dealt with?" the Colonel asked, sounding less curious and more concerned about the dangers that might be coming their way, understandably enough.

"With the amount of force I believed necessary. I had all of them scarred as a warning toward anyone who might try to take me captive." she explained, "Though, seeing my brother might be dead, he won't be able to see my rather... harsh insult."

"Did you... uh, mark their left eyes?" Zhengyi asked, the Princess nodding as she pushed her chair in.

"I know that might have been unnecessary, given the news we received, but I hope my father hears about it... if only to understand what might come his way if he dares to send assassins or kidnappers our way." she expressed her thoughts on the message she had sent; she smirked at the thought of her father himself being intimidated, given how much fear he had incited into both her and Zuko as children.

She then decided that with that said, she would leave the meeting and head back downstairs; she needed to make sure Ty Lee was alright, given how she had first reacted to the news. Her friend having a breakdown was in nobody's interest, and she certainly wanted her to stay by her side rather than go out and seek revenge, something that might otherwise sound absurd in considering her bubbly, light-hearted friend, but she knew that she deeply cared for Mai, and she would not take Ozai's actions lightly.

"Have a good day. I will be at the spa, if I am needed in the next few hours." she explained her intentions, before striding toward the doors; they were opened up for her as she stepped up to it, and she made her way through.

Azula didn't even look back, just glad she could get the meeting over and done with, and go and do what she had really been looking forward to, that being to go to the spa. She made her way straight to the stairs, and strode on down them, back into the main hallway of the compound; she then strode on down the square-shaped hallway, looping back past the entrance, making her way past a few officers, who bowed toward her in respect. She nodded at them, but continued on, not having any time to accept their deference for any longer than a second; she reached the doorway that led into the part of the compound that contained her quarters, and pushed the door open, making her way down the hallway.

She saw some of her guards standing by the end of the hallway, having carried their things inside; they noted her presence, and instead of continuing to idle about outside, moved into their own quarters. She made her way along, and approached Ty Lee's door, which was shut; she considered whether she ought to give her a little more time, and knocked on the door. There was no response from inside, and she wondered whether it was because she didn't know it was Azula at the door, and not a servant coming to attend to her.

"It's Azula." she identified herself, and a moment later, she heard a quiet voice respond.

"Come in." Ty Lee allowed her, and with that, she pushed the door open; her friend was curled up with her knees to her face, sitting on her bed, not seeming any better than she had been when they parted ways.

She closed the door behind her, and considered what she ought to say; she decided that she would just bluntly admit how she was feeling, given that, at least for Sokka, that seemed to work effectively enough. She spent enough time hiding her emotions and acting cold and serious that she found it a little weird to try and do so, but she took a deep breath, looked Ty Lee in the eyes, and told herself that she deserved a little honesty.

"I don't know what to say."

Her friend pulled her head up, and she narrowed her eyes at her, "That you feel sorry for me... no, that's not right. You're Azula, you don't like feeling sorry for people." she observed, rather bluntly acknowledging her own flawed behaviours; she already knew she was weird, but it felt weird coming from Ty Lee to hear that.

"I feel... I feel frustrated." she admitted, "I know you're sad, and you have every right to be. If you were angry, that'd be perfectly understandable."

"It isn't fair." she simply told her, looking back down at her knees, "Mai didn't deserve any of this."

"People suffer for love." Azula acknowledged, "Trust me, I know." she raised a hand to stress, "She made a choice to go with Zuko, and help him. I'm not going to think any less of her because of it; that was her choice, and she cares about him... a lot more than I ever did." she acknowledged, "I'm a shitty sister, I know that."

"I know you care about Mai too... how... how are you so calm?"

"Because I've been here before." she gave her the truth, "I thought Zuko killed our father... I really did, and I hated him for it. Even if... Ozai is a horrible person, and probably deserved it after what he did to Zuko's face, but... he was the one I cared about, who I thought cared about me." she told her what she had believed, something that seemed absurd now that she stood there, thinking about her father ordering the death of Zuko and Mai, "I know that was foolish of me... but that's in hindsight."

"That's because you cared." Ty Lee admitted, "And now..." she mumbled, clenching her fist, before she hammered it into the bed below her, "Why?!" she shouted out, letting out the smallest bit of rage; she could tell that her emotions were going to bubble over, and she didn't know what to do.

She thought back to when she would have those kinds of moments, and knew there was a tried and tested method Sokka had used against her. She stepped over to the bed, and grasped her friend by the shoulders; she looked up at her, tears dropping down her cheeks, and she pulled her into a hug. Ty Lee probably didn't expect it from ehr of all people.

"I know... I know it's not okay." she mumbled to her, "Mai didn't deserve any of this. The why... it's a stupid reason." she admitted, her friend sobbing as she put her head down on her shoulder.

"Zula... we just... we just can't let this kind of stuff happen." she told her bluntly, "It's not right."

"We couldn't have done anything." she admitted honestly, "Maybe we could have tried to sort things out with Zuko, but who's to say my father's loyalists wouldn't have just tried to kill us all. If they succeeded, then nobody would be able to stop them." she told her what she feared more than losing; it was those she wanted to stop winning.

"Aang will stop him." she declared, "He has to." she added, now sounding less sure of herself.

"He will." she assured her, "We'll make sure of it." she stressed, staring her in the eyes.

"You're... you're different now." she mumbled, "You never used to hug me."

"I know you needed it." she simply put her actions in context; she wasn't going to suddenly become the world's most affectionate person just because she decided to express her feelings a little more often than never, "We can go to the spa now, if you like." she suggested, the acrobat scrunching her lips up.

"I think I might wash up first." she decided, "I kinda smell."

"I think we all do." she conceded, before glancing over toward the door, "Maybe I should do the same."

"Sokka's probably..." Ty Lee began, before she let out a small chuckle, pursing her lips up as she considered what might come next, "I won't hold you back any longer, your highness." she assured her, making the Princess roll her eyes; she figured out the lewd implications of her friend's words quickly enough, and she remained unamused.

"Enough of that." she warned her, before she stood up, "I'll go clean up, then you and I can have the spa session we've been waiting for. Finally... a little bit of relaxation." she made a small smile, "You deserve it after the beating the bounty hunters gave you."

"Oh... yeah, that was why I wanted to relax so bad." she recalled, touching the bandages that covered her forearms, which amusingly enough, looked like the pieces of fabric Sokka wore over his own, though that was some kind of Water Tribe fashion, rather than to cover any injuries.

She then turned around, and glanced toward the door that led into the small washroom adjacent to her friend's bedroom, "So, are you having a shower?" she asked her, the acrobat nodding.

"I'll do that." she confirmed, pulling herself off of the bed, now standing right beside Azula, who stood up to match her height; Ty Lee then leaned in and hugged her, and rather tightly at that.

"Thanks, Azula." she simply told her, and though the Princess realised she ought to respond, she was lost for words; she couldn't think of anything that didn't sound mushy or stupid, so she just kept her mouth shut and gave her friend a smile.

Once she turned to go into the washroom, Azula left the bedroom, pulling the door open and then closed it behind her; she knew she needed to go wash up herself, so she decided to head back down the hallway to her bedroom. As she made her way toward her bedroom, she passed by Sokka's quarters, where she could hear the shower going off; she momentarily stopped, and clenched her fists, realising Ty Lee had infected her with a terrible, lavicious idea.

"Dammit, Ty Lee." she growled under her breath, before stepping toward the door, pulling down on the handle and pushing it open.

"W-wait, I'm in the shower." Sokka spoke up, and she sighed, before closing the door behind.

"It's me, idiot." she identified herself, and Sokka just let out a little mumble in response.

"Huh... are you- uh, going to join me?" he asked, the Princess rolling her eyes before she grasped at the belt she had tied around her waist; she knew she needed a shower, and though she knew her idea was rather inappropriate, given that he was her boyfriend, she knew it was a tolerable thing to do.

She dropped her belt to the floor, and the chest piece that covered her shoulders and upper torso, pulling it up and off of her shoulders; it made a large bang when it fell to the ground, and she let out a huff. She didn't want to think about the war, or her brother, or her father, or anything like that; all she wanted was a little peace and quiet; she knew that stepping into the shower with her boyfriend didn't exactly qualify as that, but she knew that by his side, she could be a little less worried about all those things that were constantly in her head.

"What does it sound like, savage?"


	23. Chapter 23

Toph pursed her lips upward as she sensed around here, noting that she was surrounded on all sides by Jet and his gang of Freedom Fighters; any ordinary earthbender might have just picked up boulders and tossed them at their opponents, but she was anything but ordinary. She wanted to be methodical when she beat their butts, just so she could feel proud of herself for defeating them as intelligently as she would. She also wanted them to get better at fighting, knowing that as long as she was fighting alongside them, they would need to become better at fending off attacks. Even if she couldn't compare to the Fire Nation soldiers they expected to face, sooner or later, she knew that she could at least give them the kind of challenge that would keep them on their toes, perhaps literally, as they tried to work around her seismic sense.

Jet and his friends were moving to attack her all at once, and she had covered her body with stones, and she kept her seismic sense keen to feel where they were. She could sense Pipsqueak moving toward her, probably thinking he could use the log he wielded as a weapon to break her defences. She sent a pillar up from the ground, striking the log by the tip, which flicked it up into the air; the Freedom Fighter gasped out in surprise as he presumably tried to catch the log. She couldn't sense it, but she wasn't worried about it; she was more concerned about Jet stabbing his hook swords into the base of her armour, probably wanting to try and break her footing, which was the root of her bending- without it, she wouldn't stand a chance.

She didn't waste any time to stand still and let him try and break her rock armour, fixing his feet in place with her earthbending, which seemed to surprise him; she had, in other spars, offered to not make such moves, but she decided that with the other three Freedom Fighters to worry about, she would have to do it. She moved herself along the ground, keeping the armour around her body as she sensed Smellerbee rushing to jump onto her; she shot a pillar of earth from the ground, but it failed to hit the agile fighter, who landed on Toph's shoulders. She drew out a machete, or at least, what seemed like one with what she could sense through the girl's body, and leaned forward, using her firm footing to her advantage, while the Freedom Fighter was tossed off of her. She sensed that Jet was coming after her again, and The Duke was too, with what seemed like a rope and a pick; she was confused exactly what he intended to do, but she doubted he would get the chance to restrain her.

Toph immediately turned her attention to Jet, shooting two rocks that covered her hands off at him, striking each into his legs, making him grunt as he was forced down to his knees; that would only slow him down, if she didn't try to bind him to the ground again. The Duke then leapt at her, striking her left hand with the pick, which momentarily shattered the stone covering; he must have had a plan to begin with, specifically considering her abilities. Seeing that he was even younger than her, she was a little impressed to sense him tie the rope around her wrist and then throw the other end of the rope toward somebody else. She sensed forward to realise that Smellerbee had grabbed the rope, and pulled on it hard to force Toph closer, lest she be ripped out of her earthen armour and left practically defenceless.

"Aha, we've got youǃ" she exclaimed, obviously proud that she and her friends had finally grappled the earthbender.

Smellerbee's enthusiasm seemed to wane as Toph took advantage of her stiff stance and hard grip on the rope, by pulling the ground under her feet closer to her with her bending, and then throwing her up into the air by shooting the earth up from under her feet. In the process, she had loosened her grip on the rope, and thus, Toph didn't accidentally get her shoulder dislocated in the process. The Freedom Fighter shouted out with fear, and she could sense Pipsqueak running over to catch her before she fell down to the ground.

Her seismic sense was quickly turned back toward Jet, who was ready to assist The Duke, who probably thought he could get her other hand with the pick he was using. She decided to take out two birds with one stone; she shot the small boy in the behind with a rock, which threw him forward, getting him right in Jet's way, forcing the Freedom Fighter to draw his weapons back. More than that, he was tripped over by hitting The Duke, and fell down to the ground, allowing Toph to ensnare his hands as he tried to pull himself back up.

"Don't move." he warned her, Toph's lips scrunching up as she sensed around, and realised that Longshot was aiming at her arm, "I think we've won, unless you'd like an arrow in your left palm." the Freedom Fighter cockily declared his group's victory, and she sighed, realising that her small mistake of leaving her hand uncovered had cost her the fight.

"I do not." she conceded, before letting go of her grip on Jet; the Freedom Fighter dusted himself off, and before he could tell his friends to stop, Pipsqueak cam back at her with his log once more; she snickered, and shifted the ground beneath his feet, making him fall down face-first, and drop his log down right in front of her.

"Oh, thanks for the seat." she quipped, dropping her bottom down on the log as she raised her toes up from the ground, relaxing her feet for a moment; they were rather tense from all the moves she had been doing.

"Seriously?" she heard Smellerbee ask out, "So that's it?"

"Yeah, that's it." she confirmed, before sensing around, "I think that's sufficient practice for the afternoon. I prefer not getting shot in the hand, anyway."

She swore she heard a huff, perhaps slightly amused, coming from Longshot, though she was unsure, and nobody commented on it; she sensed around, and chuckled, "You know, I think it's kind of dumb I'm still training you when there's actual firebenders here now who you can train against."

"We don't want anything to do with the ash-makers." Smellerbee argued, turning her attention to Jet, "Isn't that right, Jet?"

"We don't. But we're not going to agitate them, because I think Toph will get more angry at me for doing that than they will." he conceded, making her smirk.

"That's right. I hate it when people act like idiots for stupid reasons." she reminded him, "Though... some of those men who came with the General probably have hurt the Earth Kingdom. I know the General has." she acknowledged, recalling the stories she heard about the Six Hundred Day Siege from her parents, though she assumed, in hindsight, she had received the embellished version of events that the Dai Li or the Council of Five wanted everyone to hear.

"Right." Jet nodded, before he stepped closer to her, "Then why can Bumi trust any of them?"

"He trusts the General." she clarified, "They follow him, so I guess he just accepts their loyalty to him as enough of a reason to trust them." she gave her opinion on the matter.

She had realised earlier that she could ask the Fire Nation soldiers and guards who had come along with General Iroh could spar with the rebels, and help them get ready to face their countrymen, though she was sure they would prefer to not assist them anymore than they had already. Even if some of them held the same belief about ending the war as General Iroh did, a lot of them probably didn't like the Earth Kingdom, nor wanted to help them rebuild their country. Most of them would prefer that their country remain in chaos so the Fire Nation could continue their domination.

"I don't trust any of them." the Freedom Fighter spoke up, "Do you?"

"The General seems well-intended enough... though Governor Ukano seems... less so." she admitted, "He probably better fits your assumptions of the Fire Nation."

"Selfish, mean and intent on seeing the 'lesser nations' fall?" he asked her, making Toph chuckle.

"I mean, probably the first two, but I'm unsure on the second. He didn't get asked about that back at the meeting." she noted, before sensing around, realising that she could recognise a heartbeat by the edge of the training yard.

"Wait, is that old guy-" Jet began, Toph stepping past him.

"Yeah, that's the General." she explained, "Azula's uncle, to be specific."

"Ah." he mumbled, before glancing toward him, "So, are you going to go use your skills and find out if he can be trusted?"

"Uh, that's part of it." she admitted, though she kept the part about wanting to talk to him about his niece and their family unspoken; she wanted to learn more about the royal family, which only seemed to be more insane and disturbing with the supposed death of Fire Lord Zuko by the hands of his father, whether directly or indirectly.

"Good luck, I guess." Jet farewelled her, and she turned her attention to the other Freedom Fighters.

"That was a good fight. We'll see if the ash-makers wanna go up against you all... because I'd certainly like to see how that goes." she explained, before snickering, "I mean, sense." she corrected herself, realising that she wouldn't be seeing anything.

It was rather self-evident, given her disability, but she knew that most people would use the word 'see' for many things that really didn't have much to do with seeing- one could observe without eyes, and she was sure others did as well, even if they didn't have seismic sense.

She heard Smellerbee snicker at her comment, and she pointed a finger at her, "What, do you want to fight blindfolded?" she questioned her, the Freedom Fighter shaking her head.

"I don't think so." she admitted, "Though, we should probably learn to rely on our other senses a little more. We'll be better at stopping anybody from sneaking up on us that way." she noted, Toph pursing her lips up.

"Good observation." she commended her, "Maybe you can practice listening out for people when you go on patrol... seeing the Fire Nation might be coming for us... we've got some very useful hostages."

"But I thought they were our guests." Jet commented, sounding a little confused, before he gasped, "Oh... you're even more of a genius than I thought."

"I mean, I have nothing against them personally, but the Governor and the General are pretty useful if we wanted to try and... not get the city shot at by catapults or the tunnels filled with smoke." she conceded, before shaking her head, "I'm sure Bumi will have a strategy to stop that from happening to begin with." she added; though she really didn't care that much about the Fire Nation guests they had, she knew that most of them were innocent, and probably, more than anything, wanted to get home- she knew that sacrificing them for New Omashu's safety would be an extreme course of action, even if it would be effective.

"Have a good time interrogating them." Pipsqueak waved to her, making her snicker as she was reminded that was in part what she'd be doing, though it wasn't because she was necessarily suspicious of General Iroh, even if she held some suspicions toward the others; she just wanted to find out about Azula, seeing that she'd probably have to cooperate with her if Aang really was set on her being his earthbending master.

Sensing around, she realised that Iroh had already left the training yard, which annoyed her slightly; she wanted to speak with him, but now he was probably heading back to Bumi's throne room. Without much choice in the matter, she sighed, knowing she'd have to walk to the throne room, and hope the General was there. She made her way into the tunnel that would lead her back toward the centre of the city, and sensed ahead of herself, noting that she could sense some Fire Nation soldiers who were standing along her path, probably just idling about while they awaited orders from their superiors. She could tell them apart by their distinctive armour, which resonated differently to her seismic sense than that which Bumi's rebels wore; they turned to face her as she made her way along, and it seemed like they were just observing her, rather than seeming suspicious.

She turned her head slightly, and pointed their way, deciding to test them, "What're you looking at?"

"N-nothing." one of them assured her, the nervousness in his voice audible, not even considering his heightened heart rate.

"You're the one who saved Governor Ukano's kid, aren't you?" one of them asked, Toph nodding, and the men turned to face each other.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because I knew that there was something wrong." she admitted, "I was thinking your Governor had sided with the conspirators, and had ordered his men to attack us."

"He's not our Governor." one of them warned her, "We serve General Mak."

"Who's he?" she asked, the men's heartbeats rising slightly.

"The head of the Fire Lord's military intelligence organisation." one of them gave an answer, which from his heartbeat, seemed like the whole truth, "We should have seen all of this coming."

"I should've too." she admitted, and a moment later, one of the men raised a hand toward her.

"What do you mean? Don't you have lie-detection abilities or something?" he asked, "And how would have you known? It's not like you were spying on the Governor and everything going on inside Omashu."

"That's a lot of questions." she commented, before pointing at him in turn, "Are you trying to interrogate me, mister?"

"Uh, no... " he admitted, cringing back, perhaps in fear.

"Good job, Huan, now you've spooked the most powerful bender in the damn city." one of his comrades chided him after smacking him in the back of the head.

"I wasn't spying on him." she admitted; others attended to those matters, though she'd gone on a few scouting operations into the city, mostly to check the defences in the case Bumi wanted them sabotaged, "I did, however, check out a weird abandoned campsite and some tracks. They were leading toward the city, and I didn't consider why anybody would be travelling there in secret. I thought it might have been some Fire Nation soldiers just trying to avoid us." she explained, before shaking her head, "They were probably trying to hide from whatever garrison soldiers were actually loyal to the Governor... so they could try and assassinate everyone at the meeting when we assembled."

"Huh." one of them mumbled, crossing his arms, "Well, it's not like everyone can think of every possible outcome or reasons for something." he conceded, "And now we've got to deal with... all this."

"You do." she clarified, "Not me." she admitted, before continuing to walk along, not really having much reason to continue talking to them; she was just a rebel fighter, protecting a city from the Fire Nation, if they dared to attack it- she wasn't going to concern herself with the Fire Nation's civil war, even if she certainly didn't want the war to continue in the long term.

Toph walked on away from the soldiers, and she could sense them turning to face her as she continued down the tunnel, though once she got far enough away, they seemed to return to whatever discussions they had been having prior to her encounter. She could sense others walking past her as she made her way toward the centre of the underground city, though they were just commoners, not concerned with the war or anything really outside of the city, unless it concerned the goods and food coming into the place

She knew that their supply lines were in danger with Ozai's loyalists taking control over Omashu properly, and that they would need to bolster the protections they already had in place, given the distance between them and free Earth Kingdom towns, outside of either Fire Nation group's control. Those towns themselves would likely be in danger, soon enough, though she was unsure what Bumi would do about it; she understood the King was rather tact and patient when it came to his strategy. He would not waste their resources if it wasn't necessary, and would make the best of opportunities when they arose; she knew, however, that those villages couldn't reasonably be safe when it was likely that with the civil war leaning in Ozai's favour, they might come around and occupy them, preventing them from trading with New Omashu.

She knew that the war was a danger that loomed over them all, and though she wished she could just act like she just had to train the earthbenders, scout the perimeter and harass any Fire Nation soldiers who came their way, she was sure that wouldn't be enough to stop what was coming their way. Her certainty on that matter had be reconfirmed, now that she had heard about what had happened in the Fire Nation capital; it was inevitable that Ozai's forces would come for them, just as they had moved to suppress and control the Earth Kingdom when he was the Fire Lord.

As she reached the doors of Bumi's throne room, she realised that she was going to be uniquely placed to help in that regard; the Fire Nation could be stopped by Aang, and perhaps even by Azula, if she was to take the charge and lead the forces that would have been loyal to her brother to victory. She was about to talk with Iroh, probably the one person she could talk to about his niece, and perhaps, what the Avatar would have to do to stop Ozai.

The guards noticed her as she arrived, and opened the doors for her, not even bothering to ask her why she was there; either they already knew, or just didn't want to resist her potential demands. She wanted to laugh at that, but given the mood around New Omashu ever since they had returned from the disaster of a meeting, she decided that she'd hold herself together. She was meant to be the Blind Bandit, not just a teenage girl who amused herself by intimidating others; she had a job to do, and a responsibility to fulfil, and even if interrogating Iroh wasn't something explicitly requested of her, she knew it would help them all, given that he knew much about the Fire Nation, and presumably, about his brother, who had just seized power.

When she paced inside, she noted that Iroh was sitting with Bumi by the table, drinking tea, though the former seemed solemn, given his posture, which she knew had to do with his nephew's purported demise. The King turned his head toward her, and his heartbeat rose suddenly, though not in shock, but perhaps, mere surprise. He then gestured for her to approach, and she did just that, sensing the General's heartbeat; he wasn't surprised in the slightest, and in fact, seemed very calm, with a slow, regular heartbeat, even if he clearly wasn't in a good mood.

"Toph, would you like some tea?" Bumi asked, before he pushed the ceramic teapot toward her with his bending.

She picked it up as she reached the table, and took a sniff from the pot; she noted that it did smell pretty good, though she wasn't surprised, given the King of Omashu, of all people, was drinking it. She was sure that he wouldn't stand for something as avoidable as a poorly made cup of tea.

"This smells good." she conceded, before striding on over toward the pair, "You don't mind if I... uh, come for chat, do you?" she asked the General, who turned his attention toward her.

"Well, I guessed you'd come here eventually." he admitted, "You're probably curious about me, and what's been going on."

"And your niece." she added, "I didn't really get to talk with her that much... well, at least when she was trying her hardest to pretend to not to be herself."

He let out a huff, seeming a little amused, before he took a sip from his teacup, "Please, sit." he gestured to the seat beside him, and she pulled it out with her earthbending, before sitting herself down on it, pulling it back in so she could pour herself a cup of tea; she did just that, as the General placed a cup down in front of her, and she put his pot back down, realising she had probably been a little forward in snatching it with her bending.

He placed his hands down on the table, once he had sipped down the contents of his cup, as what indicated when she sensed the cup and found it devoid of liquid, which was relatively easy for her to sense, given her seismic sense was effectively blind to it, "What did want to discuss?"

"I... well, I want to know what's going on. I mean, with your family, not us getting attacked by catapults when we were meant to be eating fire flakes."

"Oh, we did miss out on those." Bumi recalled, "Those other ones were far too... intense for my tastes."

"My family..." the General spoke softly, his tone in stark contrast to the upbeat and amused King of Omashu, "You mean about how we ended up in this terrible situation?" he asked her, and she nodded, thinking that was an astute way of putting it, "Well, it's a bit complicated..." he conceded, placing his teacup down onthe table as he took a deep breath.

"To make a long story short, my brother became Fire Lord about seven years ago, after my father died of a sudden illness." he explained, looking down at his cup, "I had been... not in the best place of mind, and decided not to contest my brother's ascension to the throne, thinking that I could help advise my nephew Zuko as how to be a better heir, so that in time, our nation could progress past the horrible situation we had found ourselves in."

"I'm guessing that didn't turn out so well." she assumed, knowing that there had to have been a good reason for Zuko overthrowing his father around a year prior.

"No, it did not." he sighed, "My brother challenged Zuko to Agni Kai for speaking out of turn in a war meeting... for arguing against a general's plan to use new recruits as bait for a division of earthbenders." he explained, shaking his head, obviously finding such a strategy to be reprehensible.

It was rather undignified in her view, given that it was effectively some snotty officer deciding that those men's lives weren't worth anything more than a trick; unlike somebody like Yung, who led his men into the thick of every battle he would order them to fight, she doubted a general advising the Fire Lord had even seen the battlefield in years.

"An Agni Kai is a firebending duel, right?" she asked, only having heard about those from rumours, and not because she actually had any idea of how Fire Nation culture or law worked.

"Yes. A duel of honour to resolve disputes. My nephew, being the loyal son he was at the time, decided to beg for his father's forgiveness, not believing he was going to face him, but rather the general who had angered him with his heinous plan." he explained, before his heartbeat rose, suggesting that he was uneased by his own memories of the duel, "My brother scarred his own son for his alleged cowardice, and then banished him from the Fire Nation, unable to return unless he captured the Avatar, the greatest enemy of the Fire Nation, at least according to the view upheld since Fire Lord Sozin's time."

"Capture the Avatar..." she mumbled, before raising a brow, realising what Azula, Zuko's own sister, had done, "Well, that's... rather ironic."

"In hindsight, yes." he nodded, "At the time, my nephew was at first, aghast and shocked by the news, once he awoke after being burned. I travelled with him across the globe, and he began to become desperate. We looked everywhere he could think the Avatar could be hiding, but we failed to find him... which is obvious enough in hindsight if what Bumi said is true. He was in an iceberg, hidden at the South Pole. There was no realistic chance we could have found him... and my nephew obviously realised this, and after Sozin's Comet passed, he fell into a state of despair." he explained, raising a hand to his cheek, his heartbeat rising once again; the memories mustn't have been good, and Toph could only imagine what must have been going through Zuko's head, stuck away from his home, unable to return, even though he clearly must have wanted to, a stark contrast to herself.

"He began to drink alcohol to the point of throwing up every night and spent most hours of the day in his room. He spent months lost, in his own mind, constantly either depressed or just angry, with either himself or the crew, and then... somehow, he came to the conclusion that I had hoped he would. That he wasn't to blame for what had happened to him- it was my brother, his father, who had scarred him and sent him on an impossible quest."

"I'm guessing he got... angry." she acknowledged, knowing that if he was anything like his sister, from what little she had observed about her temperament, he must have gone on a rampage of revenge.

"That would be an understatement." he conceded, "My nephew dedicated himself to improving his firebending and training for what he understood to now be inevitable. We travelled first to a base on the north coast of the Earth Kingdom, where Admiral Zhao was stationed; you may or may not have heard of him, but he led the Fire Nation's attempts to invade the North Pole."

"Why did you guys go to him? What does he have to do with Zuko's banishment?" Toph asked, a little confused what he would have to do with the revenge that seemed squarely set on Ozai, which she understood ultimately was the case, given that it was claimed for a time that Zuko had murdered him in single combat.

"A few months before Sozin's Comet, he requisited the crew of our ship, and Zuko and I were forced to remain in the Earth Kingdom for a few weeks before the Admiral's fleet returned empty-handed, and then we went on our way. Zuko, however, held a grudge, and realised through the few conversations we had had with him that he was a terrible person, intent on destroying the Water Tribes, which my nephew found to be despicable as well as disturbing." he explained, picking up the teapot, and pouring himself another cup, "Zuko fought him in an Agni Kai, and gave him a scar to match his own, and to remove him from his position as Admiral."

"Ah, there's the revenge bit." she observed, before picking up her own cup of tea, "So, then he went and pretended to kill his father."

"Well, I don't believe Zuko thought that he was going to survive when he actually came to duel him." Iroh admitted, sounding almost a little nerve wracked by the suggestion he'd kill his own father, despite obviously not liking him, "I did not witness the duel itself, only the aftermath, where my brother was taken away in chains, seriously wounded and unconscious. We thought he might die for his injuries, but he did ultimately recover."

"And can I ask... what does this have to do with Azula... and Sokka?" she asked, knowing that their relationship, and her ending up with the Avatar of all people was something she wanted to understand.

"From the best of my knowledge, Azula left the Fire Nation capital over a year ago on an assignment from her father. She was, under the pretenses of a diplomatic venture to better integrate Ba Sing Se into the Fire Nation's empire, to investigate a supposed conspiracy against the Fire Nation rule there, which I understand had been the work of the Dai Li." he explained, "Before she could reach Ba Sing Se, her royal barge was attacked by a group of Water Tribe warriors hired by a member of the Order of the White Lotus, who believed that capturing my niece would prevent her from getting in the way of Zuko's moves to defeat his father and become Fire Lord." he explained, Toph scrunching her lips up before she took a sip from her tea cup.

"Well, that certainly went to plan." she sarcastically quipped.

"I never approved of the operation, and only learned of it after the fact." he admitted, "Sokka was one of the warriors in the operation, and when the Water Tribe sunk the ship, they were washed ashore after being forced to swim away from the wreck." he explained, "That was how they met, properly, according to Sokka."

"So, you've spoken with him about all this?"

"Well, only briefly, over a cup of tea, before my nephew and niece had their Agni Kai." he explained, "Azula and Sokka travelled through the wilderness, and eventually reached Fire Nation occupied territory, and the two of them, along with my niece's guards, travelled to Ba Sing Se to undertake the task her father had assigned to her. She must have uncovered whatever machinations the Dai Li had in play, and I believe she captured their leader." he explained, placing his hands together, "This was about the time Zuko and I had reached the capital, and once my niece realised what had happened, she travelled westward on a ship she had been given, and with the support of an army she had gathered, intended to take the Fire Nation colonies, and after that, the homeland."

"Well, she obviously didn't succeed."

"That was because Zuko had travelled to the colonies to sure up his authority and help with the transition. He wanted to smoothly remove Fire Nation rule from the colonies, but my niece's agitation prevented that from happening." he told her why that plan had failed, "They faced off in an Agni Kai, which I'm sure everybody has heard about by now, and she was defeated. Sokka incapicitated Zuko, and he fled with her while she was unconscious. I later heard that Sokka showed up at Pohuai Fortress, and stole some supplies." he continued on, "That was the last I heard of them until she fought against General Zhang, and sent that 'message' to Zuko."

"A message?" she raised a brow, before recalling she had gone to interrogate the soldiers, and presumably had told them something, which might have travelled up the chain of command after they gave the prisoners to Governor Ukano a few months prior.

"Oh, she said something rather rude." he admitted, "I won't say what it was."

"Aw... now I'm kinda interested." she conceded, before placing her hands down on the table, "So, that's what happened." she observed, "But why did Azula come to fight Zuko in the first place?"

"Well, she, like everyone else in the world, believed Ozai was dead." he admitted, "She thought she was going to fight and avenge her father... but that wasn't the reality of the situation."

"So... now Ozai's gone and done... well... yeah." she mumbled, not wanting to actually utter what had occurred; it wasn't because she really held much care for the Fire Lord- she didn't know him at all, but she understood the pain that the General must have been going through over what had happened.

"I should have seen this coming." he growled, sounding angry with himself, "This was avoidable."

"You can't see every possibility, Iroh. And we've only heard one side of the story." Bumi assured him, "Your brother could just be tricking us, like how your nephew tricked the world into thinking he was dead."

"A cruel twist of fate." he murmured under his breath, "Zuko didn't deserve this... even if he isn't dead... this isn't how things should have gone."

"Well, I agree with Bumi. It's not like we can believe everything that comes out of the palace." Toph argued, "I don't think your nephew is dead, if he's really how you describe him."

"I hope he isn't... but that might just be wishful thinking." he acknowledged, before sighing, "How was she?"

"Azula?" she raised a brow, the General giving her and nod, and she furrowed a brow, trying to think how she could describe the Princess, from what she had understood in their short time together, "I don't really know her that well. She was trying to hide her identity, which didn't help. She's not... well, she doesn't seem like a bad person. She wanted to help us, and she did, despite being from the Fire Nation. She tricked those soldiers by disguising herself as one of them, which made a lot more sense in hindsight, and then she fought alongside us, with the Avatar."

"Bumi, is he how you remember him?" Iroh turned to the King of Omashu, who nodded.

"He hasn't aged a day." he admitted, "Really, he isn't any different to what he was like when we were both twelve. Just a giddy airbender with a big heart. He will be a good Avatar, as long as he's trained, and knows what fights to pick."

It was weird to think that Aang, who appeared to be younger than her, was actually the same as the elderly King of Omashu, and that the two of them had been good friends, before the Avatar disappeared for a century.

"I'm sure his friends will help him." the General acknowledged, "I trust that boy to look out for both of them."

"Sokka's the only non-bender I've met who I can say is actually intimidating." Toph admitted, and upon hearing that, Iroh turned to face her.

"Oh, did you threaten my niece?" he asked, and she nodded, "Well, that's why. He beat Zuko just on the mere suggestion he'd imprison her."

"How'd he even manage that?"

"Neither of us saw it coming." he conceded, "His boomerang whacked my nephew in the back of the head, and then he warned me to not get in his way. Though I could have easily stopped him with my firebending, I relented."

"Because you trust him." she realised, remembering what he had said.

"I had a short conversation with the boy, but I know he has a good heart. He's somebody I can trust to look out for my niece and make sure she doesn't do anything too foolish." he admitted, before sighing, "But now, everything's different."

"What are you going to do, Iroh?" Bumi asked, "Will we need to assemble the Order to deal with your brother?"

"If worst comes to bare, then yes, but I would rather avoid such a flagrant political move. It would expose our organisation and that... that would not be good for any of our innocent members who have nothing to do with the feud between my family." he explained, before turning his posture toward Toph, "The Avatar is the only one who can stop my brother without any reasonable repercussions. He is the bringer of justice for our misdeeds, as they have always been."

"There hasn't been an Avatar in a hundred years." Toph admitted, "How do you know people will respect whatever Aang does?"

"Because the only person who stopped an Avatar was my grandfather, and that was because he betrayed Avatar Roku, his good friend." he explained, sounding rather regretful about that.

"Wait, that's how the last Avatar died?"

"Yes." he confirmed, "And now... this young Avatar needs people he can trust by his side. I know my niece might have different intentions to him, and that might not help in the long term." he admitted, "Repeating history is the gravest mistake anyone can make, especially considering what has happened to the world since Avatar Roku's demise."

"Sokka can stop that from happening." Toph concluded, the General sighing as he put his teacup down on the table; his heartbeat told her that he wasn't as sure about that as she was.

"We can only hope."

"I wouldn't be so confident." she heard a voice that she didn't recognise, and sensed to where she had heard it from; a man was approaching the table, wearing what seemed like a thick cloak and drab robes- she was sure it was a member of the Order of the White Lotus, though she hadn't sensed him before, so she assumed he had only arrived recently.

"And who's this guy?" she asked Bumi, who rose up to his feet.

"This is an associate of ours, Jeong Jeong."

"He's the one who sent the Water Tribes on that operation, actually." Iroh clarified, making her furrow a brow.

"So what, this is all your fault?" she asked, realising that because of that ship being sunk, Azula had been delayed in arriving in Ba Sing Se, and effectively prevented her from returning to the Fire Nation Capital sooner, and thus, could have let their conflict play out in only an Agni Kai, rather than the massive civil war that had spilled over from the dispute between the members of the Royal Family.

"Wrong." he retorted, "I simply made sure the civil war was delayed. Would have you preferred that Princess Azula arrived at the capital without having met that Water Tribesman?" he asked, "What if she had won, and freed her father?"

"Then we'd be in an even worse situation." Iroh simply answered that question for them, "We are lucky that those two met, but I still believe we ought to avoid doing anything like that again." he admitted, "Azula may be our only hope."

"The Avatar is." he corrected the General, "We should be mindful of any undue influence she has on him. Would it be in the best interest of the world if the Avatar began to think the Fire Nation's control over the western Earth Kingdom was all fair and acceptable?" he asked, the General sighing.

"I doubt he agrees with her on that." Iroh argued, "He comes from a time before the war, so he'd probably, like anyone else from that time, think they were an aberration."

"But, what if she does become the Fire Lord?" Toph spoke up, "I don't know much about Fire Nation politics, but I'm pretty sure that most of your country doesn't exactly want to give up everything they won in the war they've been fighting for a hundred years."

"That is also true." Jeong Jeong agreed with her, "Many people in the Fire Nation believe the war is just, and they would not agree to giving up all the gains the Fire Nation has made from it." he acknowledged, "They cannot be persuaded, but I know that you, Iroh, were going to deal with that issue."

"I wanted to have as peaceful a transition as possible. It's clear that's not going to happen, and Zuko establishing martial law in some of the colonies hasn't helped." he admitted, placing his hands together on the table, "There is no easy way out of the conflict that exists there."

"The Earth Kingdom, as it was, no longer exists." Bumi clarified, "The easiest way out of the conflict is ignoring it, at least at the moment. I know that once a new government is formed, it may become a contentious issue, but I am sure that they will understand that our nations cannot afford a continuation of what has gone on for the past hundred years."

"A lack of action is sometimes the best strategy, but I am sure that some in the Fire Nation might see that as forestalling what is inevitable." Jeong Jeong suggested, pulling out a seat to sit down beside Toph, "By the way, I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Jeong Jeong, and you are?"

"Toph... also known as the Blind Bandit, and the greatest earthbender in this city." she proclaimed, making Bumi snicker.

"If you keep saying that, we're going to have to duel." he warned her, the blind earthbender cocking a smirk.

"I will face you one day, old man." she warned him, "But first, I think we've got to deal with the bunch of Fire Nation soldiers occupying that city that want us dead."

"Oh, that's true." he agreed with her, before placing his hands on the table, "Now, Jeong Jeong, would you like some tea too?"

"Yes. My journey here was quite tiring." he admitted, "I would have taken a boat, but Ozai's ships might have caught me along the way." he noted, Toph raising a brow.

"You walked all the way here. Why?"

"To meet General Iroh." he clarified, "We have some business to attend to."

"That wouldn't also have to do with Azula, would it."

"Not just her. The Fire Nation is tearing itself apart, and this latest news... it proves that we need to act, sooner rather than later."

* * *

The plans Sokka was looking at were impressive, and he realised with a little examination why Azula had harnessed such a craft in the first place; the airship was the ultimate military technology, that could supercede the need for a navy, or even land forces, if one had enough of them. Major Chui wasn't too well-versed with the design of the craft, nor how to construct it, though his engineers had provided a general overview of the process. Their first craft had required the use of a steamer's engine, which was a frustrating use of resources, in the Major's eyes, because it effectively made every airship that they constructed eliminate a steamer, which were commonly used by the Fire Navy in their sea-based assaults on settlements and military bases. He understood that they would be getting a new source of materials and machinery in Shengchang to build more airships, but until then, the prototype would be just that, because they lacked the means to quickly reproduce them, nor make engines at their base.

"So, sir, what do you advise?" Chui asked him, making the Water Tribe warrior raise a brow.

Being referred to as sir by a man far older than himself was a little weird, but he understood that he was Azula's deputy, and thus, outranked everyone at the base except her. That became more amusing to think about, considering that if she was the Fire Lord, he'd effectively be able to boss powerful generals and admirals around with little repercussions. Turning his attention from the oddity of the Major's deference, and back to the matter at hand, he traced his finger along the plans.

"What kind of protection does this craft have against projectiles or firebending?" he asked, knowing that was likely to be the main threat that would face the crafts if they were used to invade the homeland.

"The fabric it is made with is similar to that which soldier's uniforms are made of. It is infused with retardant to make sure it cannot be set alight. The balloon itself is really just a metal frame with bags of hot gas."

"But the gas can explode?" he asked, the Major furrowing a brow.

"I assume so." he admitted, "The gas we use is the same used in ships for heating. It isn't burnt, but rather heated up to create buoyancy." he explained, the Water Tribe teen raising a brow.

"Huh, that's pretty smart." he noted, "How'd they figure to do that?"

"They didn't." the Major shook his head, "The designer of the original war balloon used natural gas from the Northern Air Temple to create a prototype balloon lifted by gas alone." he explained, Sokka scrunching his lips up.

"It's a disappointment that guy got kicked out by Zhao." he admitted, "I would have liked to meet him. Sounds like a smart man if he designed all this stuff."

"Well, not all of it." one of the engineers clarified, "We made it battle-worthy. The original design could have been shot down and all the gas inside exploded with ease."

"So, the retardant is meant to prevent that, I assume." he guessed, the engineers nodding along to confirm his suspicions, "I think you need more ranged weapon capabilities." he decided, "If there's one way to make sure a unit of firebenders doesn't make your craft explode, its to make sure they can hit them first."

"Firebenders could be placed on the exterior of the craft to fire down, but that would pose its own problems. They could get knocked off or slip." the Major noted, making the Water Tribe warrior's eyes widen as he realised what they could do to prevent that.

"Just tie ropes- no, chains to their chests, and hook them up to the frame of the airship. Even if they slip, they won't fall over, even if they lose their balance for a little" he suggested, the engineers nodding along.

"That would work." one of them agreed, and Sokka turned his gaze back toward the plans.

'You'll need to make the gondola a lot bigger. Like a lot." he stressed, "At least enough space to house thirty men."

"That'll require a bigger engine and bigger frame."

"Precisely." he agreed, "But more men means more firepower." he explained his reasoning, "And if these are used to assault a city, you'll only need maybe two of them, and you get lower a few men down to open the gates and harass the local garrison." he explained, "There's no need for trickery when you can just go over the walls."

"That's true." the Major noted, seeming amused by his ideas, "This craft, if made, will be a fine addition to the armaments of the Fire Nation."

"And it could be used for things other than fighting. A quick way of transporting people and goods across the world. A bit like a sky-bison, only bigger and it runs on coal." he explained, making the engineers nod along.

"That could make us a lot of money, if we're the ones producing them."

"That's true." he confirmed, "And all that money, we're going to need it after the war ends."

"So, we're going to be rebuilding the Earth Kingdom." Chui noted, crossing his arms, "That's... a change, but I guess there's some benefit to our businesses and trade." he admitted, at least acknowledging the benefits that came from the change in the Fire Nation's attitude toward their long time enemy.

"There will be benefits for both sides." he assured him, "Though, honestly, I don't really care about that."

"Wait, really?" Chui asked, obviously confused by his comment.

"Yeah, I want my tribe rebuilt." he clarified, "Which won't be that hard once we can start trading and building our own things once more. The whole world will benefit from our victory, and these airships will be able to help the world, when they're not being used to bomb the Fire Nation Capital."

"Uh... yeah." Chui nodded, turning to face the engineers, who seemed a little uneased by that fact.

"The capital." one of them murmured, "I haven't been there in years." he admitted.

"I haven't been there ever." Sokka clarified his own position, "Though, I hold nothing against the people there. We've just got to deal with Ozai and his goons."

"There's a lot of them, if the rumours are close to the truth." the Major warned him.

"Well, luckily we've got smart men like yourselves ready to find better ways to fight them. If it was just a bunch of firebenders, catapults and guys on komodo rhinos, who do you think would win?"

"They would." Chui admitted, his tone dark, and suggested the fear he held; he was sure that all of the officers were afraid if they had any sense about themselves, but they knew that they had the chance to win, if they played the right moves, and took advantage of the chaos Ozai had sown, "This machine will allow us to win when we wouldn't have otherwise." he acknowledged, "And our fleet will be unopposed if we can bomb our opponent's ships." he added with a smirk, presumably finding the potential assurance of dominance to be enticing.

"That's how we'll win against Ozai." he declared, "With a little help from my tribe and the Earth Kingdom too." he added, "We might not have big ships and weapons, but we can provide earthbenders and the ability to sabotage." he noted, the Major nodding.

"There are some benefits to cooperation." he noted, "It has been good to talk with you, sir. Will you be going to explain these matters to her majesty?"

"Yes." he confirmed, "Azula will want to hear about these improved plans. Hopefully we can start building it soon enough."

"We?" one of the engineers questioned, "Are you going to be assisting us?"

"Where I can, I will." he confirmed, "I have been told that my help may speed up the process... and with news of what's happened in the capital, I want to help as much as I can."

"Well, thank you... uh, what do we call you?" he asked, the Water Tribe warrior chuckling.

"Just Sokka. I don't have a title." he admitted, before glancing toward the door of the workshop, "I'll- uh- leave now." he awkwardly excused himself, "I've got to have lunch."

"Oh yeah, our lunch break." one of the engineers noted, "Sir, are we allowed to go eat now?"

"Sure. I think we've gone over enough planning for the morning." he decided, before gesturing to Sokka a curt wave as he left the workshop, pushing the door open as he made his way out into the large warehouse where they were to construct the prototype airship; already, there were parts for the metal frame, and what looked like a disassembled engine ready to be built for the new craft.

He was ready to help in whatever way he could, but he knew that until they actually started building, there was little he could actually do. He paced on toward the entrance of the warehouse, which was a large metal sliding door, which he was able to pull slightly open so he could step on out, before shutting the door behind him. It was a little heavy, but he hadn't done too much exercise that morning, so he wasn't fazed by the task.

As he turned around, Sokka was forced to close his eyes from the glare of the midday sun, and blinked a few times before he glanced around the area; he took note of a few men doing their firebending sets in the distance, and beyond that, the sight of soldiers pacing on patrol around the palisade. He turned his attention back toward the compound, knowing that was where he was going to go meet Ty Lee and Azula for lunch.

He knew they were working on some tasks, mostly dealing with organising the naval operations that their fleet would be undertaking in the next few weeks. He understood that their role was to draw out Ozai's forces and prod them into attacking them, as this would allow them to trap and utterly destroy them, in Azula's words. he didn't exactly like the idea of a massacre, though he was sure it wouldn't be a literal one, given that their intention was to either capture or rout the enemy force and seize their armaments for themselves.

He preferred to be dealing with the whole airship issue, given that seemed a lot more straightforward than strategising how to prod someone into making a move that would be in any other case too extreme or simply foolish. He doubted that Ozai's generals were fools, and though not all of them would be aware of Azula's wit and intent, they would all understand the danger she posed to them, and perhaps that alone would give them reason to attack. He preferred that Ozai's men stay as far away from them as possible, but he knew that an attack was inevitable, so, it occurring at a time when the usurper Fire Lord's forces were at their least organised and most arrogant would be clearly the best time for Azula to 'teach them a lesson', as she would say.

As he paced on over toward the compound, he hastened himself, not wanting to waste any time, as if there was anything he loved, it was food, and he knew that Azula wouldn't want him to be tardy, though he was sure that if he was early, she'd make fun of him and call him obsessed with food. He would wear that with pride, though, as he knew that loving food was far more healthy than loving power and revenge, which seemed to be Azula's main desires, outside of achieving justice and making the world she desired for them both. He knew that she would mock him for his own obsessions when hers were just as bad, and though at times, he felt like doing the same, he knew that would incur much more harm than her own mockery.

She didn't want her plans undermined by him of all people, and even if they weren't intending to face off Zuko anymore, he was clearly less headstrong and ruthless in his own ideas about how they should go about defeating Ozai. He just hoped that Aang, and perhaps, Bumi, if he was offering the young Avatar advice, would have some ideas of how to better deal with the situation, and provide some alternatives to outright rushing into the capital and murdering Ozai, which he doubted Azula even wanted to do, even if she saw it as the only option. Sokka was sure that things could go better than that, better than repeating what she originally intended with Zuko; he knew that part of her wanted to destroy her father, but she was probably equally afraid of him. The former Fire Lord was willing to kill his own son, and probably would try and kill her too if she stood in his way.

He knew he couldn't mull over it too much, at least while they were so far from that inevitable fight, and turned his attention back to pacing back into the compound; the soldiers present saluted him as he walked in, and Sokka glanced around to see that Azula had actually done what she said she would. Instead of eating in the large meeting hall where they usually would, she decided to have a small dining table and some cushions set up outside, under the shade of an open tent which was made from some light fabric, allowing the sun to shine on through, though its shine was dulled by the covering. Ty Lee and Azula were already sitting there waiting for him, and the former gestured for him to come over; they were drinking tea, presumably waiting to be served their lunch, and he paced on over toward them, sitting himself down across from the pair, looking at the teapot with interest.

"What kind of tea are we drinking?" he asked, the Princess pushing the pot closer to him.

"Just green tea." she explained, and Sokka grabbed the pot, and poured some for himself into the cup in front of him, "Did the planning session go well?" she asked, sounding less casual and more concerned about the actual turn of events.

"Everything's fine. The airship plans they've got ready are good, and though there's a little danger with the whole flammable gas inside, I assume that they'll make sure that the coverings are good enough to stop some witty firebender from blowing it up with a single fire stream." he explained, before furrowing a brow, "I'm unsure how long it will take them to make this prototype though. It's bigger than your first design."

"I know that." she nodded, picking up her tea cup, "With any luck, they'll have it working before Aang and Katara get back here, and we can use it to fly troops around to help speed up the process of dealing with the Earth Kingdom rebels."

He sipped from his own teacup, and smiled, finding the taste to be calming, as well as refreshing, making him feel like he was long past the stuffy and dark workshop where he had been assisting the engineers; the Water Tribesman glanced around, wondering how long their meal would take to arrive.

"What are we eating, anyway?" he asked, the Princess furrowing a brow.

"Roast komodo rhino, noodles, rice, and some dumplings, with rice cakes for dessert." she listed off the things they'd be eating, and Sokka, enticed by what he was hearing, licked his lips.

"Mhmm... great." he smiled, intent on eating all of those things.

"It does sound pretty good." Ty Lee agreed with him, before she gestured to his chest, "Is there any reason to be walking around in that armour?"

"Eh, I mean, it makes me look more proper and serious when I'm dealing with Fire Nation soldiers." he explained his reasoning, "I mean, I prefer my ordinary clothes, but this armour isn't bad either. It's not too heavy, and it keeps me fireproof when Azula and I train."

"Speaking of which, did you want to spar after lunch?" she asked, and he nodded, making her smirk, "Good. I've been meaning to test my forms on you. If my father's men do come here for us, then I want to be in perfect condition to beat them."

"You're not going to just stand at the front of the compound and fight them off, are you, Zula?" Ty Lee asked, "That'd just be exhausting, not to mention really dangerous."

"I won't be alone, and I will position myself to ensure my own safety." she assured her, "I'm not going to open myself up to attack when I can help it, Ty Lee."

"We shouldn't be worrying about all that." Sokka suggested, "That's way off into the future, and we've still got other stuff to do... like dealing with the rebels and see if Zuko's forces are willing to cooperate."

"Not all of them are going to be that loyal to him personally." Azula conceded, before narrowing her eyes, "Sooner or later, we're going to be dealing with Shinu, that treacherous snake."

"Oh, yeah, him." he recalled the General, and then smiled at the memory of beating him up, "I did whack him for you."

"Well, we're going to need to do more than whack him to deal with his forces. He occupies one of the most important army bases in the entire Earth Kingdom." she noted, "And even if he is willing to cooperate with us, I will not accept his offers." she stressed, "I will take his Yuyuan Archers from him and burn that metal monstrosity to the ground."

"You sound like you hate him even more than you did Zuko." Ty Lee noted, a little uneased by the tone Azula was using, and the intense hatred she held toward him.

"Zuko never betrayed me personally... Shinu, however, certainly did." she stressed, before shaking her head, "We'll deal with him when the time comes." she admitted, before raising a brow, "Oh, here comes a servant. They must have the noodles." she noted, Sokka turning around to see that a servant was indeed coming their way with a tray carrying three bowls of noodles.

They placed the bowls down in front of them on the table, and the Water Tribesman nodded to acknowledge their work, before they bowed toward Azula, "Enjoy your meal, your majesty."

"How long until the main meal comes here?" she asked, the servant gesturing down to the noodles.

"As soon as you are finished with your starters."

She nodded, and raised her hand to dismiss him, and with that, he walked away from them; she turned her eyes to Sokka, and pointed down to his bowl, "So, are you going to start eating, or has something gone terribly wrong with you?"

"Oh, yeah, I will." he confirmed, picking up the chopsticks that sat beside him, before quickly digging into the bowl, scooping up noodles and the meat interspersed within and taking a bite.

He chewed it down and licked his lips, finding the spicy flavour of the noodles to be quite nice, not to even mention the softness of the meat. It seemed like it had been cooked for quite some time, and melted in his mouth.

"Delicious." he simply gave his opinion, "You've gotta try it."

"Well, it's not like I'm going to let a good meal go to waste when it's given to me." Ty Lee admitted, before scooping up some of the noodles with her own chopsticks and taking a bite; she remained silent for a few moments as she chewed, and both Sokka and Azula eyed her as she did, before she swallowed and nodded, "Yep it's good. Go on, Zula." she suggested for her to start, and she did, though with a moment of hesitation.

Sokka continued eating his meal, scooping up more of the meat and noodles, and chewed it down; he found the starter to actually be quite filling, though he certainly knew he could fit a lot of food in his gut.

Once he finished chewing that little portion, he turned his eyes up to his girlfriend, "So, other than sparring, was there anything else on the agenda today? Any activities?" he asked her, making her narrow her eyes at him, slightly confused by what he was saying, though that confusion itself was a bit of mystery to him- he didn't think there was anything odd asking her what they were going to be doing for the rest of the day.

"Are you saying you want to go on a date?" she asked him, making the Water Tribe warrior blink a few times as he considered what she had just said; he cringed as he realised that he did in fact refer to dates as activities, given that doing activities together with a little romantic intent constituted a date.

"That's not what I meant." he corrected her, "I mean, you're a person for planning out the day, Azula... so, what are we doing?" he asked her, before an awkward silence fell over the table, and Ty Lee looking toward her friend with confusion as Sokka decided to add a final bit to his question, "Unless you do want to go on a date?"

"Smooth." the acrobat complimented his efforts, which just made him cringe even more than he had before.

"We'll see." the Princess gave a vague answer, which he interpreted as being playful or purposefully frustrating, depending on whether she actually wanted to go on a date or not, "But I do have some plans for the afternoon. We need to plan something important." she admitted, Ty Lee nodding with a straight face, telling him that they'd talked about something serious while he was off in the workshop.

"What?" Sokka asked after a few moments of impatient silence, picking up some more of the noodles with his chopsticks, "I'd like to know about this important planning."

"Well, it's also... secret." Ty Lee admitted, and Sokka rolled his eyes as he chewed down on the next bit of noodles; once he was done chewing he pointed the chopsticks at her, sure that she was covering up something trivial just to play with him.

"Urgh, so, is it like a secret party or something for somebody's birthday?" he asked, the two of them looking at him with blank expressions.

"You seriously didn't mention anything to him about this?" the acrobat turned to face her friend, who shrugged her shoulders, not seeming concerned by her question, which certainly concerned Sokka, given it was telling him that there was something going on that he didn't know about.

"Well, I'm sure he's got his own plans. Sokka's no idiot." she retorted, before turning to eye her boyfriend; she leaned across the table, eyeing the nearby guards at the door of the compound before she whispered, "Do you have a plan to get out of here if we have to flee?"

"Hijack a steamer." he simply gave her the first thing he could think of; he hadn't thought about it that much, but it had been in the back of his mind at times, especially considering things after the bounty hunters came after them, "Of course, we might get chased by bigger ships, so that really only works if we're being stealthy about it."

"How can one be stealthy with a steamer, might I ask?" his girlfriend questioned, obviously finding his plan to be flawed.

"Urgh." he rolled his eyes, "I'm all ears, your majesty. What's your master plan?" he raised his hands up to offer her the time to speak about her own ideas of an escape plan.

"Well, I wouldn't use a steamer. I would get a steamer, and set it off, to distract whoever's after us, and then we'd run into the woods, and head for the closest Earth Kingdom rebel base. Unlike the Fire Nation, they have no reason to betray us to Ozai, and then, we'd be safe, even if they decided to take us prisoner." she explained her plan quietly, with a calm and collected tone, before she raised a brow, "So, does that work, Sokka?"

"I don't like the idea of being hostages of the Earth Kingdom. It's not that I don't like them, but our experience with Toph and Jet tells me it'd be better to just keep running until we find some way to contact Dad or Aang and Katara." he admitted, before sighing, "I really don't want to do that. I'd prefer if we just stayed here."

"Me too." Ty Lee agreed with him, "I don't want to get anywhere near him." she explained, her words vague, but the meaning behind them clear.

"Y-yeah." Sokka nodded, picking up some more of his noodles with his chopsticks, "I don't want to either." he agreed with her, before chewing down the noodles.

Azula's expression became clearly more serious upon comprehending her friend's words, and an eerie silence fell over the table; he knew he could say something, to try and assure them that the worst wouldn't occur, but he couldn't be sure of what would happen next. He loved his girlfriend, and he knew that the fact she was thinking about escaping proved that she couldn't be that set in her plans; she had to understand the weakness of their position to even contend an escape plan to begin with.

"We will have to." Azula admitted, picking up her cup of tea, "We can run, and we can hide, but the only way I become the Fire Lord is if I kill him." she bluntly stated her opinion, and Sokka cringed; he knew that she couldn't hate her father that much, at least nowhere near as much as he assumed Zuko did, and that was what made her words all the more chilling.

"Well, you don't need to... uh, you know, shoot him with lightning." he admitted, "I'm pretty sure if these airships are as effective as I think they might be, we'll be able to..." he trailed off, realising that Azula might not want to bomb her childhood home to the ground, "Uh, how much do you want that Royal Spa?"

"It can be rebuilt." she countered his point, telling him that she cared far more about victory than any pittance of luxury she would gain from a clean seizure of the capital, "If it comes to that, then I guess you are right, Sokka. We'll have to destroy the palace."

"Let's- uh- talk about something else." Ty Lee suggested, "Like, getting some earthbenders here to help us."

"Oh, that is a goal I have in mind." the Princess confirmed, "If we can persuade them to side with us, then we will be in a far better position. If there's anything I've learned from being with Aang and Katara, it's that with other bending arts by our side, we will be far stronger than whatever goons my father sends our way."

"Wow, so you do think waterbending is useful." Sokka gasped, feigning surprise; it was clear that she had come to understand, if not appreciate the other bending arts, and although Sokka personally had little care for them, she took great interest in making herself, and anyone around her, as capable as they could be, even in their own 'lesser' bending arts.

"Well, water's everywhere, Sokka." she raised a finger to stress, "It's used to make food, so it's in that. People drink it, so it's in people. Plants rely on it to grow, so it's in them too." she listed off a few things, "With a little ingenuity, the bending arts can be extended beyond whatever pittances the orthodox masters would teach you."

"So, I guess it's good Toph might be Aang's master. If she can see with her bending, she has to be much better than those guys." he realised, making her chuckle.

"Precisely." she nodded, "And I hope that your sister can learn to utilise her element in a similar manner. Of course, she has a lot of catching up to do, but I don't doubt her inherent skill."

"We don't need bending to win every battle, though." he argued, before smirking, "We can use traps."

"Traps?" Ty Lee raised a brow, "Ooh... you want to make some?"

"I dunno, I bet we could. It's not that hard, you just need to make something dangerous, cover it up, and let your enemies walk right into it. Like hidden pits, or even smoke bombs, like what those bounty hunters used."

"You know, Sokka, using smoke bombs would be a very-" she began, before her eyes widened, "You genius."

"Why thank you." he placed a hand on his chest as he bowed forward in an exaggerated fashion, "I know smoke bombs are useful. You know that my dad invented some stink bombs to use-" he began, Azula shaking her head.

"No, no, not about traps." she clarified her intentions, before raising a finger, "The palace."

"You want to..." his eyes widened, realising her intentions, and he smirked, "Oh, that's a good one."

"Gassing out the palace, knocking everyone unconscious. If my father's there, we could just take him captive and embarrass him in front of his entire clique of supporters." she explained, "Oh, that's... diabolical." she admitted with a cocky smirk, before turning to face Ty Lee, "Trust me, Ty Lee, the only kind of benders that could stop smoke bombs are airbenders, and the only one in the world is our friend."

"Okay, I trust you." her friend nodded, "That's a good idea." she agreed, before grimacing, "Though... getting to the palace is probably going to be hard."

"That's why we can't..." he began, before raising a finger to his chin, "Actually, I'll just think on this one." he admitted, knowing that he had some thoughts about trickery, in fooling Ozai's forces into thinking their strengths were somewhere else, so the airships and gassing would come as a surprise.

"And eat your starter, so we can get onto the main." Azula suggested, "You'll have plenty of time to come with a plan between now and when we actually have the airship fleet to do anything about it."

"Fair point." he agreed with her, before scooping up as much noodles and meat as he could with his chopsticks, and shoved it into his mouth, just to remind her that she had told him explicitly to eat, and thus, he was going to abuse the situation to be as grubby as possible.

Momentarily, she seemed disgusted by what he was doing, but she shook her head, covered her face from view with her left hand, "I need to be more careful with my words." she simply conceded her mistake, before she too began to eat, though far slower and more neatly than he was.

Once he swallowed what was in his mouth, he raised his right hand up, "I'll slow down." he assured her, not wanting to needlessly agitate his girlfriend, as humorous as it would be.

He continued to eat his noodles, and once he finished chewing down on the food in his mouth, he swallowed it and picked up his cup of tea, taking a sip from it. It washed out his mouth, and he let out a breath before returning to his meal. His eyes darted up to Azula, who was calmly eating her meal, though he could tell she had things on her mind. He guessed it had something to do with the potential of assassins and other dangers coming for them; though he was concerned himself, Sokka was much more focused on being ready for the fight to come, whether it be with the Dai Li or Ozai.

He knew that she had good reason for her paranoia, but that didn't mean he agreed that she ought to let her mind be dominated by thoughts and plans of how to escape unknown threats that at present seemed to be far from likely. His noodles were a good distraction for his own concerns about his girlfriend; he knew that his thoughts must have been in parallel to her own, with the caveat that Sokka lacked much self-preservation. He was only really concerned about her, and making sure their group was safe; seeing that he couldn't worry about Katara, or at least, act on his worries, he was left single mindedly focusing on his girlfriend's well-being and safety.

Once he had finished his bowl of noodles, which he got through quite quickly, given it was only a small bowl, he decided to pour himself some more tea, knowing that it would help wash down the mild spice of the noodles. He knew that the main would probably be worse, and he cringed at the thought of having to ask Azula if he could go to the toilet; it was probably the most embarrassing thing that could happen at a meal, and he was sure it could happen. Ty Lee finished around the same time as he did, and she pointed her finger toward the teapot; without having to tell him, he pushed the pot over, and she smiled before she poured herself some more tea.

"Did you want to do some chi-blocking practice at some point?" she asked him, before smirking, "I could show you how to do it with your feet." she suggested, making Sokka snicker at the thought of beating people by jabbing them with his toes.

"Uh, I guess it would help." he admitted, "Though, I have no idea when I'd be fighting without boots on." he added, unsure even when he'd be able to apply such a skill.

"Assassins come into the bedroom to kill us." the Princess gave an answer to his question, and the Water Tribesman cringed upon noting Ty Lee's posture shrinking back as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Maybe having the guards around wouldn't hurt." she suggested, making Azula shake her head.

"You're even more paranoid than me, and that's saying something." she warned her, before picking up her some noodles with her chopsticks, "There's men patrolling this base at all times. The only place that'd be safer than this would be the palace or a blocked up cave."

"Unless the Dai Li send some people after us... in which case a cave is not so safe." Sokka warned her, and the Princess cringed.

"Oh... good point, Sokka. They might be wanting to get back at us, even before we try to get back at them." she conceded the threat that faced them, "I think that's why it's imperative we get some earthbenders on side. They will be able to provide the kind of protection that even my guards would be unable to give."

"Or just Toph. I'm pretty sure she could handle the Dai Li better than anyone with her crazy abilities." he suggested, making Ty Lee smile.

"Well, that's good to hear, if she's coming to join us." she noted, before scrunching her lips up, "What's she like?"

"Annoying, snarky, and too observant for her own good." Azula described her succinctly.

"But isn't that you?" the acrobat asked, making the Princess's expression shift to one of bewilderment; she probably wasn't expecting that comment from Ty Lee of all people.

"Excuse me?" she asked, sounding like she was ready to start a fight over her comment.

"Okay, you're not annoying, other than with the training regime." she corrected herself, making Sokka cackle as he saw his girlfriend's expression shift to one of embarrassment.

"Both of you, shut it!" she demanded, the Water Tribe warrior raising his hands up.

"I'll just drink the tea. Maybe it'll help you calm down."

"I am only annoyed because somebody doesn't know how to keep their trap shut."

"You just don't like getting compared to a blind earthbender." he corrected her, "I mean, it's not that much of an insult. You know she's the kind of 'powerful bender' you want on our team."

"She is." Azula conceded, before narrowing her eyes at him, "But I am not like anyone. Do you think a girl like that could be a ruler?" she asked her boyfriend, who raised his teacup up to acknowledge her point.

"Nowhere as good as you, your majesty." he assured her, and she narrowed her eyes at him, seemingly confused by his comment.

"I am the Fire Lord." she realised, "I just haven't gotten my headpiece yet." she noted, self-consciously touching the small red headpiece hat she had placed in front of her topknot.

"That's not what makes you the Fire Lord." Ty Lee turned her head to face her friend, her expression far more serious than usual.

"Then what does?"

"Honour. You have more honour than he'd ever have."

* * *

When he arrived at one of the entrances to New Omashu, Aang didn't know what to expect, but he certainly hadn't expected getting rocks thrown at Appa; he would admit, it wasn't the best arrival he could have had to the city, though the rocks were held back as soon as the earthbenders wielding them realised that it was the Avatar who had arrived, and not some Fire Nation soldiers. When he set the sky-bison down, he was feeling calm and assured that things were going well, but that calmness was shattered when he heard from the guards that the meeting he had heard about from Chey, where Omashu was to be turned back over to Bumi's control, had ended up with a bunch of soldiers mutinying and attempting to kill the Governor, Bumi and General Iroh, who he recalled as being Azula's uncle.

He had a feeling that the turn of events at that meeting must have been connected with whatever had happened in the Fire Nation Capital. Katara was just as unnerved by the news as he was, and she didn't seem like she was feeling comfortable as they strode into the tunnels of the city. Though the people who had started that fight were likely still in Old Omashu, some distance away from the underground city, that didn't mean that the danger wasn't looming over them. He felt that they should leave the city as quickly as they possibly could, knowing that if a bunch of Ozai's loyalists learned Aang had arrived in the city, then they would be in serious danger, and would be putting the people of the city in danger as well.

Though he had been excited to see Toph, and ask her to be his earthbending master, he knew those emotions and thoughts were drowned out by thinking once again about what was going on in the Fire Nation. He didn't know Zuko, but that wasn't who he was thinking about when he heard Ozai had had him killed; Azula was who he was thinking about, and as her friend, he felt more than a little worried assassins might be coming her way. Once she learned about what had happened in the capital, he guessed it would only be a matter of time before she acted; what those actions would comprise, he was unsure, not being the most versed in politics as a twelve year old boy, who until a few months prior, had known nothing about a hundred year war and the complex politics of the Fire Nation.

Aang realised that they had a great opportunity in New Omashu. Azula's uncle, who now, due to the circumstances, had a good reason to work with her, was in the city, perhaps with Bumi at that very moment. Despite the Princess's less than appealing comments about him, Aang knew he had let Sokka take her away from the Agni Kai after she had been hit by lightning, and from that, he could see that he was somebody that could be trusted. Even if he wasn't there with them, he was sure that Sokka would argue to cooperate with him.

Katara stepped closer to him as they made their way down the tunnel, Momo sitting on his shoulder as he eyed ahead, wondering exactly what they'd be doing first, "So, to the throne room?" he asked her, and she nodded; nobody had called for them, even if the guards had explained what had happened in Old Omashu, so he decided that was the best course of action.

"We could go try and find Toph." she suggested, "But she might be out scouting." she added, not sounding very sure of herself.

"Bumi has to be here, unless he's decided he really is going to go take back the city himself." he noted, before chuckling, knowing that he'd like to see his friend to do, "I'd be annoyed if we missed that."

"What, you wanna see him kick the Fire Nation's butt?"

"Do I?" he grinned at her, "It's not because it's the Fire Nation, it's because it's Bumi."

"He is a good bender." she acknowledged, "Maybe he should be your master instead."

"He might not want to leave Omashu... he's the king, I don't think he can just get up and leave just because he thinks he'd like to train me." he noted, "And we can't stay here for that long. Azula would be angry, and Sokka might get sad because he can't see you."

"I'm sure Sokka isn't that worried about me." she assured him, the young Air Nomad blinking a few times.

"I mean, he shouldn't be that worried. You're a great waterbender now." he agreed with her, before eyeing up ahead, noting that they were approaching the proper entrance of the city, where a few men stood on duty, their expressions shifting to ones of surprise as they realised who they were.

"Avatar Aang." one of them addressed him with a salute, "It is good to see you back in our city once again. The King told us to tell you if you returned that you should come to see him at once." he explained, rather enthusiastically, before pointing down the path into the city proper.

"Uh, okay, that's what we were going to do." he clarified, before striding past them and waving, "Thanks!"

Momo chittered and jumped off of his shoulder, before he began to glide down through the tunnel; knowing the flying lemur, he was probably going to find some of the stalls in the city's market and go steal some fruits. He just hoped he could do so without getting caught; he didn't want some angry stall owners going after the little lemur.

"And there goes Momo." Katara observed, before she furrowed a brow, "I wonder if people think about us differently because of... uh, you know." she reminded him of how badly things had turned out last time; it wasn't Azula's fault, even if she certainly wasn't liked by many people due to her position as Princess of the Fire Nation, and her actions before Yu Dao, which Aang understood as not helping her case for earning the trust of the Earth Kingdom.

"Let's just avoid Jet." he decided, "He's... well, he's not very nice."

"Yeah, that's a way of saying it." she acknowledged, suggesting she had a more rude way of referring to his behaviour, though he was glad she didn't say it, knowing that Katara wasn't one to be angry and use hateful words, at least not when it came to people she really didn't have a good reason to despise, like the Southern Raiders.

They continued down through the main tunnel of the city, allowing them to see all the way down toward the throne room already, though it was still quite some distance away, with a market in between them and it. Aang wondered how the city had been faring since he was there last, not considering the recent events in the Fire Nation; the place didn't seem like it was feeling solemn, though as he saw people walking by, he could notice a certain edge to their expressions. Everyone was tense, and he guessed it might have had to do with the Fire Nation people in their city. He knew that General Iroh was in the city, but he must have had some kind of entourage, similar to what Admiral Zhao had had when he went to the Northern Water Tribe.

Katara averted her eyes from the glances of onlookers, who must have come to recognise them, with Aang's tattoos now showing, despite the hair that he had covering his head. He didn't know if she was as easily noticeable, though her Water Tribe colours were pretty distinct, at least compared to the drab colours that people wore in the Earth Kingdom. She gestured ahead, and he noticed that he could recognise a few of the people at the market; it was some of Jet's friends, the Freedom Fighters, though the boy himself was distinctly missing from the group. They quickly realised that the young Avatar was approaching, and turned to wave to him; he cringed slightly, realising that he had said they should avoid Jet, when in fact, they were running right into his friends.

"Oh, hi. Are you guys back from the North Pole?" Pipsqueak asked them, the pair nodding.

"Yep." Aang confirmed, before glancing around, finding no sign of Jet, "Where's Jet?"

"Uh, he's talking with some of the leaders about an operation to go take back Omashu." Smellerbee explained, "It's only just in the works. I guess you guys have heard what happened now."

"Yeah, we did." Katara nodded, "Have you seen the Fire Nation people yet?"

"Yeah." The Duke stressed, his tone sounding a little agitated, "They're just walking around freely. We're not the only ones unhappy about it." he admitted, the young Avatar nervously scratching the back of his scalp.

"Uh, well, at least they're on our side." he admitted, "I mean... not working for Ozai."

"Who's Ozai?" Smellerbee asked, the young Avatar cringing slightly as he considered whether he should explain.

"Azula's Dad. He's a pretty terrible person, and we're going to stop him, somehow." the Water Tribe girl stressed, before she eyed the Freedom Fighters, "These other people are loyal to Zuko, so they aren't really your enemies."

"Loyalty to a dead guy isn't really helping their case." Smellerbee argued, before furrowing a brow, "Where is uh... her highness and Sokka?"

"Very far from here." Katara clarified, "They couldn't come because... well, they're doing politics."

"Politics." the Freedom Fighter repeated her last word, crossing her arms as she made a skeptical expression, "So, is your brother a politician now?"

"Uh, kinda." Aang commented, Katara looking at him with confusion.

"What?"

"Well, you remember what happened at the North Pole with that meeting, right? The one where he got all angry with those Northern Water Tribe people." he asked her, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"I guess he does try to vouch for the interests of our tribe... and he probably does want to become Chief one day." she conceded, before glancing back over in the direction of the throne room, "Speaking of which... we've got to go talk politics now, I'm guessing."

"Are you here to see the king?" The Duke asked them, the pair both nodding.

"We are." Aang confirmed, before beginning to walk that direction, "So sorry, we can't- uh, chat, we need to go see Bumi."

"Uh, yeah, of course." the young boy replied, understanding his reasoning, and with that, the pair began to pace on over toward the throne room.

"They really don't seem to trust these other Fire Nation people." Katara noted with a near whisper, "Maybe everyone else feels the same."

"I hope not." Aang admitted, "I mean, I don't know everyone thinks... but they all can't be thinking the worst of each other."

"That's what the world is like Aang... take this from somebody who thought about the Fire Nation the same way they did for a long time... for most of my life, really." she warned him, before sighing, "I wish people could understand they're not all that bad, but even then... we can't just think the best of everyone. They did invade the world, and even if they're not... bad people, doesn't mean they won't agree to it. From the sounds of what Azula says, nearly everyone must have gone along with it."

"Kuzon wouldn't've." he declared defiantly, making her raise a brow.

"I've heard you mention that name before. Is he one of your friends from before the war?"

"Yeah." he nodded, "He's from the Fire Nation, and he's a good guy... was a good guy." he corrected himself, grimacing at the thought of what his friend's fate might have been; he doubted he'd be as lucky to see him still alive, unlike Bumi, who was despite his age, still alive and kicking in the most bombastic way possible, as he saw from their duel a few months prior.

Katara didn't respond to his comment with words, simply placing a hand on his shoulder, her face telling him that she understood; he missed his old life so much, and there was no way of getting it back. Bumi was one of the only people he knew that were left, and he was glad that he would be seeing his friend once more. The pair made their way on toward the throne room, where a pair of guards stood; the guards opened the doors quite early, and got out of their way, something Aang saw as a sign of respect. He smiled at the guards, and bowed toward them in respect, before he paced on into the throne room, where he could see Bumi, who was sitting across from another man; he was old, though nowhere near as old as the king, and a little portly.

Aang realised from the colour of his clothes and his eyes who he was, even if he hadn't received a very detailed description of the figure before him- it was General Iroh, Azula's uncle, and from what he understood, Zuko's right-hand man. He might have felt a little concerned about walking into a room where he sat if it weren't for the turn of events concerning the young Fire Lord; Iroh wasn't going to do anything that his niece might have imagined he would have, at least when his nephew was still alive.

The two men turned to face them, and Bumi's eyes widened, before he grinned from ear to ear, "Aangǃ" he exclaimed, rising up to his feet, "You've finally come back."

"Yeah, I have." he confirmed, striding toward the table that they were sitting at, "And, uh, you're Iroh, right?"

"Yes, that's me." he confirmed, before furrowing a brow, "I assume my niece has spoken about me."

"Ranted." Katara corrected him, before cringing slightly, "But... uh, she's not that bad." she assured him, "Not that I think you hate her or anything... you saved her life."

"So..." he narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you Sokka's sister?"

"Yes." she confirmed, before gesturing to Aang, "And this is the Avatar, Aang, though I assume you already knew that."

"I did." he admitted, "I've been waiting for you, young Avatar."

He cringed slightly, wondering whether he ought to sit down and talk with him, but he knew he didn't really have much of a choice; he didn't just have Azula to worry about, but the fate of the whole world.

"So... do you want me to beat up your... uh, brother, and overthrow him?" he simply asked, guessing that was what he wanted him to do.

The General's eyes widened, surprised that he had said that of all things, and turned to face Bumi, "Well, he knows more than I expected."

"Avatar Roku told me he was a danger when I went to the temple." he explained, "I've known... we've all known he was a danger."

"Well, I'm glad we're all on the same page." he smiled at him, before furrowing a brow, "May I ask, does my niece know about... her ancestry?" he asked, the young Avatar nodding.

"Yep." he confirmed, "Roku told me that she was his great granddaughter, and that she would be able to teach me firebending." he explained, "She knows too."

"Oh, good." he smiled, before reaching into his robes, "Would you mind doing me a favour?"

"About what?"

"I need to give Azula something... though... given what has been said about Zuko, perhaps it won't be going to her." he admitted with a dark voice.

He pulled out of his robes a headpiece, in the shape of two flames with a stick going between them, and Aang immediately recognised it; he pointed at it, "Th-that's mine." he declared, the General letting out a little laugh.

"Well, I guess it is." he conceded, before placing it down on the table, "I want you to give that to my niece."

"Because it's Roku's." he realised, "So, it's hers."

"Not exactly." he admitted, "It's the headpiece of the Crown Prince or Princess of the Fire Nation. Fire Lord Sozin, back when he was a Prince, gave it to his best friend, Roku, just after he found out he was the Avatar." he explained, the Avatar's eyes widening.

"Wh-what?" he gasped, "You mean... Sozin was Roku's best friend?"

"Long ago." he confirmed, "But now, it should return to its rightful owner... or, if my nephew is really dead..." he explained his expression becoming pained; he looked like he wanted to cry, but he kept his face straight, turning to face Aang, "It should be given to whatever child they have."

"Child?" Katara raised a brow, before her eyes widened, "W-wait... you're saying that's for Azula's kid?"

"Yes." he confirmed, "Well... if she has one."

The Water Tribe girl raised a hand to her cheek, realising that one day, she might be an aunt to the future Fire Lord, which Aang thought was a crazy thing, but that was just the fact of the matter.

"And if they're a waterbender, I guess you and I will have a lot in common." he turned his eyes to Katara, who's mouth fell slightly ajar.

"Can a waterbender be the Fire Lord?"

"I don't think there's anything that makes that illegal." he conceded, "Though, I assume my niece would change the laws if that was the case." he noted, before shaking his head, "But that's nothing for us to worry about. Azula has to fulfil her destiny... her real destiny."

"That's not being the Fire Lord, I assume." the Water Tribe girl conceded, "That's... oh." her eyes widened, "What... what exactly happened to Avatar Roku?"

"Sozin left him for dead at the volcano that was consuming his home island." he clarified, Aang's eyes widening.

"Wh-what?" he gasped, "That's terrible... and they were friends?"

"Yes." he agreed, "I believe he regretted his actions, but... he can't have regretted them that much."

"Because he..." he began, before clenching his fists, Katara placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Aang, don't get angry. There's nothing we can do."

"No, there is." he retorted, knowing what Roku had told him was necessary, "I have to fight Ozai."

"Not yet." Iroh warned him, "My brother is a master firebender... and he is ferocious. Without all the elements at your disposal, he might destroy you."

"Imagine if I fought you without going easy, Aang." Bumi suggested, "But with fire." he added, making him consider what that would be like.

"Oh." his eyes widened, the comparison making him shudder with fear; he could barely face off against his friend when he was going easy on him, but to imagine such skill and power in a firebender only made him think of one thing, "But she could beat him. She's everything I should be."

"Azula is a different kind of person to you, Aang." Katara stressed to him, "It's not like you should have to become like her to beat her father."

"Your friend is right." Iroh agreed with her, "My niece is powerful, that is true, but she is driven for different reasons than you. She wants to fight to take what she believes is hers, while you fight because you have to."

"Not exactly." his friend corrected him, the General's eyes widening.

"What do you... please, explain. I want to hear how she has changed." he explained his thoughts, the Water Tribe girl nodding.

"She fights for justice... what she thinks is justice, at least. She stopped Zhao, because he was evil and insane, and he had caused the deaths of innocents in Yu Dao." she explained, the General nodding, presumably agreeing with Azula's judgement, "And she will fight her father, because of what he has done to her."

"He is a terrible parent." Iroh conceded, before looking down, solemnly, "But I'm not much better."

"You're a father?" Aang asked, the General turning his eyes up toward him, making what seemed like a bittersweet smile.

"I once was." he clarified, "I failed my son, and now, I have failed the boy I swore to protect, again. And if I fail to persevere and stop my brother, then my niece might suffer the same fate, just because she decided to step out of his shadow."

"She has." Katara agreed with him, her confident expression shifting; Aang could tell she regretted how she had treated the Princess for all those months, and in seeing all the effort Azula had gone through to prove herself, he understood that regret had perhaps only grown, "I... I wasn't nice to her, for no good reason. I mistrusted her because I believed she was evil- I thought everyone from your country was."

"And I believed it was righteous to destroy the Earth Kingdom once, so my country could bring about a prosperous new age." Iroh admitted, "People change... I see that my niece has shown you that we are not as you might have believed... though, in all honesty, I am surprised it was her of all people."

"She's not nice." Katara conceded, though Aang didn't doubt her honesty; she wasn't going to deny she still conflicted with the Princess, or that her attitudes and behaviours could be excused, "But she is so much better than whatever she was like before, or what her father is like... I assume."

"Fighting for justice and not for herself... that warms my heart." he admitted, "I would have thought it would have taken more for her to really see the flaws in our nation's way of seeing the world, but I guess love makes possible."

"It's really sweet." Aang smiled, glad that Sokka and her romance had made her see the world in such a drastically different way; the reactions he had seen from Ty Lee in how she acted proved that it wasn't just his assumptions- she really did change because of their experiences together.

"I think it is good that she has grown." Iroh acknowledged, "I just wish this meeting could have happened under better circumstances."

"We do too." Katara agreed with him, before wincing slightly, "So... is there anything else you wanted to know about her?"

"What did she want to do?" he asked, "Obviously... things will be different now, but I think it's worth asking what she wanted."

"Azula wanted to make the Fire Nation see her as a more favourable Fire Lord." the Water Tribe girl explained, "What exactly that entailed... I don't know."

"So, she wants to prove herself to the whole country." he raised a finger to his goatee, "That is an admirable goal."

"Well, she did want to beat Zuko." Aang added, knowing it couldn't be ignored; the Princess had voiced her intent to face down her brother multiple times, "I don't know how she would have done it." he added, knowing his own uncertainty as to how she would attain victory; he didn't even know if Azula or Sokka knew how she might be able to win in such a fight.

"By believing her path to be righteous." the General gave him an answer which made a lot of sense; Azula was the kind of person who seemed to need a justification to do things that were otherwise pretty mean or just outright ruthless.

Perhaps it was because she wanted a way to explain it to Sokka, so she wouldn't lose his trust and support. Aang knew that if he was in his position, he would more than likely conflict over those things, but he was glad he wasn't; those fights were for them to have alone, and for the Water Tribe boy to make sure she kept her head level.

"I guess that makes sense." he noted, "How'd you know that?"

"Because my niece and I are more similar than she'd like to admit." he clarified, making the young Avatar blink a few times, perplexed by his suggestion.

"Similar?" he asked, "You don't seem anything like her."

"Now." he raised a finger, "Is Bumi the same as he was when he was twelve?"

"Kind of." he turned to face his friend, knowing that the same boy he knew was old and wrinkled, but he was still the same person, with the same wit and grin, "He's still Bumi."

"And I am still the Dragon of the West, the man who tried to conquer Ba Sing Se." he explained, placing his hands together, "We should not let our pasts define us, and not forget our mistakes. My niece seems to have taken that mindset to heart... as I did, when I faced my ultimate failure."

"So... you weren't always so nice." Katara guessed, the General nodding.

"I am ashamed for some of the things I did, or let happen... but I have grown past who I once was, and the lies I believed." he explained himself, "Azula has grown, and I feel she may grow further to face what stands before her."

"I guess we'll all need to grow." the Water Tribe girl agreed, "You've already mastered waterbending, Aang."

"Well, I wouldn't say I've mastered it." he refused to agree with her compliment, "I still have a lot to learn."

"An open mind is a pathway to strengths you might not have known you had." Iroh clarified, the young Avatar smiling at his proverb.

"That's a good saying."

"Thank you." he grinned at him, "People either love or hate my proverbs. I'm glad you like them."

Katara furrowed a brow, and placed her hands together, "Uh... General Iroh, did you have any advice about what Aang should do to learn the elements?"

"Advice?" he raised a brow, before smiling, "Oh, I do have some."

"I'm all ears." Aang smiled at him, sure he had something wise to say, and the General stroked his goatee.

"The four elements are different and unique in their own ways, but you should not ignore the similarities between them." he explained, "If you simply think about waterbending, or earthbending, just by themselves, then you are restricting yourself. With access to all the elements, you are best placed to utilise ideas from all bending arts and use them to your advantage."

"Huh." his eyes widened, considering the point he just raised, "I guess that's a good idea. Bending is just bending, after all. But... I don't want to try and airbend earth... I don't think that will work."

"No, it probably won't, at least to begin with." Iroh agreed with him, "You can, once you understand it well enough, try to see how you can take your thinking from the other elements you know and see how they can work together." he explained, the young Avatar nodding.

"I will." he confirmed, Katara furrowing a brow, before she turned to face Iroh.

"Uh... you know, when I was first trying to learn waterbending, before we got a scroll, Azula was saying something similar to that." she admitted, making the General's eyes widen.

"Oh, was she? Did she try to apply her firebending knowledge to help you learn?" he asked, the waterbender nodding, "That's... well, smart of her."

"Yeah, that's what I thought at the time." she agreed with him, "Well, at least we're all on the same page. Azula will be a good firebending master."

"Well..." the General trailed off, glancing toward his teacup, before he nodded, "I believe you'll be a better judge of her character than myself, given I haven't had a proper interaction with her in the past five and a half years." he admitted, making Aang's eyes widen.

"Oh... that's how long he was exiled for." he recalled what he had been told by Azula months prior, concerning her brother's banishment, and the rather disturbing thing their father did to him.

"In hindsight, I wish that I had tried harder to guide my niece." he admitted, his expression becoming saddened; he was unsure whether his distraught was over the fate of his nephew, or really just over his inability to help Azula as Aang knew Sokka had, "But... we don't get second chances very often in life."

"I get what you mean." Aang acknowledged, "Second chances are rare," he noted, turning his eyes to Bumi, "and I got one." he noted, the old king chuckling.

"That you did. And you had a lot of luck getting yourself found by a master firebender.... one that didn't decide to attack you because of who you are." he reminded him, the young Avatar cringing.

"I can't imagine what I'd be doing if I'd been found earlier. I don't know who I could have found to train me." he admitted, the general letting out a little chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sure that if the time had been suitable, I might have provided my assistance."

"Really?" he raised a brow, "Even back when... uh, you were fighting in the war?"

"Well, for the greater good of the world, I would have had to cooperate." he admitted, "I doubt that once you had been trained, my father would have posed much of a threat. He was a great bender, but he was only one man."

"So is Ozai." Aang noted something obvious about the situation they were facing, "I guess it won't be that hard."

"As long as you have the full use of the elements and a strategy to beat him, then you will be victorious." he assured him, the young Avatar smiling at him, glad for his comforting words; he realised that, despite her grating behaviours and somewhat amoral tendencies, Azula was more similar to the man before her than she'd like to admit.

"I'm glad I could come here and meet you, General Iroh."

"I feel the same, Avatar Aang." he nodded in return, before raising a brow, "You weren't just here to meet us, were you?"

"Oh, yes, Toph." Bumi's expression brightened, answering Iroh's question before he had a chance to, "She'll probably be at her apartment or beating up some men in the training yards."

"Well, I do want to go ask her if she wants to train me." Aang explained himself, before rising back up to his feet, "Are you coming, Katara?"

"Of course." she assured him, "It was good to meet you." she turned to Iroh, "We'll probably be back soon enough." she admitted, the King of Omashu stroking his beard.

"Well, there's a war to fight. You're here to lend a hand, right?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl laughing off his suggestion, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah, we're here to help... if it's necessary." she agreed to his proposition, before tapping Aang on the shoulder, "Let's go find her."

He paced on back toward the doors of the throne room, which were opened up for them as they approached; Aang waved back to the two men sitting by the table, knowing that he'd be back to talk with Bumi about things, to try and get his advice on what he might be facing in future. Out of all people, he was sure he could trust him for some wise and well-reasoned advice, and he might provide tactics, strategies or plans that he mightn't have even considered alone. When they stepped back out into the tunnels of the city, Aang glanced around, and tried to recall where Toph's apartment was; he'd only been there once before, but he was sure they could find it if they just asked around. He was sure that people knew who she was, given how much she liked to show off, and the abilities which gave her good reason to do so.

He and Katara began making their way down back toward the market that ran through the centre of the underground city, and he glanced around, noting that the Freedom Fighters were now gone, presumably either off to go on patrol, or to rest in their quarters. He narrowed his eyes, trying to remember where Toph's apartment was, and looked down the tunnels that ran off away from the main one, unable to recall which path he would have to take to reach it. He turned his gaze to Katara, hoping that she had a better idea than he did.

"Can you remember where her place is?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl stopping still for a moment as she glanced around.

"Somewhere away from the main tunnel. I think it was closer to the other end of the city." she explained what she remembered, the young Avatar nodding, and with that, they continued on down the tunnel in the direction of the entrance.

He continued glancing down the tunnels flanking off from the main tunnel as they made their way past the market stalls once more, and tried to remember where exactly the apartment was. He was certain it was on the right side, that being the same side as the training yards, which were as far down in that direction as one could go by the tunnels. Suddenly, his attention was drawn by some chittering, and he glanced back to see that Momo was approaching them, and he quickly climbed Aang's side to reach his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy." he smiled at the flying lemur, "Did you get any food?" he asked, the lemur glancing around, a response that didn't tell him which was the case; he was sure that he could make sure Momo and Appa were both fed once he got back to Bumi, who he was sure would offer them some food to eat while they were staying in the city, even if it was only for a few nights at the very most.

They continued along, and Aang decided, given that he really didn't have any idea where he was going, to turn right at the next tunnel, and make his way down there; hopefully, if he came across some people who lived in the tunnel, they might be able to tell him if Toph was their neighbour or not. They continued along the tunnel, and Aang heard the sound of some children laughing up ahead of them; he noticed that they were playing around in the tunnel, chasing each other and wrestling about. He was unsure why they were doing it, but some of them noticed the two of them as they made their way down the tunnel, and seemed confused by their presence.

"Who are these weirdos?" one of the kids asked another, "Are they here to help you guys?"

"No!" another of them shouted at him in return, "I've never seen these people before."

Katara stepped forward, raising her hands up, "Uh, I don't mean to get in whatever... fight you're having, but we're looking for someone."

"Looking?" a young girl asked them, "You two aren't from around here."

"No we're not." Aang conceded, "Uh, we're looking for a blind girl, a little older than me, dark hair, sand-coloured tunic?" he asked, the kids looking amongst themselves.

"The Blind Bandit?" one of them asked, before pointing down the tunnel, "Yeah, she lives just down there. Are you going to go fight her?"

"That would be a bad idea." Aang admitted, "I just want to talk to her."

They looked at him with surprised, somewhat confused expressions, and as they walked by, Katara leaned over, and told them with a purposefully loud whisper, "He's the Avatar, you know?"

Aang turned and noticed that their expressions shifted to ones of surprise, and they began to chatter amongst themselves; with his hair partially covering the tattoos on his head, and his attire a little less obvious than the usual monk robes, he obviously didn't look like how they might expect him to.

"I thought he'd be older." one of them commented, making him snicker, remembering that he was technically a hundred and fourteen, even if he was only twelve physically and in mind.

He and Katara continued on, heading in the direction the kid had indicated, and Aang hoped they could find Toph's apartment quickly enough; he glanced around the street, and tried to remember which one was her home. They were all rather indistinguishable, other than the few racks of clothes and sheets that had been left out to dry, as well as a few small decorations on the doorways and windows, which had carvings on them. The carvings depicted things he'd seen before in Earth Kingdom cities and towns, such as lion turtles and badger moles.

Suddenly he heard a shout behind him, "Oi, Twinkletoes!" he heard Toph address him, and the Air Nomad turned his heels, smiling as he made sight of the stout earthbender, who had her hands on her hips as she stood by the door of an apartment, "What are you doing back here?"

"Looking for you." he admitted honestly, making her chuckle.

"You do realise I can sense all around these tunnels. I already sensed you coming around this way." she explained, making Katara furrow a brow.

"Then why didn't you come out to greet us earlier?" she asked, the earthbender crossing her arms, seeming annoyed by her suggestion.

"Well, I spent all of last night out scouting to make sure the Fire Nation wasn't trying to invade the city after the shit they pulled at Old Omashu." she explained, "I was in bed, trying to get some sleep."

"Oh." she mumbled, seeming a little embarrassed by her forthright question, "Sorry."

"Eh, whatever. I don't really care." she assured her, before gesturing toward them with her right hand, her head turned slightly away from them in a way that slightly unnerved Aang; she didn't need to be able to see or even look at them to sense them and know exactly where they were, "So, are you here to recruit me to help her highness?"

"Well, this isn't really about Azula." Aang admitted, "I want you to be my master."

The earthbender crossed her arms, seeming to be weighing up his offer, "Be your master?" she asked rhetorically, which only made him more nervous, "What says I even want to teach a light-footed Air Nomad like you?"

"Uh..." he cringed, scratching the back of his head, "I'll learn how to be an earthbender." he assured her, "I don't know much about it, but you must know a lot."

"Yeah, it's how I see the world... literally." she stressed by raising her right finger up, before tilting her head slightly upward, "So, are you ready to be tested?"

"Tested?" he raised a brow, stepping closer, "Are we going to start training now?"

"Hold up, I didn't even say I'd teach you yet." she warned him, "I'm going to see if you're worth my time."

"W-w-wait, really?" he asked, now concerned that she might refuse him for being too far from the mindset expected of an earthbender, or purely because she didn't like his personality- he felt a little offended, but far more nervous.

"Yes, really." she stressed, before smirking, "But I know that you already have the power to earthbend." she noted, "I saw you do it that day."

"I did." he recalled, remembering what Katara had told him, as he had blacked out during the actual experience of the Avatar State, "I won't let you down."

"No need to get so serious." she strode up toward him, punching him in the shoulder, "I wanna hear what you've been up to. I'm sure the Princess has been up to something interesting." she noted, before turning her head slightly so she was looking in Katara's general direction, "And your brother might have embarrassed himself again."

"Actually... it's been mostly the opposite. Sokka's... well, he's done pretty well." she admitted, making the earthbender scrunch her lips up.

"Intimidating people or beating people?"

"Both." Aang clarified, "He's pretty good at both."

"And flirting with another Princess." Katara raised a finger, making Toph snicker; she grinned, obviously thinking that was hilarious.

"Oh great. Did Azula beat the crap out of him?"

"I don't even know if she knows about it." the Water Tribe girl admitted, "We split up for a few weeks while she was going to take control over her former supporters... by tricking a high ranking officer into becoming the prisoner of the Northern Water Tribe."

"That worked?"

"Nope." Aang admitted, and his expression faltered as he remembered what Sokka had to go through, "Sokka saved the Northern Water Tribe- actually, he saved waterbending... I helped a little."

"Saved waterbending?" she raised a brow, "Okay, now I'm just confused." she admitted, "You mean, he made sure the masters didn't die or something?"

"No, like he actually saved waterbending. The crazy guy Azula was dealing with wanted to kill a spirit to get rid of waterbending." he explained, making Toph scoff.

"Wow... okay, sounds like you've been having a more interesting time than I have." she noted, before crossing her arms, "So, you've learned how to waterbend, right?" she asked, the young Avatar nodding.

"Yep." he confirmed, "I can waterbend pretty good, though Katara's better." he explained, before he grinned at her, "So, can you teach me earthbending?"

"Can, yes... want to, unsure." she clarified, before tilting her head down the tunnel, "How about we go to the training yards and we'll see what you're made of."

"Sounds like a plan." he nodded, ready to go along with whatever she had in mind, "Right now?"

"Not just yet." she admitted, "I've got to eat some lunch." she excused herself, opening the door into her apartment, "You two can come sit in if you like."

"Well, we want to get to know you better." Katara admitted, "So, can you tell us about yourself?"

"Eh, I'd like to hear all the juicy details about your little adventure to the North Pole first." she decided, Aang raising a finger.

"Well, after Sokka beat up Jet, we got out of there as quickly as we could." he admitted, "I'm pretty sure if people knew who Azula was, they would have gotten angry."

"Yeah, once we got back, and Yung told Bumi about the whole Dai Li, and word spread around, the reactions were mixed." she noted, "Some people really don't like her, or anyone from the Fire Nation, but others were more concerned about getting the wrong attention from the Fire Lord."

"I guess... I guess that's not going to happen now." the Water Tribe girl admitted, "Things have changed."

"That's a pretty big understatement. From what I've heard from General Iroh, this changes everything."

"Azula will be the Fire Lord." Aang admitted the fact of the matter, "Now we all have no choice but to work together."

"Aren't you happy about that? You're a pacifist after all." Toph observed, the young Air Nomad cringing as he realised that despite the possibility of Zuko's supporters working with Azula's, the danger Ozai posed was far more of a downside than the potential of cooperation.

"Ozai might... he might destroy everything." he admitted, "I don't know him, but Azula does, and she doesn't talk about him like he thinks peace and deals are an option."

"There is a deal." Toph suggested as she moved to sit down at her table and eat the noodles she had ready.

"What deal?"

"You're the Avatar. You can ask him to abdicate, and if he doesn't, you can just kill him." she told him rather bluntly, his eyes widening as he comprehended her suggestion; it was so disturbing that he stepped back and shook his head.

"No!" he refused, "I'm not just going to kill this guy because he thinks he's right. I have to stop him, but I won't just murder him." he stressed his own position, "That's wrong."

"Letting that guy take back what he thinks is his isn't right." Toph simply told him, as if she wasn't fazed in the slightest by his retort, before putting her chopsticks into the bowl, "I'm not making decisions for you, but you've got to... act. Fumbling around won't get anything done."

"She is right." Katara stressed as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "But I agree. Killing Ozai isn't going to be an end all; there might be another way. If Azula can beat him in an Agni Kai... or I guess, if you challenge him to one and win, once you've learned firebending, then he'll have to give up."

"That'd be pretty funny." Toph admitted, making him raise a brow.

"Fighting Ozai?"

"Beating him with his own element. Just a big old middle finger to his dignity and pride. That'd make any man like him break down and beg for mercy." she explained, crossing her arms as she eyed them both, "I've fought enough cocky firebenders to know that."

"You haven't fought Azula." Aang suggested, "I don't think he will give up that easy, if they're anything alike."

"Lightning would do it, though." Katara realised, "Maybe she can teach you."

"I... I don't know if I can do it." he admitted, nervous and unsure that he had the strength, in mind and body to achieve such a feat; Azula was a whole different breed of person, with an indomitable resolve and determination to get what she wanted- if he had to be like that to shoot lightning, he didn't know if he could do it.

Toph pointed one of her chopsticks in his general direction, and her expression told him that she doubted the veracity of his words; that was oddly reassuring, and her words were even more so.

"You're the Avatar. If anyone can shoot lightning from their fingertips, it's you."

* * *

The afternoon sun shone down upon the courtyard, and Ty Lee wiped the sweat from her forehead; Azula truly loved to make her feel spiteful, it seemed, as she forced her to do more stupendously tough exercises. She wasn't weak by any means, but her endurance wasn't comparable to hers, nor that of her guards, who seemed to be rather calm and collected, while she struggled to continue lifting herself up from the ground. Sit-ups were bad, and push-ups were worse; her flexibility at least made the former relatively straightforward, but she was still strained by doing it continuously for an extended period of time.

Sokka was across from her, and she could tell from the exasperated look on his face that he too was struggling with the push-ups, at least after all of them had done a few dozen; his breathing was shallow, and he groaned before falling flat on his chest. Azula didn't seem to approve of his failure, and she got up, and looked at him with a displeased expression, before she put her foot under his gut, and pushed him over, the Water Tribesman's eyes widening with surprise.

"What do you think you're doing?" she questioned, "Did I tell you to stop?"

"Just a little... break... please." he mumbled, taking breaths between his words.

Ty Lee had momentarily stopped to watch, and her friend took notice of this, pointing her index finger at her, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Waiting for the sparring to start." she told her with a quiet voice, before taking a deep breath as she continued her push-ups.

"Turn back over and continue. In a life and death situation, you don't get breaks, Sokka." she warned him, "Did you get to stop when you ran around my sinking ship?"

"Uh... no." he conceded, before cringing, "I see your point... but come on, this is really tiring." he pleaded, and the Princess raised her chin up, not seeming to sympathise with his plight.

"Our training isn't over." she refused, just as Ty Lee expected her to; the acrobat was struggling to keep up her own push-ups, and decided to just keep her head down and focus on them while she could still push herself off the ground.

Azula stepped away, indicated by the sounds of her footsteps, and she turned her head up to see that she wasn't exercising like they were, but instead was holding her hands out toward the air, seeming ready to firebend.

"Uh, Sokka." she mumbled to the boy beside her, "I think we're sparring now."

"Oh, good." he smiled, leaving her surprised by his attitude; he must have despised the push-ups so much that he considered getting humiliated by his girlfriend in sparring in front of her guards and Ty Lee preferable.

He took a deep breath as the Princess turned around to show off her bending form, "Sokka, are you competent enough to fight after being exhausted, running from your enemies?"

"My enemies aren't all going to be master firebenders." he retorted, and Azula crossed her arms, not seeming amused by his comment.

"Do you think my father will send incompetent fools to kill us? He could have command of the entire corps of Imperial Firebenders. A few hundred of my guards, in other words. And he could send a fraction of them to thrash us."

"You'd beat them." he argued, and the Princess scoffed, before taking form again.

"Well, could you?" she asked him before she raised her hand toward Ty Lee, "Get up." she told her and she heeded her request.

The acrobat glanced around, and her eyes widened as she realised that the guards were also moving into form, no longer doing push-ups; it seemed as if they were going to spar against the guards.

"So, we're not fighting you?" she asked her friend, who simply narrowed her eyes.

"No. This is an exercise to test your strength. My guards could beat me in an all on one fight, and the Imperial Firebenders could do the same. We need to be ready."

"Nice." he smiled, before turning to face the guards, "I get to beat them again." the Water Tribe warrior noted as he stretched his arms out, grabbing his boomerang off of his back.

"Is that a challenge?" Renshu asked him, obviously offended by the way Sokka was talking to him.

"Ah... yeah, it is." he confirmed, before turning to face Ty Lee, "Wanna disable their bending only and just have a fist fight?"

"But Azula can bend. That's not really fair for the guards." she reminded him, and he snickered, gesturing to his girlfriend, who stood behind them.

"It's Azula. She'll just stand back and enjoy the show."

The Princess let out a little chuckle as she lit some flames on her palms, "He's not wrong." she conceded, before the pair took form with her, "Don't burn them too much." she warned her guards, "But don't be merciful. My father's men would treat us all as traitors, worthy of death."

"I didn't betray anyone." Sokka argued, and the Princess rolled her eyes; it was a little self-indicative what Ozai thought of foreigners.

"He'll want you dead because you're a dirty savage." she explained, before she raised her right hand up, "Go!" she commanded her guards, who immediately moved their arms up, conjuring flames in their palms.

The Water Tribe warrior did not hesitate to toss his boomerang, which he aimed right at Renshu's chest, though he had easily seen it coming; the boomerang instead struck the guard behind him, Shen, in the chest, and made him stumble over and fall over. That wasn't that useful when there were half a dozen men ready to tackle him and set his clothes on fire; he was forced to roll onto the ground to avoid getting himself set on fire by two fire streams that came his way at once, while Azula returned fire behind him, her own flames momentarily keeping the guards at bay while Ty Lee and Sokka moved to chi-block them.

Ty Lee rushed toward a pair of guards while Sokka went right for the Captain; she would think that wasn't the best idea, given he seemed to be the fastest, and most skilled of the bunch, though it wasn't by a great margin. None of them compared to Azula herself, other than the fact that they were taller and more physically imposing, so Ty Lee would be more concerned about fighting them while chi-blocked than Azula, even if her friend was well-prepared to dodge such attacks. When she got close enough to the guards, she somersaulted past them, dodging the fireballs they sent her way, before she jabbed both of them in back, paralysing their legs. That didn't stop both of them from turning around and trying to attack her again, but she simply dropped down, weaving out of the way of their attacks. She smirked as she realised Azula was moving in right behind her to attack the guards, and they barely had a moment to try and react as she raised up a wall of flames, the attack forcing them to cower down to avoid the searing heat of the blindingly bright blue flames.

Ty Lee had already turned herself around, and eyed the next guard ready to attack her, that being Shen, who had recovered from being hit by the boomerang; he covered his hands with flames before he created two fire whips, hoping to strike her before she could chi-block him; she would have gone straight for his arms, but he was fast enough that she had to somersault again to dodge the attack, shocked but not surprised by the heat that whacked her back. She rolled over, dampening the flames that she was sure had caught onto her top, and Shen moved to grapple her arms with both fire whips.

Despite being an ephemeral element, the flames felt like they had weight as they grasped her wrists, the heat singing her skin; she had little choice but to leap back and hope that she could pull herself free of the flames before they burned her hands and made it a whole lot harder for her to chi-block. Another guard rushed in to go attack her, and she just let him tackle her out of Shen's grip, assuring her that her hands wouldn't get burned; the guard hadn't tried to firebend at her, feeling confident enough to grasp her by the arms and hope he could subdue her.

The acrobat chuckled as she turned her head, "I don't need my hands to fight." she warned him, before raising her right leg up, thrusting her foot back into his knee, blocking the chi-path that ran down his leg with her toe tips.

He grunted as he struggled to maintain his balance while gripping her forearms, and she pulled herself forward, freeing herself before she glanced around at two more guards who were moving to attack her. One of them came at her, attempting to hit her point-blank with a fireball to the face, but she thrust her left arm up, deflecting his arm, before she jabbed him in the gut with her right hand. She wasn't even trying to block his chi, but merely distracting him for a few moments as he wheezed for air, while she turned her attention to weaving out of the way of the other guards attack; she tripped him over by placing her left foot in front of his right as he tried to step forward and to grapple her, and she instead grabbed his right hand, holding him off for a moment.

Suddenly, she heard Sokka's voice, "Ty Lee!" he shouted at her, and she turned around to see him pointing to the ground in front of her, and she noticed that his boomerang was lying right there.

She moved to kick the guard she had been fighting in the leg to stall him before reaching down for the boomerang; once she had the weapon in hand, she realised that Renshu was standing between her and Sokka, and though he could have attacked her, he simply watched with frustration as she lopped it over his head, and the Water Tribe warrior proceeded to catch the weapon and threw it out in a wide arc, presumably to hit the guards he was facing in their backs when they least expected. She was forced to weave out of the way of the Captain's fire stream, seeing that he was rather annoyed by her assistance to Sokka. His attention was drawn away by Azula, who was slowly, but surely beating every single one of the guards, as she had been putting the effort into facing them all one at a time.

Ty Lee ducked down once more as the guard she had been fighting tried to hit her with a fireball; she somersaulted past him, and moved to chi-block his legs, but he was quick enough to spin around and kick her with his flame covered boot. Luckily for her, he only hit her arms, but that did still hurt, and she groaned in pain as she reeled back, forced to drop down to dodge a fire stream that he sent out from his right fist. In her frustration, she kicked him in his shin, and he grunted, perhaps hurt by the forceful strike, but it didn't seem to stop him as he charged a fireball in his palm.

"Forfeit." he demanded, and she shook her head.

"Duck." she simply told him, sure that he was about to find a blue fire blast throwing him off his fee; he turned around, and did indeed duck under the attack she'd been expecting from Azula.

That momentary distraction was all she needed to rise up and jab him in the back, paralysing his legs which allowed her to knock him over with a simple shove; Azula looked at her with a bemused face before turning her attention to the guards Sokka had been fighting. Once more, the Captain was trying to fight him, and the Water Tribesman was actually struggling this time; none of the other guards tried to intervene, all reeling from chi-blocking or Azula's flames, and the two effectively began to duel.

The Princess crossed her arms, and Ty Lee narrowed her eyes as she watched the Water Tribe warrior weave around Renshu's flame-covered forearms, blocking his attacks with his own arms, forcing his opponent's flames to dart away from his face and upper-body, which were clearly the parts that the Captain wanted to hit. Sokka was pushed back by a forceful shove, before he was forced to duck under a fire stream; he then jabbed his opponent in the gut, and though Renshu tried to grapple him, Sokka was fast enough chi-block his right-arm, before he threw his fist upward, connecting with the Captain's chin. That knocked him out with a single hit. That was the disadvantage of the guards not wearing their helmets, and he had paid the price for it.

"Shit." one of the guards commented, "I didn't expect him to get his arse handed to him that badly."

"What can I say, I'm a great trainer." Azula cockily declared with her arms out wide, before she turned her gaze to her boyfriend, "You are capable of fighting Imperial Firebenders, Sokka, I'll give you that. The difference in the real fight is that they'll have armour."

"That'll make it even easier to trip them over if they're heavy." he argued, and Ty Lee nodded, knowing that chi-blocking was even more effective when an armoured opponent was paralysed, given that armour was hard to hold up when it's wielder was unable to stand.

The Princess stepped forward and glanced down at the Captain, seeming disappointed in the result of his fighting, "Renshu, get up." she demanded, and he groaned as he slowly pulled a hand up to his jaw, grasping it as he cringed in pain.

The acrobat felt a tinge of sympathy for the guard, knowing that he didn't really deserve the hit that he received, which was undeniably the worst any of the guards had gotten; in Sokka's defence, he did get back up after already being beaten, so it really was his fault when he could have just forfeited like the rest of the guards did. Renshu slowly did pull himself up, and Azula stood over him with her arms crossed, annoyed that he was taking so long to do so.

"If this had been a real fight, you'd be dead right now." she warned him, "Have you really gotten that sloppy."

"No... you've just trained the little shit too much."

"I agree." Sokka commented with a humoured tone, earning his girlfriend's attention.

"What, so you don't like being a great warrior?"

"Greatness comes from feats, not from strength." he argued in return, before crossing his arms, "And I always thought my mind was my best weapon."

"It still is." she conceded, before shaking her head, and pointing toward him, "But, let's see about the other skills. Ty Lee, paralyse him." she requested, and the acrobat turned to face her with a perplexed face, remembering what had happened the last time she told him to do that.

"What?" she asked with an open mouth, unsure if she should accept that specific request.

"Just do it. I need to see which of you is the better fighter... in a fair fight."

"Ty Lee, probably." Sokka conceded, "She beat me last time we sparred."

"Without your weapons?" Azula inquired, and he nodded, before stepping over to pick up his boomerang.

"Yeah, but they're pretty useless against an acrobat who happens to be a master chi-blocker." he conceded, putting his boomerang back in its holder before he turned to face Ty Lee, "Well, we may as well. Let's go." he gestured for her to attack him, and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Sokka."

"Yeah, yeah, I know you let yourself get pushed around by Azula. I know that a little too well." he conceded, making his girlfriend turn around to face him, probably perplexed that he'd even say that in front of her.

"This is what I meant when I say you're too honest." she warned him, "Did you want to spar me instead?"

"No, I prefer not getting burnt. Chi-blocking doesn't hurt." he argued, "Though, falling face-first onto gravel does."

One of the guards, whose nose was bleeding, made a dry laugh at that comment, "Hah, hah, yeah, sure does." he noted, making the Water Tribesman cringe slightly before his gaze turned back to meet Ty Lee's.

"Well, are we going to do it, or what?" he asked, and she nodded, before moving into form, the Water Tribe warrior eyeing her for a few moments before he rushed toward her, the acrobat moving at once to the right to avoid getting pushed over by the teenage boy who weighed far more than herself.

She weaved around him, and as she was about to move to jab him in the back, he flicked his right sole out, jabbing her in the shin and making Ty Lee lose her footing; she struggled to keep herself upright, and was forced to fall back, lest Sokka jab her in the gut. He then chuckled at her, gesturing toward her with a smug look on his face.

"And that, Azula, is the evidence you need. Sneak attacks never count."

"Except when you win." the Princess retorted, making her boyfriend wince as Ty Lee pulled her legs up, ready to jump back up to her feet.

Sokka realised this, and stepped back as she jumped up, landing on her feet before she tried to kick him in the chest; he was able to narrowly escape her foot colliding with his shoulder, and moved to jab her leg with his fingers. She instead reoriented her body, forcing her shin into his throat, which prevented him from chi-blocking her leg, and in fact, forced him to stumble back as he gasped for air.

"That looks like it hurt." one of the guards commented as she dropped her leg down, and moved to rush him with a few jabs to the gut, which would paralyse his lower body and assure her victory.

As she moved her hands toward his gut, he thrust his own arms forward, though he wasn't able to punch, let alone chi-block her, he did grab her by the shoulders. Ty Lee's arms weren't that short, and as she was able to connect her jabs and hit his chi-paths, but she only had a momentary victory as his knee was already rising up to collide with her gut. She coughed out as he winded her, and stumbled back, watching as his legs faltered; even in victory, she could only cough and gasp, as if it really wasn't one at all.

As she struggled to regain her breath, Sokka turned to face his girlfriend, "Is... is this just a chi-blocking fight?" he asked her, and the Princess shook her head.

"I want to see how long you'll last." she admitted, and the Water Tribesman turned his gaze back to Ty Lee, who had fallen down to her knees as she gasped out for air; even if her chi-blocking was effective, she couldn't return to the fight in that state.

She grit her teeth as she returned to form, and eyed Sokka, who was still on his knees, unable to stand due to her hits; he had his hands on his lap, as if he were waiting for her to attack, which made her feel a little cautious. He obviously had a plan in mind, and that was why he had asked Azula if it was a chi-blocking fight alone, or if he could use other tactics.

"Let's finish this." she whispered under her breath as she moved toward him, and she saw him moving his right hand down to his waist, so when she leaped at him, she aimed her left hand to grapple his right, and she did, seeing that he had his bone dagger in hand.

She forced her other hand into his shoulder, jabbing it as Sokka forced her left hand back, pushing the dagger toward her throat, and he uttered the one thing she could expect of him in that situation, "Forfeit."

Instead of following his demand, she threw her right hand into his bicep, blocking the chi-paths in his right arm, which left it numb, and his threat useless. Once he had realised his defeat, Sokka sighed as he slumped back down onto the ground, and the Water Tribe warrior glanced up toward the sky.

"Well, shit. I can't do much now, can I?'

"Good job, Ty Lee." Azula commended her, "Sokka lasted longer than I expected him to."

"Thanks." he noted his girlfriend's words, before the Princess approached her friend.

"Ty Lee, we have some of those Earth Kingdom rebels showing up soon, so I need you and the Captain to go greet them. I've got to speak with the officers first." she explained, and the acrobat turned to face the Captain, who was still recovering from the hit he received from Sokka.

"Yes, your majesty." he accepted her indirect command, glancing down at the Water Tribe teen for a moment, "What is he doing?"

"Remaining there until his paralysis wears off." she stated the obvious, "Sokka, you can meet up with Ty Lee and Renshu as soon as you can walk again."

"Yep." he mumbled, "Just gonna enjoy the clouds for a bit."

She didn't seem to be amused by that comment, and glanced around, "Now, where is my armour?" she asked, knowing that she would need to wear it when she was dealing with things in her official capacity as the leader of the base, given that going around just in her sparring gear would be a little unseemly of a future monarch.

Ty Lee gestured over to the racks of armour, clothes and towels that had been set up for their training, and the Princess strode over toward it, immediately picking up her chestplate and pulling it over her head. Renshu did the same, approaching his own armour, and putting it back onto his body, though he left his helmet under his arm as he turned to face Azula, waiting for what she had to say.

She fixed up her hair momentarily, before she glanced over to the others, "The rest of you can continue training, unless you have something better to do." she suggested to the guards, who looked amongst themselves; they might have thought they could go off and have a break, whether to eat, wash up or simply enjoy themselves with some leisure time, but the implications behind Azula's words told Ty Lee she wanted them to continue training and prepare themselves for any potential battle.

The acrobat realised that she had a task, but didn't really know what she had to do, "Where are we taking the rebels?"

"Well, you can take them to the compound, but the leaders will come to the meeting room with you, and we can all discuss the matters at hand." she simply explained her task for her, "If you'd like to show them where they might be staying while they're here, you can do that also."

"Where?" Renshu simply asked, and the Princess gestured over the walls beside them.

"There's more than enough space for them to camp on the grounds. If they don't have tents, then I assume a warehouse or two could be spared as a sleeping area." she explained, the Captain nodding, before he turned to face Ty Lee.

"Did you need to catch your breath, or are we going?"

She simply gave him a smile and stepped toward the gates of the compound, "Let's go. We don't want to annoy these guys. They might not like having to wait outside the base."

The pair both made their way to the gate, where the guards stationed there, who must have been watching their spar, opened the gates for the pair, looking at them with surprised expressions; obviously, they understood Ty Lee's skill in battle, and perhaps, were a little surprised, given that if one didn't know her, she might have looked like any other teenage girl, albeit a very athletic one.

She smirked at the Captain, who didn't seem to share her sense of pride, "People think we're tough."

"Imperial Firebenders are the best trained fighters in the country." he simply told her, "As much as I'd like to brag, I'm not that unique." he acknowledged, "You on the other hand... are unusual."

"Are you calling me weird?"

"No weirder than the Water Tribesman." he clarified, "Your skills are rare and extremely effective against benders. Most firebenders dismiss the skill of non-benders, and until I saw what Sokka was capable of, I didn't think much of them either."

"Well, we're not all weaklings." she proclaimed, "And you don't need muscles to be a great fighter." she proclaimed, before glancing up ahead, down the path that led toward the palisade that surrounded the compound, remembering who they were going to face, "Do you think the people here aren't going to like us recruiting earthbenders?"

"I don't want us recruiting earthbenders." he admitted bluntly, "I know they can be great and steadfast fighters, but that's exactly what makes them so dangerous. If they betrayed us, we would be in a very compromised position." he warned her, and the acrobat nodded, understanding the danger of the choice Azula had made.

"Then we'll just have to make them like us." she explained her idea of how to solve the issue, "That way, they won't try and do anything sneaky like that."

Renshu raised a brow, seeming skeptical of her idea, "Well... I guess that's an option." he conceded, "But I warn you... we're not in the position we'd like to be. Even if Zuko's forces come to fight alongside us, we're still the invaders in the eyes of these Earth Kingdom rebels."

"I know they don't like us." she admitted, nervous about what they might just assume of them because of their background, "But we've got Sokka. He's got to mean something. He's a Water Tribesman- they would trust him over us."

"A Water Tribesman who's..." he began, before trailing off, the Captain turning his gaze away from her, seeming embarrassed, "He's not exactly neutral on this whole matter."

"I know, but he knows Azula well... better than most people. He can persuade them that she really does have good intentions." she contended, and Renshu seemed appeased for the moment by her argument; even if he wasn't willing to argue with the Princess herself, that didn't mean he was in constant, full agreement with her plans.

Ty Lee turned her gaze ahead, and eyed off the palisade, noting the men who were stationed there were chatting amongst themselves- gossiping, as she'd call it, noted by their posture and explicitly quietened voices. The Captain didn't seem to care about it, though it caught his attention quickly enough, and when they reached the second set of gates, he whistled to catch their attention. They all turned to salute him, quickly moving into straight postures, and Renshu seemed amused by that; Ty Lee certainly was as well, but as the individual with military experience, she would let him do the talking.

"Do you call gossiping protecting the gates, men?" he asked them, and they looked at each other nervously, one of the men stepping forward to presumably apologise.

"Captain- uh, Renshu, was it? We're sorry. It's just... well, you've heard about what's going on. The dirt eaters are going to join us."

"Yes, they are." he confirmed, "I recommend you don't call them that to their faces." he raised a finger, "They want the same thing as us- to keep Ozai's men out, who'll presumably burn their villages down for daring to resist his rule. You remember what the war was like before Ba Sing Se, right?"

"We do, Captain." another man spoke up, seeming a little unnerved by the memories of that time, "The Earth Kingdom did not give up easily."

"And neither did we. But now, we're not fighting them. I shouldn't have to tell you all this, but we all serve her majesty now, and she requires their assistance, because she knows that a friendly Earth Kingdom is far more useful than a hostile one." he explained essentially what Azula herself thought, and the men nodded along, though Renshu didn't seem that pleased, "I don't like this situation as much as the next loyal Fire Nation citizen, but this is what needs to be done."

"Of course, Captain. Nobody was suggesting treachery."

"No, I saw that... not yet." the Captain warned them, before pacing on past them through the gates, Ty Lee following right after him.

"So, you've changed your opinion in the span of a minute." she observed, making the guard turn to face her, unamused by her commentary.

"What I say in front of you, and what I tell the men serving her majesty are two different things."

"I'm serving Azula." she argued, and the Captain raised a finger in her direction.

"Yes, but you'd never betray her." he contended, making her eyes widen; she had never considered the possibility, but as she saw it, she couldn't see a situation where she could even betray Azula, who was practically her best friend, and the only person who really understood her.

"You're right about that." she conceded, before sighing, "I wouldn't want us to be betrayed."

"That's why we've got to make sure it doesn't come from either side." he added quietly, and she glanced around at the soldiers they were walking by as they made their way down through the massive sprawl of tents that surrounded the palisade, "I'm sure the Avatar will help with the Earth Kingdom, but keeping all these men in line is going to take more than nice words."

"Well, they came to conquer the colonies in the first place, didn't they?" she asked, and the Captain nodded, "We're going to end up doing that, whether Ozai likes it or not."

"Yes, we are." he agreed to her proposition, "I didn't think you were that excited about violence."

She blinked a few times at that comment, before shaking her head, "I'm not excited about violence, I'm excited about action." she corrected him, before glancing up ahead of them, "These guys must be right at the edge of the camp, because I can't see them yet." she noted, unable to see anyone that resembled an Earth Kingdom guerrilla, of which she'd seen a few when they ambushed her and the others on their way to Shengchang.

"If I was about to be invited into an enemy base with a thousand soldiers standing by to burn them at a moment's notice, I'd be cautious too." he explained the situation from their point of view, and the acrobat grimaced, imagining how nervous she would have been in the tables had been reversed.

Especially without Azula's help, she would feel scared for her life if she was going around trying to talk to Earth Kingdom rebels to persuade them to their side; Ty Lee's skills were no joke, but against a dozen earthbenders at once, she wouldn't exactly have a fair fight, given unlike firebenders, they could sink her in place and beat her unconscious before she could even chi-block one of them.

"Yeah, I would too." she agreed, falling silent as they continued on through the camp, making their way down the winding path that led outward the edge, beyond which was cleared land and some woods; she guessed earthbender rebels regularly hid and spotted from those woods, eyeing off their base, long before Azula even arrived, but now, they had a reason to come out and make talks, because they could be the ones to rule over the very land they trod on within a short period of time.

As they got nearer to the edge of the camp, she was able to make sight of some soldiers, in uniform and standing in line, seemingly guarding the camp; it was a little confusing to see them doing that, though she realised quickly enough that they were actually standing in the way of the Earth Kingdom rebels Azula had wanted them to meet with. They were having the obvious reaction to their arrival, which was one of suspicion and tension; some of them turned to face her and Renshu as they approached, and all of those who saw the Captain understood his rank and position, and immediately parted out of the way to allow them past.

The leader of the unit turned to address them before they could reach the rebels, seeming a little confused by the whole situation, "Ah, you two are here. I assume you're going to deal with this situation."

"Deal with it as in take them to the compound." Ty Lee clarified, making the officer's eyes widen, and the Captain stepped between them to try and defuse any tension.

"That was her majesty's express wish." he stressed, "I know this is not the safest action, but she wants to garner trust here, not start a fight in our literal backyard." he then gestured to the fields that they were standing by, and the group of rebels who stood in tense forms all while he spoke, "I apologise for the... unwelcome arrival." he addressed them, and Ty Lee found it an opportune time to speak to them.

"This is the welcome arrival. I'm Ty Lee, and this is Captain Renshu. We are here to answer any questions you may have, and guide you to the compound, where you will meet Azula." she explained the situation as succinctly as she could, and they looked at her with surprised faces; perhaps they just didn't expect to be greeted by somebody who was so clearly not a soldier.

"Uh... well, we're here." one of the rebels noted, "Could you call off these men so they stop death-staring us?" he requested, and Renshu turned around, raising his hand up.

"Move it! They're not here to crush you with rocks. They're here to talk." he ordered them, and they heeded his words without question, moving away from the Earth Kingdom men, and those that were in form, dropped their stances, and turned away from their potential foes.

One of the men stepped forward, and Ty Lee recognised him from when they had fought the rebels about a week or so earlier, "Now, we're here." he declared, "I assume you're not going to do what we did to you?"

"Well, we're not earthbenders." Ty Lee conceded, "We are physically unable to throw rocks at you.... and I doubt it'd be that much of a surprise."

"It wouldn't be." the leader conceded, before eyeing Renshu, "Did your journey go well?"

"We have some potential sponsors and factories to build the weapons we require." he explained what had happened, "And bounty hunters tried to capture the Princess."

"They must have failed." he deduced, and Ty Lee clenched her fists, remembering how afraid she had been in that situation.

"Oh, they didn't just fail." she admitted, "Do you know what the... what the dead Fire Lord looked like?"

"Blinded in one eye." one of the men recalled, glancing to his comrades, "That's it, right?"

"I thought it was just a scar." another spoke their mind, and the leader stepped forward.

"Sorry... are you trying to say she did that to them?" he asked, sounding unnerved by the idea.

"Yes." Renshu confirmed, "All of those men are missing an eye now." he admitted, "I had to do a few myself... not my proudest moment." he added more quietly, which surprised Ty Lee; she would have thought he wouldn't have had much issue taking revenge against those men, though it might have been that he could have seen the overreach that Azula had made in doing so.

"Fuck." he gasped, "Well, I'm glad she wasn't that angry with us." he noted, "We might have been... well, fucked."

"She is not somebody to be trifled with." the Captain stressed.

"Admiral Zhao is lucky to be alive." she recalled a fact she slept calmly knowing; if that man was still free, she'd be fearing for her life far more than Zuko might have ever because of his father or Azula, "You heard of him?" she asked the rebels, who nodded.

"He's the guy who burned down our villages."

"Well, the Princess shot him with a lightning bolt." she admitted, "So, I hope that pleases you." she added, before glancing back toward the compound, "We'll take you right to her. The compound has more than enough space for you all to rest."

"Where's Sokka?" Renshu asked her, glancing back the same way she had, "You didn't punch him that hard."

"He likes to take his time." she argued, before crossing her arms, wondering if they should just go or instead wait for him, "Let's start heading back. He'll probably run into us along the way."

"Who's Sokka?" the leader asked them both, stepping forward to intrude in their conversation, though with good reason.

"The Princess's right hand man." Renshu clarified, not sounding overly pleased by the fact, "He's a Water Tribesman. You did fight him."

"Oh, that one." he recalled, "Is he meant to be important?"

"Well, he's here to represent the Avatar, our friend." Ty Lee admitted, "Aang's not here right now to speak for himself, so Sokka will have to do that for him."

"Why'd the Avatar side with the Fire Nation, anyway?" the leader asked, and Ty Lee scrunched her lips.

"Well, Azula was the one who freed him from the ice. He'd been frozen for a hundred years." she explained, the expressions on the faces of the rebels shifting from ones of confusion to shock.

"She freed him?" one of the men asked, "I can't believe it."

"She has done things I wouldn't have believed she had if I hadn't seen the evidence." she admitted her own feelings of disbelief; she had learned much about how Azula had changed, and it was shocking in a lot of ways, given how different she used to be.

Personality-wise, Azula really wasn't that different; she was the same irritable perfectionist who loved firebending and strategy, but she had very different intentions for her own life and for the world. The old Azula might hate what she had become, but it wasn't really what she became that would be so infuriating to her past self, but rather, what she did; she fell in love, she made friendships, she helped the Southern Water Tribe, a people she probably regarded as being mere savages, subsisting in a wasteland that she never wanted to see, before she had got to know them, and the place they called home.

"She hasn't changed that much." Renshu declared, "Her majesty is still determined to become the greatest Fire Lord in history."

"That isn't the best way to introduce her to us." the leader of the rebels admitted, and Ty Lee chuckled, before smiling at him.

"Don't worry, she's not just going to be great for the Fire Nation; she'll be a great leader for the world. Aang will be one too."

"Where is the Avatar, anyway?"

"Going to get his earthbending master." she clarified, "And hopefully, not get himself caught." she added, a little unsure if the young Avatar would be able to avoid doing so; Katara was a responsible person, but even then, Ty Lee could see them making a few silly mistakes, or trying to help others, and getting themselves into a dangerous situation.

"I'm sure there's a lot of Fire Nation people who want him in chains... or worse." the rebel leader noted, before crossing his arms, "Well, let's hope that he gets back here safely, so we can all rest easy, knowing that he'll be able to fight for our freedom."

"The Avatar is just a child." Renshu warned him, "It'll take more than just him to turn the tide against Ozai and his supporters."

"And who counts themselves amongst them? People who want to see us dead?"

"Just about." the Captain nodded, before gesturing up the path, "Let's go to the base. Sokka will show up sooner or later."

"I really didn't hit him that hard." the acrobat added quietly, knowing that her chi-blocking couldn't have been so effective that he would still be paralysed at that instance.

She glanced back up ahead, and as if he could hear Renshu speaking about him, Sokka paced into view, making his way past a few tents before he turned to face them, realising that they were already there with the rebels; his expression shifted to one of surprise, and the rebel leader stepped forward past her to greet him.

"So, I assume you're Sokka." he guessed, and the Water Tribesman nodded, stepping forward to bow toward him curtly.

"That is me." he confirmed, "And you are?"

"Jianren." he gave his name, which neither Ty Lee or Renshu had asked for, before he glanced back toward his men, "Are you going to want all of us to come to this compound?"

"Yes." Sokka confirmed, "Not all of you are going to have to come meet with Azula, but you are going to be staying here for more than a single afternoon, right?"

"We'll see." Jianren cryptically told him, before striding on past him, "Show us the way." he requested, and Sokka nodded, momentarily glancing toward the other two, before he began leading the rebels along through the encampment, winding down the path that led them back toward the gates of the palisade.

Ty Lee and Renshu followed after him, and both watched with interest as the leader of the rebels eyed Sokka, clearly wanting to talk to him, given that he was the one closest to Azula; he might have just been her right-hand man in Jianren's eyes, but that was a gross oversimplification of their relationship, something he might realise soon enough.

"So, how long have you been here?"

"Me personally?" Sokka turned his head slightly, confused by the question; the rebel leader nodded, and the Water Tribesman turned his attention back toward the path, winding past some soldiers, who got out of his way at once, "A few weeks now. We were off on our trip for a week or so, because Azula wanted to see what allies she could make in the colonies."

"If she has allies there, why does she need us?" he asked, and Sokka chuckled.

"Well, she doesn't need you. Your country needs you... everyone like you. The Earth Kingdom doesn't really exist anymore, and that's going to change soon enough, if everything goes good."

"For you?"

"Well, for the world. I'm sure most people don't want Ozai coming back to continue the policy of burning villages to the ground and colonising your country." he explained, before grimacing, "And I'm sure the North and South Poles wouldn't be safe for long, especially if he got his hands on the schematics for the airships."

"Airships?" Jianren raised a brow, "What's an airship?"

"A contraption that uses hot air to rise up into the sky, and is able to fly high above the ground." Renshu clarified the exact nature of the invention, "They were made by an Earth Kingdom inventor first, but we don't know where he is... since Admiral Zhao kicked him out of the Northern Air temple a few months ago."

"Huh... you're saying somebody from the Earth Kingdom has been making machines for the Fire Nation?" the rebel leader asked, the unease in his voice audible and quite understandable; Ty Lee knew that if it was the opposite way around, with some Fire Nation inventor helping the other nations fight them, she'd be confused and concerned about it.

"Supposedly." Sokka answered his question, "Never met the guy, so I'm unsure why he was doing it. I think it's pretty... unusual, but I can't complain. I've been helping Azula for almost a year now."

"Why?" he asked, and the Water Tribesman fell silent for a few moments; he obviously didn't think about the whys of his relationship with Azula, and though Ty Lee liked to harass her friend about it, she didn't really know all that much about Sokka's perspective.

"Because I didn't really have a choice in the matter." he admitted honestly, before chuckling, glancing off into the distance, "But when I did, I decided to help her."

"You're a warrior. You're like us. How did you... how did you manage that?"

"Ever been stuck in the wilderness with somebody before?" he asked, "Somebody you don't like?"

Jianren's expression faltered for a moment, "How long were you stuck with her for?"

"A few days. But those were some rough days." he admitted, "And she did promise me she'd get me home if I helped her."

"Did you?"

"Yep, but I got us there myself." he admitted, the pride in his voice audible; he obviously was glad they had escaped Yu Dao and gotten to his tribe safely, and Ty Lee was too- if they'd been caught, perhaps she would have been drawn into things a little earlier than expected.

She had wanted to go help Azula when she found out about Yu Dao, but she didn't know where she was, and her sisters did persuade her out of it. She knew that she ought to have gone to help her, but obviously, it would have been hard to find them; the two of them must have been laying low while sailing to the South Pole, so she knew that it would have been more than a challenge to figure out where they were and where they were going, if that was what it had come down to.

"Well... I hope this isn't a waste of our time. This Princess seems like... the pragmatic type."

"That's a good way to put it." Sokka agreed with him, "She doesn't like you... I doubt she likes many people, really. Common interests unite us all."

"Well, I don't exactly want to help the Fire Nation."

"Trust me, you wouldn't like the other guy."

"I've heard about the Fire Lord... the other one, before the scarred Prince." he admitted, "Like the old one, but worse."

"Azulon?" he raised a brow, guessing that he was referring to Azula's grandfather and namesake, "Yeah, fuck that guy." he admitted, before glancing ahead, "Ozai's bad, but I'm pretty sure he was worse." he stressed, before glancing back toward Ty Lee, "He wanted Ozai to kill Zuko, right?"

"Yeah, that happened." she admitted, remembering that story from back when it happened; Azula coming to school the day after the Fire Lord died telling her that he had threatened his own son to kill his grandson was more than a little disturbing, and even though Azula made it out to be a joke, she seemed a little unnerved by it herself- she probably wouldn't have told her and Mai about it otherwise.

"Well, he killed him didn't he?" Jianren noted, "I guess the old bastard got his wish... for whatever reason he had it."

"I thought that was just a rumour." Renshu admitted, glancing toward Ty Lee, "That actually happened?"

"I'm pretty sure Azula wouldn't lie about that." she stressed and Sokka nodded, seeming disturbed by the fact.

"Yeah, she didn't. Her grandfather was a real prick."

"He led our nation for decades." Renshu acknowledged, "I doubt the people of our nation view him as poorly as you do."

"Well, they probably don't know about the shit he let happen."

"No, no they do." Ty Lee conceded, knowing that even if she had a conscience, and understood what was wrong about the things they had done to the other nations, especially concerning the Southern Raiders that Sokka and Katara rightfully despised, "The people of the FIre Nation have been told all their lives that our war was righteous... that all those things, like what happened to the Air Nomads, or your waterbenders, that it was all the for the greater good, to ensure peace."

"Azula's Royal Barge at the bottom of the Eastern Sea would like to disagree with that proposition." Sokka retorted, sounding rather confident of himself, "My people wouldn't give up. Not after what we lost."

"Neither will mine." Jianren assured him, and Sokka seemed to approve of that greatly.

"That's exactly what I want to hear. We can't give up, not when we have the chance to fix all of this."

* * *

"Good, you're here."

Katara felt a little nervous being called into Bumi's throne room; she didn't know why the King of Omashu wanted to meet with her. She and Aang were yet to leave with Toph, and she was sure that the King had plans in mind, especially concerning the fighting that was sure to begin between his forces and Ozai's, given what had happened to Fire Lord Zuko. Iroh was not there, and she was unsure where he was, though that wasn't her concern. Whatever was going on with the rebels concerned Aang and Azula, and given that she was going to be training the former and her brother was fighting alongside the latter, she was more than sure that the rebellion was her concern as well; in the end, their success was her success.

"Uh... hi." she raised hand to address Bumi, "What did you want to see me about, your majesty?"

"I just got a letter from somebody, and I think you'd like to read it." he admitted, drawing a letter from his robes; the Water Tribe girl was surprised to see that he was just offering her his own letter like that, so she guessed it had to be something important, concerning her and her friends.

"Does... does it have to do with Azula?"

"No, actually." he clarified, placing the letter on the table, "Just you." he stressed, "Katara of the Southern Water Tribe."

She stepped closer to the table, and picked up the letter, the King placing his hands together, indicating he was intent on her reading it; when she opened up the letter, it just seemed like any other message, but when she looked down at the seal on the bottom of the document, she realised where it was from. It was a message from the Southern Water Tribe, or more specifically, from her father, Chief Hakoda. Her eyes widened, and she immediately turned her eyes back to the start of the letter, knowing she had to read it in full. Katara glanced down the document, and ran her finger down it to keep it unfurled while she eyed its contents. The letter was understandably addressed to King Bumi himself, and she glanced down to the first line, seeing what her father had written.

"Your majesty, I am not one for writing or fancy words, so I will go straight to the point." she read out the first line in her head, and smirked, knowing that it sounded very much like her father; he wasn't a disrespectful person, but he certainly wasn't going to mince his words, especially given the seriousness of his role as Chief, "I have spoken with some of your men who met with my fleet on the coast just east of your headquarters. They have provided my warriors with shelter and some supplies, and told me of how my son and daughter came to you and explained our tribe's willingness to provide assistance."

She glanced up back toward Bumi, glad that they had come to New Omashu to begin with, knowing that now, her intentions, or more accurately, Bato's intentions, were coming to fruition, "Thank you, your majesty." she acknowledged what he had done to ensure that they could all cooperate.

"Oh, well, I wasn't the one housing them in a hidden encampment. My loyal fighters did that. I would tell you to thank them, but they're off helping your father's fleet." he clarified, before gesturing on to the document, indicating for her to read.

"I apologise if Azula caused any problems in your city, as I am sure you were not pleased to have a member of the Fire Nation Royal Family in your city. I was the one who told her and my son it was fine to go north to your city, but I know that things are always changing. Word is appearing at ports all around about the battle she fought alongside your men, and the great powers of the Avatar. I hope that we can provide you assistance, and if possible, find a way to ensure we can all work together. I know the Princess well enough, and I am sure that alongside the Avatar, she will be able to help us make your country whole again." Katara read out what seemed to be mostly a preemptive apology for Azula, which made a lot of sense.

The Princess didn't seem to have the best intentions when they left the South Pole, and though she had saved their village, it didn't seem like she really wanted to help the rebels, or the Earth Kingdom at all, and seemed far more set on defeating her brother by means of Aang's Avatar powers. Of course, it had become apparent that those were not her sole intentions, and she and Aang stressed that to her uncle when they met him; she might have despised her brother and conflicted with him more often than not, but defeating him was clearly not her only desire.

She continued to read along, and ran her finger across each word as she read them in her head, "I hope that we do not impose on your men too much, as I know your supply lines must be running short and under threat because of the Fire Nation's grip on the region. Please, provide me with whatever goals you have, and I will see to it that our efforts will not be isolated from one another. In this time, we need allies more than ever, and my good friend Bato speaks highly of you and your forces. You are the last of the Earth Kingdom, as it once was, and we want nothing more than to see your country free from the grip of the Fire Nation; without the Earth Kingdom, we cannot prosper, and my people will continue to languish. I cannot let that continue, and I know you must feel similarly for your own people."

She smiled, knowing that her father wanted exactly what she wanted, and from the impressed look on Bumi's face, she guessed that he wanted the same; she glanced back down, and continued to read out the last bit of the letter, "We will await your reply, King Bumi, and I hope to see you in person soon enough. Good luck, Chief Hakoda, representing the warriors of the Southern Water Tribe."

"Well, I... I'm glad he sent this letter." she spoke her thoughts plainly, placing it back down on the table, "Do you have a reply?"

"I am going to write one, but I realised... well, you might as well give it to him yourself. Appa will be just as fast as any messenger hawk, and he won't tire as quickly and have to rest like a courier." he noted, "I know that you must miss your father and your tribe, so I thought that might come as good news to you."

"It does." she responded, perhaps a little too fast and ecstatically, "I can't wait."

"Well, I hope you can wait at least until tomorrow. I haven't written the letter yet, and I want to speak with the leaders of the units here in the city. They might be able to work with your father's fleet to extend our reach, perhaps as far away as Azula's headquarters."

"That is very far away." she conceded, "Are you sure you want to send your men there? The fighters are here to protect New Omashu from the Fire Nation."

"They won't need to do that for much longer, I believe." he conceded, "General Iroh will retake the city and expel Ozai's loyalists as soon as he contacts friendly forces who can assist him. I am unsure how much of the Fire Nation has accepted Ozai's rule, but I believe for the good of us all, they are as afraid of him as I believe they ought to be."

"Are you afraid of him?"

"No." he retorted, before snickering, "I could beat that man in a fight if it came to that, but I do not want to do so. I do not go looking for fights I do not need to partake in. Sending my men to stop Ozai's forces from threatening the Princess and her soldiers is a priority I do not underestimate. She is the best candidate for Fire Lord as we speak, but even then... she cannot rule if she does not have the resources to face her father. Those resources might be wasted needlessly on the defence of lands she has no desire or need to rule." he explained, raising a finger to his goatee, "I never think one's strength should be wasted on an unnecessary fight, but if one can find the right thing to defend, and the strength to hold it, then you should never give it up."

"So, you think... you think Azula's claim is worthy?"

"I don't have much of an opinion on the girl herself, but her uncle thinks... well, he thinks she must have changed." he noted, before scrunching his lips up, "But I doubt that." he added, though his down wasn't really suggesting he thought that was a bad thing; as Katara understood what Azula was like, at least vaguely, before she had got her lightning shot back at her, she thought that certainly would be a bad thing- Azula changing was what she hinged her hopes on.

"You... you really doubt she's changed?"

"Ohohoh, people don't change, Katara." he warned her, "People learn from their mistakes, and can choose new things to believe in, but they don't lose their essence. I am still the little boy Aang knew, even if I have been a king for decades, and fought for my nation for almost all my life. I never gave up myself, and neither will the Princess."

"I... I guess you're right." she conceded his point, "She's still Azula. She won't ever be somebody else."

"She can pretend to be 'Saila', but pretending is just pretending." he raised a finger, and she scratched the back of her head, remembering how the King had seen through her disguise and fake identity, "Becoming worthy does not require Azula to change, she merely needs to see the strength she already has."

"Just like Aang learning the other elements." she realised, knowing that Aang's journey so far really was just him understanding the strengths he already had within him, and the King's eyes widened, surprised by her comparison.

"Ooh... that's a good one." he noted, "I've got to use that when Aang and I talk. He'll think I'm real smart." he gave his thoughts without filter, which she was unsure as to whether they were in jest or not.

"I guess you could. Aang thinks you're a genius, and well... I'm inclined to agree." she conceded the king's intelligence and wit; it probably didn't just come from years of experience, given that Aang stressed that he was already very smart when he was twelve.

"Oh, you're too kind. Most people just think I'm erratic and crazy, but you know, that's the best way to fool them." he raised a finger to his forehead to stress his strategy, "One should always seem weak when they are strong."

"Hmph, that seems like a good strategy." she noted, before glancing back toward the door, "I should probably tell Aang about this. I don't think he'll want me grabbing Appa's reins and flying us to my dad with no warning."

"That is a good idea. Will you leave today?" he asked her, and the Water Tribe girl furrowed a brow; she didn't want to take away any time Aang might have with his friend, but then, she didn't want to needlessly delay their departure, knowing that Bumi was counting on her to give the message to her father, and she personally wanted to see him as soon as possible.

"Maybe... I'll see what Aang thinks." she decided, before she raised a finger to his chin, "I wonder how he and Toph are going."

"I don't expect learning earthbending will be easy for him." Bumi conceded, "Air is the opposite element to earth, and he'll need a new mindset if he wants to master my element."

"Aang figured out how to think like a waterbender easily enough." she noted, "I think he'll be fine."

"We should hope so." the King of Omashu agreed, though he seemed a little skeptical of her own view; she understood that he was a master earthbender, and thus, took his opinion a little more highly than her own, even if she hoped for the best.

"I can help with the training... Toph might go all- uh, drill sergeant on him." she noted, knowing that her experience in training soldiers would both help and harm her training of Aang.

Treating him like any other earthbender, training to fight the Fire Nation, would not exactly work, given that Aang was an Air Nomad, with a completely different mindset and way of thinking about bending that she mightn't work around, but merely try to push over, not too unlike her own element- she understood earthbending was the bending art most focused on standing one's ground.

"Well, that's what I expect. She'll be a fine master... and I believe training the Avatar is a great privilege." he admitted with a smile, before gesturing to the door, "Go to your friend. I'm sure he'll appreciate you being there for him."

"He will." she agreed, before turning around; she wanted to leave at once, but she felt obliged to tell him what she thought, "Thank you, Bumi. I'm glad my father sent you that letter."

"I am as well. Please, go enjoy yourself." he waved her off, and she paced on toward the door, which the guards opened up for her, allowing Katara to step out into the main tunnel of the city.

She glanced around, noting that there were a few people out at the city's market, which ran down the main tunnel, stalls lining the walls, where she could see a crowd of people going to buy things. New Omashu still felt like a real city, even if it was underground, and though she hadn't seen many actual cities, she knew that the place before her provided some sense of normalcy to its inhabitants, instead of being forced to live under Fire Nation rule in Old Omashu. She glanced to her right, knowing that Toph would be training Aang in the yards where she trained the other earthbenders; she paced on with haste, wanting to get to them as quickly as she could. She wasn't necessarily that excited anymore, but she did want to help Aang with his training in whatever way she could, and tell him about the letter, as it gave them even more of a reason to leave soon.

Pacing on down the tunnel, she could hear a little commotion ahead of her, and she raised a brow, confused about what was going on; the tunnel curved around, and she made sight of what looked like a few dozen men wrestling. It didn't take much for her to figure out that some of them were Fire Nation, and the others were Earth Kingdom soldiers; obviously, one group had got fed up with the other, and it had turned into a brawl. She sped up her pace as she approached, watching as rocks were thrown about, along with fire streams and fireballs spurting out from the hands of some of the soldiers. The pedestrians who surrounded the brawl seemed uneased by it, and perhaps, were afraid that it could escalate further. Katara could only think of one thing, and that was how to break up the fight; the only bit of water she had on her person was the small waterskin she always had, which clearly wouldn't be enough to separate the two groups.

She turned to face one of the pedestrians, and asked them what they knew, "Does anybody know where a washroom is? Or a well?" she asked around, not getting any immediate responses, and so, she decided to be more specific, "I need some water to stop this fight!" she raised her voice, and one of the pedestrians pointed back behind them, toward some stone pipes that ran along the exterior walls of the houses that lined the tunnel.

She reached her arm out to her left, feeling for the water that was inside the pipe, and clenched her fist, tightening her grip on it before she pulled her arm back toward her, ripping one of the sections of the pipe open purely from the pressure of the water inside, and then, she bent said water right toward the brawling soldiers; she knocked them over, dampening flames and breaking up boulders and rocks that were being thrown around with the high pressure stream of water, before she bent it around the men themselves, quickly freezing it to stop them from restarting their fight.

"That's enough!" she shouted at them, and they all looked toward her with surprise.

"Wait, it's the waterbender." one of the Earth Kingdom soldiers noted, narrowing his eyes at her, "Why are you helping them?"

"I'm not helping any of you. I'm helping the people who are trying to go about their business." she retorted, stepping closer to the group as she eyed them, "Why were you all fighting?"

"These bastards think they can walk all over us. We don't even have any money to give." one of the Fire Nation soldiers declared, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers seemed rather agitated by that.

"You're living in our city for free, after you invaded our damn country! You should be grateful for what you've been given!" one of them snarled with fury, "These freeloaders think they can just do whatever they like."

"We're not even trying to start a fight." another Fire Nation soldier spoke up, "The only reason we're here is because the usurper's men are going to kill us if we do."

"Oh, usurper? We don't give a shit about who's on the throne. You're all ash-makers to us." the same Earth Kingdom soldier shouted at them, and Katara bent out some more water, coiling it into a thin stream around her body.

"Do I need to make more ice binds?" she questioned them, "I'm not afraid to do it."

A few of them shook their heads, though some were still clearly agitated; one raised his fist up, breaking the ice bind it was in, and bent some rock from underneath him, "We're not taking orders from you."

"Fine." she simply responded, unwilling to let them continue beating each other; she threw her right hand forward, sending her water stream right into his chest, splashing him before freezing the liquid at once, keeping him in place before he could try anything.

The other men looked at him with surprise and turned to look at her, afraid of what she might do next, "Maybe you can spend the time you're frozen thinking about why your fighting was pointless. We're all in this together now." she warned them, "No matter how much we don't like each other."

The pedestrians looked at her with awe as she strode on past them, not wanting to delay herself any longer; she genuinely hoped that the soldiers would stop being so distrustful of each other, but she was sure this was just wishful thinking. She never liked the Fire Nation, and she knew that without knowing Azula, she probably would still mistrust, if not despise them; that mindset was completely unproductive, and she knew that the only way that peace was ever going to come about was if they actually found some common ground and trust in each other. She knew that with Ozai's seizure of power in the Fire Nation capital, it was now, more than ever, that they needed to see their common enemies and stand together against them; she knew that Azula would have hated joining forces with Zuko, so she was a little relieved that that was no longer going to be an issue.

As she strode on toward the training yards, she wondered about what might be going on back at Azula's base; she hoped that Sokka was well, but she was sure that the Princess was going to get them into some extreme and dangerous plans sooner or later. She worried for her brother, and Ty Lee as well, given they couldn't really refuse her, and with her determination to take back her country for herself, it was inevitable that she would do something stupid again. Azula herself was quite intelligent, but she tended to make plans that were either too flimsy, or simply had too many variables; Sokka, being the more level-headed of the pair, would probably be trying to warn her against doing anything too brash, and hopefully, she wouldn't. Aang wouldn't be happy with them if they started brewing more conflicts for a goal that would be unachievable without the cooperation they required from both Zuko's supporters and the Earth Kingdom rebels who dotted their country.

She knew that her father's ships arriving nearby would provide a chance to tell him and the other warriors about what was going on, and perhaps figure out how they could assist their efforts to reunite the Earth Kingdom, given they had the ships the rebels would need to move around the country with haste. Not everyone had battleships or sky-bisons that could quickly cross the world, and she was sure her tribe's boats would be helpful in allowing Bumi's forces, as well as the other rebels, retake the rest of their country, most importantly of which would be Ba Sing Se. Defeating the Dai Li would take a lot of help, and she was sure that they could do it once Aang had mastered earthbending, but even then, the threat Ozai posed might force them to delay any efforts against them.

Katara wouldn't deny that she was afraid of what might happen; she was afraid for herself, for Aang, and even for Azula. The Princess was defying her father, and she already knew the story about Zuko, so she was well aware of what would happen to her if her father got a hold of her; she had chosen to help the Avatar, and work with him to right the wrongs of her nation, the very wrongs her father wanted to perpetuate. The Water Tribe girl was glad that the Princess had chosen the path she had, and now, she was the one she trusted to lead them, even if she could be arrogant and a little crazy at times. Aang was the Avatar, and she was sure that he could and would become a great leader for the world, and could help shape it back to some semblance of the one he knew a century prior. She was sure he missed that world of peace, where the Air Nomads still existed, and the Four Nations were in balance; that world was gone, but she hoped that he could try and make a new balance, and something that would last longer than their own lifetimes.

As she approached the wide opening that led into the training yards, she could make out clouds of dust as the fighters inside trained their bending; she couldn't hear or see Toph and Aang yet, but she was sure she would find them soon enough. When she reached the entrance, she glanced about, noting the sets the rebel fighters were practicing, as well as the sparring she could see some non-bending soldiers doing. To her left, she found Aang and Toph, the latter standing over the former as he lay on the ground, looking like he had been knocked down; Katara cringed, hoping things hadn't gone as badly as she thought they might have. The Avatar wasn't one for sticking his ground and fighting head-on, so she was sure that earthbending wasn't going to be an easy bending art for him to learn.

When she neared the pair, she heard the stout earthbender mock him, "Oh, so you're not even going to try and fight back?" she questioned him rhetorically, and Aang groaned as he tried to pull himself up from the ground.

"How?" he asked, "I... I'm just not very good at this."

"It's all in the mindset." Katara spoke up, getting both of their attention; Aang smiled and so did Toph, though probably for a different reason.

"See, she gets it." the blind earthbender gestured to her, pointing at a slightly off angle, "You're thinking like an airbender. You have to stick to it. Giving up or running away... that's not gonna cut it." she warned him, crossing her arms as he rose up to his feet, dusting himself off in the process.

"Uh... yeah." he nodded, seeming nervous to continue their training, "So, I've got to bend some rock." he concluded what he had to do, and Toph raised a finger to clarify his claim.

"You're not bending anything yet. First you've got to learn something a little simpler: stopping a rock." she argued, "I toss rocks at those guys all the time." she gestured over to the rebels who were presently going through their sets, "But you, you haven't even earthbent once yet."

"Well, you shouldn't throw a rock at him right away." Katara warned her, and the blind girl gestured to her, as if she wanted her to start a speech.

"Okay, fire away. What's your genius advice?" she sarcastically quipped, making Katara narrow her eyes at her, not amused by her comment; she just wanted to help Aang get into his training without needlessly agitating or frustrating either Toph or him.

"How about you give him an incentive?" she asked, "Aang isn't just going to stop a rock because you want him to."

"Well, he should." Toph retorted, and the young Avatar cringed, stepping between the two of them.

"Hey, we don't need to argue-" he tried to defuse their conversation, which Katara wouldn't say had turned into a proper argument just yet.

"This isn't an argument." she calmly assured him, "I just think we need to find a way for you to... not jump out of the way when a rock comes your way." she clarified, making the other girl scoff.

She bent a wall up behind herself quite casually, before leaning up against it, "And so, what's your idea? You know him better than I do." she asked, and Katara raised a finger to her chin.

"Hmph... well, Aang I need you to do this."

"Stop the rock?" he asked, and she nodded, "Why?"

"I need you to do it." she emphasised her point once more, "We're counting on you; you can't just jump out of the way, or airbend the rock. You just need to stand there."

"But..." he began, and she raised a finger toward him.

"No buts." she warned him, "Toph isn't going to appreciate it if you don't take her training seriously."

"I am taking it seriously." he declared, now sounding a little annoyed, which was exactly what she wanted to hear.

"Are you?" Katara questioned him, sure that would rile him up a little bit.

"I am!" he nearly shouted at her, "I'll stop the rock!" he declared, and Toph laughed.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, now not even sarcastically, "That was impressive." she acknowledged, before she raised her fist up, bending a rock out of the ground, which she threw back, forcing it to skid across the yard, moving some distance away from the three of them, "I'm going to throw that at you." she warned Aang, "So, I hope you're not just playing tough. I need you to be really tough."

"I can be tough." he assured her, "I stopped Zhao."

"Okay, you did some things at the North Pole, but that's not what I'm thinking about. You guys were forced into that situation. You're choosing to stop the rock." she clarified, and the young Avatar nodded.

"I'll do it." he assured her, "I just have to stand my ground." he declared, and the earthbender smirked for a moment.

"I could stick your feet into the ground if you're worried about your reflexes kicking in." she suggested, and Aang seemed a little unnerved by her offer, shaking his head and hands.

"N-no, you don't need to do that." he assured her, "I'll just stand still."

"You say that now." she warned him as she moved into her earthbending stance, raising the rock into the air, "Ready?"

"Yep." Aang nodded, though Katara could see from his expression that he was nervous, he was trying to remain composed; she was proud of him for that, knowing that he was doing something very new and unusual to him.

"Don't worry." she tried to reassure him, placing her palm on his shoulder, not wanting him to freak out and jump out of the way when she sent the rock his way.

Without another moment's notice, Toph thrust her left hand forward, sending the rock right toward Aang, who tensed up and pulled up his own hands in reaction, staring the rock down for the split second it took to reach him. The rock didn't hit Aang at all; it just stopped, and his eyes widened with surprise. A moment later, it dropped down to the ground and shattered from the impact, making the two of them step back, realising what had just happened.

"Did I just..." he gasped, and Katara grinned at him, knowing that he'd gotten somewhere with his training, and the progress was promising.

"Yeah, I think you just did." she confirmed his unfinished question, and Toph clapped from a distance, earning their attention.

"You stood your ground. There was no easy way around that rock, so you bent it." she noted with an impressed look on her face as she strode toward them, "Are you ready to start doing some actual earthbending?"

"Yeah, I am!" he grinned at her, before furrowing a brow, "Wait, do I get a training outfit for earthbending?" he asked, and Toph snickered.

"Well, I don't have anything to do with that. I don't own much clothes." she conceded, "Maybe you can ask your friend, the king, to give you something." she suggested, a little sarcasm in her voice, and Katara smiled for a moment; at the very least, she knew that Sokka might get along with her, after their little spat over Azula when they first met- sarcasm and cockiness seemed to be two things they had in common.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I could." he agreed to her proposition, "So are we going to start training now?"

"No." Toph refused, "I spent the afternoon shouting at you about being a wuss, and trying to make you toughen up. Turned out, you just needed to get your pride hurt."

"My-" he mumbled, before narrowing his eyes at her, "I'm not prideful. The monks always told us that you have to learn how to be humble and put others before yourself." he declared, obviously offended that she'd think he was prideful.

"I don't think she meant it like that, Aang." Katara stressed, "She just means that you don't want to be seen as incapable. Everybody wants to be strong, in whatever way that is."

"Also, Katara saying it helped." Toph observed, "Obviously, he doesn't care that much about my opinion." she noted, Aang's expression softening.

"No, no, I don't don't care about your opinion. You're going to be my master. We're going to be great friends!" he assured her, making her snicker, and the earthbender punched him in the shoulder.

"We'll see about that, Twinkletoes."

"Twinkletoes?" Katara raised a brow before laughing, "Oh, that's a funny nickname."

"Please don't call me that." Aang asked softly, obviously not liking such a nickname.

"Oh, don't worry. I give out my nicknames equally and fairly." she assured him, "She'll be getting one soon enough." she tapped Katara's arm as she walked by her, making her way back toward the entrance of the training yards, "Aw, look who's here." she quipped, making the Water Tribe girl raise a brow as she glanced past her, a little confused who she was talking about; she tensed up when she realised that she was referring to the one person she and Aang hadn't run into yet during their time at New Omashu, that being Jet.

He was standing there awkwardly, seeming unsure what to say or do, but Toph strode up toward him, and pointed back toward the pair, "Are you gonna apologise to them or something?"

"I was going to ask- uh, nevermind." he shook his head, seeming like he had wanted to ask her about something, but Aang and Katara being there made it awkward.

"Well, enjoy yourselves." the earthbender waved them goodbye as she headed off in the direction of her apartment.

The Freedom Fighter stood there, seeming unsure what to say, and he scratched the back of his scalp, "Sorry." he mumbled, before clearing his throat, realising he had spoken too softly, "I'm sorry about what I did." he spoke up a little louder, and Katara crossed her arms, unsure whether she ought to accept his words just yet, for both her brother and Azula's sakes.

"Thanks for saying that." Aang admitted, "You got really angry at Sokka... for no good reason."

"No, I understand his reasoning." the Water Tribe girl clarified, "I just think that it was stupid of him to put his own anger on Sokka." she admitted, striding closer to the clearly nervous Freedom Fighter, "Did you see those frozen soldiers down the tunnel?"

"I was guessing you did that." he admitted quietly, scratching his neck as glanced back toward Aang before his eyes met her own, showing that he was afraid, and with good reason.

"You know I didn't like her very much either." she told him about her own mistake, "I thought she was some kind of evil spy, corrupting my brother and trying to undermine my tribe." she admitted her darkest thoughts about Azula, which were rather commonplace at times when the Princess agitated her, "But it wasn't really about her, you see. I've never liked the FIre Nation, ever since they killed my mother, and I know that you must have lost your family to them. That's why you hate them, right?"

His head turned down, and he sighed, "Yeah, it is."

She narrowed her eyes at him for a few moments, before her expression softened, realising that he wasn't just regretful about what he had said to Sokka; there was something else on his mind, something that either he had done, or he remembered.

"What is it?"

"I... I did something. I made my Freedom Fighters do something." he admitted, turning around, "That's why we were in Ba Sing Se. We had to run away, because the Fire Nation wanted us dead."

"What kind of thing?" Aang asked, sounding a little nervous, yet curious, about his yet-to-be-told story.

"Something bad. I know it was... it was just a stupid thing to do. I manipulated my friends into doing something so I could get justice for my family... but it really wasn't justice." he admitted, "I got angry at Sokka, because I thought he was getting manipulated by Azula. I thought she was making him into her tool, so she could get whatever she wanted from him. I'm like her- that's why I... I don't want good people to just become shit like me."

"I mean... maybe he was manipulated by her to begin with." Katara conceded, "But that's a bad way of viewing their relationship. It was never just one way. She's not some kind of evil genius, as much as she would like to be. She's a human being."

"I know that." he admitted, before his expression faltered, "Toph made me do this." he added, "I needed her help, so I promised I'd say... something."

"So, was any of that genuine?" she narrowed her eyes at him, and he nodded.

"Yes, it was. All of it." he confirmed, "But I don't want to talk about that again."

"That's okay." Aang assured him, "We won't mention what you said." he added, "Promise."

"Thanks." Jet made a small smile at him, "I've... I've made mistakes in my life, and sometimes, I've made more mistakes trying to fix the old ones."

"Heh." Katara snickered, "I guess you and Azula have that in common too." she noted, before straightening her face, "Thank you for saying what you did. I thought you were still angry about what happened." she admitted, and he shook his head.

"No, no, I wasn't going to- I've got more important things to worry about than my fits of rage." he stressed, before glancing toward Aang, "So, are you going to learn earthbending from Toph?"

"Yeah." Aang confirmed, "I think she'll be a good master."

"Well, she knows what she's doing." he agreed with him, "Uh, are you two leaving today?"

"I don't think so. It depends." Katara gave the best answer she could, Aang glancing her way with a perplexed face.

"Are we meant to be doing something?"

"Bumi gave me a letter that my father sent to him. He and the warriors have sailed nearby, and now they can help Bumi and the rebels move around. I want to go see him." she explained, and the young Avatar nodded.

"Oh, okay." he noted, and Jet raised a brow, seeming interested by what she had just said.

"Is Bato going to be there?" he asked, and Katara crossed her arms, pretty sure that he would be.

"I'd say so." she confirmed, and the Freedom Fighter smiled.

"If you see him, there's something I want you to give him." he explained, and the Water Tribe girl furrowed a brow, recalling that the Freedom Fighters had travelled with Bato to New Omashu before he had returned to their tribe; he pulled a sword off of his belt, and Katara noticed it wasn't one of his hook swords, but some kind of broadsword.

He unsheathed the blade, revealing that it had a number of markings on it, which seemed to be writing, "What's with the writing?" Aang asked him, and he chuckled as he ran his finger across the text.

"We decided we were going to send him a little message on our gift."

"Where'd you get the sword from?" the young Air Nomad questioned him, seeming a little suspicious in his tone, "This looks Fire Nation." he observed, and the Freedom Fighter nodded.

"Back when we had just left Ba Sing Se, some Fire Nation soldiers confronted us when we were trying to find a place to stay in a village. There was a fight, and Bato saved our lives by beating the soldiers when we thought we were outnumbered. He used this sword to fight them off, and I decided to keep it because it reminded me of the good he did for us." he explained, "So please, give it to him." he requested, resheathing the blade and giving it to them, "I had the blacksmith here fix it up a little so it wouldn't just be a dirty rusted sword."

"That's..." Katara mumbled, before accepting the sword into her hands, smiling at Jet, glad that he wasn't just a boy consumed by rage and hatred; he had love and respect in his heart too, and she understood how he felt.

He wanted to repay someone for saving his life, just as Azula did after what had happened at Yu Dao. Katara was pretty sure the Princess wouldn't have tolerated the menial work she had to do in their tribe if she didn't feel indebted to Sokka, who had protected her from her brother and ensured her escape; Jet didn't take such actions lightly either, and obviously wanted Bato to know that he still appreciated what he had done for him and his friends.

"I'll give him the sword." she assured him with a smile, before turning to face Aang, "So, are we going to have dinner?" she asked, and Aang furrowed a brow.

"Do you think Toph will let us have some of her food?" he asked, and the Water Tribe girl snickered, not imagining that she would be that willing to give up her own food.

"Let's just get something off the saddle." she suggested, the young Avatar cringing.

"But those rice-crackers are just... blegh." he made a face of disgust, and Jet scratched the back of his scalp as he awkwardly gestured down the tunnel.

"You can have dinner with me and the Freedom Fighters, if you'd like." he explained, and Aang furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

"Do you have anything vegetarian?" he asked, and the Freedom Fighter nodded.

"Uh, yeah. Some vegetables and noodles. You'll eat that, right?" he asked, and Aang nodded.

"Are you sure you want us to go eating other people's food, Aang?" she asked him, a little unsure about his idea.

"Don't worry about it." Jet assured her, "I'm pretty sure the others bought too much food anyway. It'd be better not to go to waste." he explained, gesturing for them to follow, "I'm sure you won't mind it."

"Earth Kingdom food isn't that bad." Katara conceded, "Let's see what it's like." she accepted his offer, and Aang grinned.

"Great! Now we can get some food and get to know you guys better." the young Avatar declared his intentions, making her cringe slightly as Jet gave his response.

"Well, my friends aren't that talkative... but they'll probably like you." Jet conceded, "You're a nice kid, Aang."

"They haven't tried to stab my brother." Katara noted, making the Freedom Fighter tense up as he tried his best to keep looking ahead as he led them down the tunnel.

"I must really suck at first impressions." he mumbled to himself, before raising a brow, "What would it take to earn your trust, Katara?"

"Doing something good." she simply told him, "You're not very good at it, from what I can tell."

"Y-yeah..." he mumbled, Aang cringing slightly from the turn the conversation had taken.

"Well, if he and the Freedom Fighters are going to go with the other rebels to help the Earth Kingdom, maybe he can prove himself there. He'll have to cooperate with the Fire Nation."

"I will?" Jet glanced back at him, a little surprised by that revelation, "Uh, I guess I could try. As long as they aren't the kind that destroy villages, separate families, and harm innocents." he gave his condition.

"You know, I can agree to that." Katara clarified herself, knowing that she had hated the Southern Raiders for what they had done to her mother, and by extension, her whole tribe, "How about you give them a piece of your mind?"

"I thought you didn't like me doing that."

"Azula had nothing to do with destroying villages and killing innocents." she argued, "Some people certainly did." she noted, "Those men don't deserve any kindness."

"Maybe don't... get too angry." Aang warned them, "Revenge is... well, it's not good." he tried to emphasise his point.

"Well, it's not really revenge. I don't know who even destroyed my village, or my friends' villages." he conceded, "But I guess they're going to be the kind of people that support this Ozai guy, right?"

"Yes, they would be." Aang begrudgingly agreed with him, obviously still not condoning revenge, but understanding at least the kind of people who would want the war to continue were not going to be good people in the slightest.

"Just think about what good you can do for the Earth Kingdom, and for the world." she suggested, "Once I was only thinking about how I could get back at the Fire Nation, but now I see, it's better to focus on how you can do good for others."

"I can't be the bad guy again." he decided, "I don't want to be like them."

"You see that you did bad. That's better than most people." she acknowledged the merit of his thoughts, before narrowing her eyes, "What food do you even have?"

"Rice, noodles, a little cow-pig, and some vegetables. We're cooking a big meal." he acknowledged, and she licked her lips; given what they had in their saddle bags, Jet's offer became a whole lot more enticing.

"That sounds a lot better than rice crackers. I'm in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a lot longer than expected to finish, because I had to do a summer class for university. I apologise for promising to write more than I actually did, as I didn't realise I would be doing that class. During that time I was able to write Born Lucky, and I ended up focusing on that over this story as the chapters are a fair bit shorter. I've finished it, so hopefully at least for the rest of February I should be able to get back into writing a reasonable amount per day. We're actually getting to around the half-way mark of this story, and it's taken longer than expected. I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and I hope that you continue reading as I write more, despite my delays and infrequent updates.


End file.
